Book Presentation by Barbara MacKinnon-Haskins
Barbara MacKinnon-Haskins has been studying and promoting the conservation of the birds of the Yucatan Peninsula and their habitats for 48 years. She arrived in Mexico as a tourist in 1969, where she married Alberto Montes Laviada, originally from Mérida, Yucatán. She was naturalized a Mexican citizen in 1981.
She is the author of more than sixty articles, manuals, brochures, books and digital productions about the birds of the peninsula and the conservation of its biodiversity, including the Sal a Pajarear Yucatán bird guide (2013 and 2017). She gives conferences to regional, national and international audiences. She is the Founding President of the non- profit organization, Amigos de Sian Ka’an, Cancún. In 1996, she helped establish and coordinate the program “Conservation of the Birds of the Yucatan Peninsula” (CAPY) in which she trained 250 specialized bird guides. She coordinated the Yucatan Bird Festival during its first four years.
For her long history promoting the conservation of the region’s ecosystems and adequate management of its natural resources, in 2006 she was awarded the Ecological Merit Award granted by the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico. She currently supervises the Sal a Pajarear program for the Fundación Transformación Arte y Educación and is a member of the Council of Protected Natural Areas of the state of Quintana Roo.
On December 11 beginning at 11:00 AM, Barbara unveils her new book Memoirs of the Bird Lady of the Yucatan Peninsula. In this book, we are confronted with a life story, told in the first person, in which the spirit of adventure prevails from one of the most recognized experts on the birds of the Yucatan Peninsula, and a promoter of both conservation and teaching.
With illustrative experiences and reflections, Barbara reveals her life to us. She tells us about her difficulties and achievements in adapting to a new culture in Mexico, totally different from the one in eastern North America where she grew up. She narrates her unusual wanderings through different regions of Mexico, from her stay in a remote fishing village in Jalisco to her experiences in the Cancun jungle, mostly untouched by humans for 500 years. She shares with us her history in birdwatching, from her personal involvement originating in the death of a pet parakeet, to becoming a pioneer birder in the Yucatan Peninsula. The result of her years of experience with birds, serving as a guide, researcher and educator, has resulted in her extensive assembly of books and articles on the theme.
It is a life story full of charisma and valuable information, in which one appreciates the author’s love for Mexico, in particular for the Mayan and mestizo culture of the Yucatan Peninsula and for its people, especially those living in rural communities. It is a book that will leave you with a deep imprint of the true meaning of empathy for human solidarity and for nature.
Barbara will be joined by Nancy Reilly and Elda Peón Molina, who also worked on this book. Nancy spent over 20 years working in all aspects of educational publishing in Canada, including sales and marketing, editorial, and project management. She was also an Acquisitions Editor with Oxford University Press. Nancy now spends her time between Ontario and Merida and is a voracious reader and lover of stories. She reports that working with Barbara as editor on the English edition of her memories has been a fun, rewarding and interesting experience.
Elda is the descendent of a well-known Yucatecan family who met the Barbara in 1972. She moved to Cancún in 1975. She has been an English teacher since 1968 and in recent years she writes anecdotes and autobiographical stories about Mérida of yesteryear and the early years of Cancún. Memoirs of the Bird Lady of the Yucatan Peninsula is the first book she has translated.
