Inspiration to Write Flocktales From the Flats

A Chesapeake Bay waterfowl conservation series teaching morals. All books have maps and glossaries.

When I was ten I watched a man from our bay window cut down a large tree in the backyard. My mother told me he was, “your father’s uncle, Great Uncle Bob Litzenberg and that he was cutting wood to carve decoys for hunting. My siblings and I never had an opportunity to meet him.

At 34 years old, I was teaching at Elk Neck Elementary School. I stopped by Stanley’s Newsstand for a Sunday paper after church. In the display window, a pair of decoys and the book, Portrait of a Decoy Carver, Robert G. Litzenberg by Donna Belinko, caught my eye. I went back in the newsstand and bought that book. I read it cover to cover and found it fascinating that my Great Uncle carved decoys, made beautiful Queen Anne furniture and mirrors, and had his waxed figure and full set of decoys displayed at the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum! I wanted to meet this talented man, my Great Uncle Robert G. Litzenberg, Sr.

I heard there was a decoy show at North East Middle School. I didn’t know a canvasback from a pintail but I didn’t let that bother me, nor feel intimidated by all of those talented carvers with their decoys set up in the gym. Meeting my great uncle had an impact on my life as a teacher and an author. With that twinkle in his eye, he invited me to visit his home to meet Esther, his wife, so I did. That was the first of many visits.

I would bring Aunt Esther and Uncle Bob pumpkin bread and jelly belly beans. We would sit on the back porch or in the front room as he told me his railbird hunting stories in the Scotland Marsh and how the sky was black with ducks as they flew in to eat  wild celery. He showed me his decoys and his workshop in the basement. I was so inspired, I said straight to him, “Uncle Bob, the children in Cecil County need to know about this early Chesapeake Bay history and how the punt gun, sink box, and live decoys were outlawed due to overhunting. I told him, as I stood by the screen door to leave, that I was headed to the library to check out books on hunting, waterfowl, and how to write a manuscript submission. He smiled and was pleased to hear about my writing project.

After the first book,  Close Duck Calls, he gave me a pair of full size blue winged teal which I still treasure so much because it was a gift from him. I went to a Sassafras Ducks Unlimited fish fry with him and his wife, Esther. Twice, I went to dinner at the Bayou with them and continued to visit both of them to read drafts of the upcoming books.

Since then, I have published thirteen books related to waterfowl conservation, and environmental concerns about the bay and the beach. I led my school, Elk Neck Elementary to become the first self-sustained Green School in CCPS at all levels and pursued my doctorate degree with a dissertation on environmental education.

Writers can be inspired by people, places, experiences, and objects. If you find yourself sparked and motivated to pursue any project, then dream it, wish it and do it. All dreams and goals can come true with the courage to pursue them.