Photo: Nancy Upson
Author
Elizabeth Upson Stanley recently moved to Florida from Connecticut where she lived for fifty-five years. She holds BS and MS degrees in Human Services from New Hampshire College, with concentrations in Early Childhood Education and Community Counseling Psychology respectively. She founded, and for thirty years was Director and Head Teacher at Storybook Barn School, an accredited preschool for three to five-year-old children. Storybook Barn was the lab school for the Briarwood College Child Development Program which she developed and then served as Program Director and Associate Professor for twenty-four years.
Elizabeth has had a lifelong interest in nature study and the preservation of the natural environment with its wild creatures and the habitats they need to survive. Over time she has taught numerous nature study classes and provided nature day camps for children. Through her students she has strived to encourage an appreciation of nature and an understanding that all living things are interrelated. She believes that nature study with young children is important as they are the ones who will be future stewards of the environment and maintaining a balance of nature. Rami’s story supports preservation of wildlife and conservation of habitat by respecting the wolf and its role in the wilderness.
Elizabeth’s experiences over seventeen years with the founders of Mission: Wolf Sanctuary and the ambassador wolves are the inspiration for her story about very special wolf, Rami.
Inspiration to Advocacy
Most of my life I have enjoyed writing for my own pleasure. When I met wolves Sila and Merlin, Ambassador Wolves from Mission: Wolf Sanctuary, I found an interest that would extend over the next two decades. Becoming involved with the founders and wolves of Mission: Wolf became a very significant part of my life. Eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose with a live wolf, looking into its soul through its beautiful yellow eyes, I became an advocate for the magnificent canines and the mission of the sanctuary. On another occasion I met Rami, a very special wolf. She wasn’t very big, but she had a very big story to tell. That would be a challenge and pleasure to write, and maybe to publish. Three Rami books were published.
The stories of Rami the wolf were written with love in the hope of my continued ability over time to contribute to the preservation of wolves in our wildernesses for future generations. My experiences with wolves have shown me that, as with all wildlife, wolves have an important role to play in the balance of an ecosystem. We can learn much from the wolf. As stewards of this planet, maybe one day people will learn to co-exist in harmony with nature’s creatures.
Elizabeth U. Stanley
