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Susan McCarthy is co-author with Marjorie Ingall of Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies. Ingall & McCarthy write Sorrywatch.com, a website which analyzes apologies. McCarthy also writes about wildlife and animal behavior. She’s co-author of the international bestseller When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, and author of Becoming a Tiger: How Baby Animals Learn to Live in the Wild. Not literally raised by wolves, McCarthy lives in San Francisco.

Category: Crackpot schemes

  • Polar bears and penguins

    Near the North Pole, examining a submarine. When we were getting ready to go to Antarctica, people warned us about polar bears. Polar bears, they pointed out, are fast, big, smart, dangerous. They are more inclined than other bears to view humans as fabulous taste explosions. No, we said. We're going to the Antarctic, not…

  • Another can’t-miss plan

    Deer, bears, and chipmunks were excellent aspects of my summer camp experience. Then there was the frog relocation scheme. Sometimes – often – and I now realize that at these times we were probably supposed to be in the crafts A-frame or playing volleyball by the lake or rehearsing for the talent show – we…

  • Tough fishy story

    Once upon a time there was a giant diving ocean goose – wait, no, maybe a giant diving ocean duck – so specialized for diving after fish it couldn't fly. It was as big as a Canada goose – anyway, a small Canada goose – okay, probably as big as nine pounds. Maybe it was…

  • Were there but world enough, and time

    At Point Lobos, wild irises are blooming now. That's about sea level. My migratory habits are such that I'm more used to seeing wild irises flowering at the end of summer, in late July or August, in the Sierra near Tioga Pass. That's about 10,000 feet. (The irises at Point Lobos are Iris douglasiana, the…