Of course, the biggest thing is Helen in Vogue and pieces on her in the New Yorker and interviews with her on NPR. The FUNNIEST was the New York Review of Books using her to advertise their edition of T. H. White’s The Goshawk (“the book that inspired Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk!”– see it a few posts below). Not for nothing did Matt Mullenix suggest that we have stickers to put on certain of our books saying “This book features FALCONRY, the sport featured in Helen Macdonald’s H is for hawk.“
But falconry may already be getting into our collective unconscious. There was a car commercial during the winter that showed a guy flying a magnificent Ferrug. And now there’s this:
Maybe it IS a “River Runs Through It” moment…
Wow. Living not far from the winemaking areas, I have falconer friends who have worked vineyards and orchards for at least a decade, and done it a little myself, subbing for them. Usually the vineyard has the falconer do a demo for friends and investors. But this is the first time I've seen it as an advertising point.
My husband and I went to see a falconry demo up in Lancaster with the LA Obscura Society. The guy had a lot of funny stories about doing bird abatement. Once his falcon chased a bunch of starlings out of one vineyard into another across the road. He had to go into the other to get his falcon, and the irate owner came out and said 'You chased a bunch of birds into my vineyard, you jerk!' or words to that effect. So the falconer said 'Hey! Would you like my card?'
If you look on Ebay, under falconry, You will find several print adds featuring falconry. An Orvis cataloge, A packard add. Scotch Whisky is another. I also think that the car add featured an Augur Buzzard, not a Ferrug. Using native raptors for commercials, even captive bred ones, is frowned upon by the USFWS.