Elizabeth A. Nesbitt and David B. Williams—Spirit Whales & Sloth Tales: Fossils of Washington State

SPIRIT WHALES & SLOTH TALES:
FOSSILS OF WASHINGTON STATE
Elizabeth A. Nesbitt and David B. Williams (NASW Member)
University of Washington Press, October 22, 2023, $24.95
ISBN 13: 9780295752327

Williams reports:

The book originated with Liz, who had been Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at Seattle’s Burke Museum. She had long wanted to write a book about Washington fossils because none existed. After retiring, she approached the UW Press, which was excited about the book, but knew she needed to work with someone more accustomed to writing for a non-academic audience.

When the UW Press asked me to work with Liz, it was an easy decision to say yes. Liz and I knew each other, as I had worked in the Burke Education Department for many years.

I knew from our past work together that we got along well, that she was passionate about good, understandable communication about paleontology, and that she was super-knowledgeable about the state’s fossils. Fortunately, the timing also worked well for me. This was the first time I wrote a book when I didn’t have to do the research, which was great!

We didn’t want to write a guidebook or textbook on fossils. We wanted to tell stories that would appeal to a wide audience, was scientifically up to date, and would highlight the human elements of paleontology. After talking with the UW Press’s Acquisitions Editor, with whom I had worked with on a previous book, we decided to focus on a single fossil or environment and weave together the science and the human stories. We see each of our 24 profiles of a fossil or environment as short stories that flesh out details that bring the fossils to life.

Our biggest challenges were in illustrations and layout. We knew that the fossils had to look good and the format had to be inviting. We were working during Covid and had to obtain permissions and new images, challenges that slowed down the project. In the end, the UW Press created a beautiful book.

Nothing leaps out in terms of advice or what we would have done differently, but we can say that it helped to know each other ahead of time and that we saw eye-to-eye on what we wanted to say.

Contact info:

• David B. Williams, 206-707-3551, wingate@seanet.com, https://geologywriter.com/
• Elizabeth A. Nesbitt, 206-940-7637, nesbittlizanne@gmail.com
• Book: Spirit Whales & Sloth Tales: Fossils of Washington State
• Publicist: Molly Woolbright, 206-221-4994, mwoolbri@uw.edu

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Banner image adapted from original photo by Elizabeth A. Nesbitt.