Author writes about subjects close to his heart

Children's author Roland Smith grew up wanting to be a writer but not quite believing it was possible. Zoos were his first employers.

His first book, "Sea Otter Rescue," was based on his experiences rescuing animals during the Exxon Valdez oil spill, where he estimates 250,000 mammals lost their lives. "Journey of the Red Wolf" explains how animals are reintroduced into the wild, a job he had at the zoo in Portland, Ore.

Writing about the environmental subjects he cares about made Smith a writer.

He will talk about his books at 7 p.m. Monday in a discussion at the Central Junior High School Auditorium. He also will visit other schools in Cape Girardeau, as well as schools in Jackson and Sikeston during his stay.

Smith has a knack for helping animals. In his first job as a part-time worker at a children's zoo, he was sent into the neighboring park with the hopeless task of finding two agoutis, large South American rodents, that had escaped. He caught them and brought them back. Another time he caught a myna bird that accidentally had been let out of a cage. The foreman of the Portland Zoo decided Smith would make a good animal keeper.

He graduated to senior zookeeper, general curator and assistant director at the zoo. During that time he became a research biologist. He has written a number of books about animals in the zoo.

The main characters in Smith's books are 13 or 14 years old. That's because his readers usually are much younger -- 9 and up. "Kids like to read about kids that are older," he said in a phone interview while on a book tour in Virginia. "They want to be older."

"The Captain's Dog" is about Seaman, the Newfoundland dog that accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their exploration of the West 200 years ago. "Thunder Cave" explores the adventures of a boy in Kenya trying to find his father and save elephants from poachers.

Passionate about writing

His books contain messages but don't preach, Smith says. "I'm not a pastor, I'm passionate."

His newest book, "Zach's Lie," is about a 13-year-old boy whose family must go into the Witness Relocation Program after his father is arrested for drug trafficking. It is a departure for his readers accustomed to stories about animals, but not one for him. "I care about those issues," he said.

"Zach's Lie" is a nominee for the Mark Twain Award presented by the Missouri Association of School Librarians. Smith's books have won numerous other awards.

John Grisham for kids is the way Kim McDowell of the YELL Foundation describes "Zach's Lie."

Smith's appearance is funded by the YELL Foundation, the Southeast Regional Association of School Librarians, the schools and business sponsors.

Smith and his wife, Marie, live south of Portland, Ore., on a small farm where they raise a few cows, "mostly in self-defense to keep the foliage back," he says.

As he tours schools, he hopes students who see he is a normal looking person realize that being a writer is accessible to them as well.

"If I can do it they can do it," he said.

He wishes he had met a writer when he was a student. "I used to think they were special until I became one," he said, laughing.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182