This is a unique group of true to life nature tales emphasizing animal and bird interaction and communications with humans. The Spirits of Birds, Bears, Butterflies and All Those Other Wild Creatures starts with a short poem about Chickadees and ends with a poetic tour through the Costa Rican jungle. It opens with a prologue, relating how the author became fascinated with animals and birds through family influences and experiences. Then, an introduction explains the significance of interactions and spiritual communications among birds, animals and other creatures with humans. It starts with the first of sixteen chapters detailing fascinating interaction among people and birds and animals.
Thomas "Dennie" Williams, an investigative freelance writer, worked at The Hartford Courant for almost 40 years before retiring in November 2005 to become an investigative reporter on the Internet. He graduated from the Choate School in 1958 and Middlebury College in 1962. Four years ago, Dennie became inspired by an experience in which a butterfly landed on his hand and spent 15 minutes off and on his hand while he showed it to almost all within a blueberry picking patch. A few days later, the episode made him recall a wild experience in Barnard, Vermont, years earlier when a local character regaled him on the General Store's porch with his chase of a pig a night earlier. As he did, two white butterflies flew closely over and around his head until the story ended. So very soon after that recollection, Dennie went on YouTube to search for wild creatures interact with people. Fascinating films were everywhere! That inspired his nature book of short stories called The Spirits of Birds, Bears, Butterflies and All Those Other Wild Creatures.
"Thomas "Dennie" Williams feels right at home outside with birds and butterflies. His house, which is on land his family has owned for three generations, is full of them – and growing up he regularly wandered through the acres of woods and marveled at the wildlife around him. After retiring as an investigative and court reporter for the Hartford Courant, Williams decided to write a book about the spiritual connectivity between humans and wild animals."
- Michelle Merlin, for The Litchfield News, June 29, 2012