A Wolf Called Romeo

A Wolf Called Romeo Here's what I think makes this book and the story it tells so unique that both the book and the story may be one of a kind:1. It's about a wild animal, an exquisite black wolf in the prime of his life. He has the social and emotional intelligence to initiate and maintain for six years amazingly playful and nuanced friendships and relationships with countless people and dogs in a community of 30,000 people in the community of Juneau Alaska.2. Significantly, the wolf was not domesticated either before or after he blended his life into the lives of the community, as evidenced by the fact that he did not go there for food or shelter, always sleeping and hunting for his food far away from the community and beyond its purview.3. Even in the dead of winter when the live food the wolf needed was so scarce that he became quite thin, he stayed away from the community until he was strong enough to return.4. The wolf came to be called Romeo, after being given this name by one member the community who noticed his seemingly flirtatious behavior around one of her female dogs, even though in six years he never tried to mate with any of dogs in the community.5. Romeo not only figured out where and how to start his friendships and relationships with people and dogs in the community, but also how to manage, maintain and extend them. Just to take one example, he invented many of his own games using his own and other dogs' toys and props.6. He also figured out how to work around tricky sensitivities and possible conflicts. For example, he managed to stay away from community residents who just could not bring themselves to trust or like any wolf, and would have shot him on sight, but chose not to do so because of community pressure and the love and respect showered on Romeo but literally thousands of community members.7. An example of Romeo's wolf-based peace-making capabilities is reflected in his astute deflection of attacks by one small dog with bared teeth who could just not figure him out. After many years of deflecting the dog's attacks, usually by literally turning the other cheek, an exasperated Romeo finally picked up the dog in his mouth and flung him several feet as an object lesson -- even though Romeo could have used his sharp teeth, size and strength to kill the little dog in an instant.8. Romeo established enduring friendships with several human members of the community in particular -- during which the wolf and the individuals always maintained a safe and respectful distance from each other, a customary practice when the wildlife world is penetrated by humans. Despite this symbolic distance, Romeo had no hesitation going on to his friends' property and waiting patiently for them and their dogs to come out to play.9. Romeo established an especially close relationship with one member of the community in particular, Nick Jans, the author of this book.10. Jans is a naturalist and wildlife expert whose wide-ranging expertise extends to wolves, photography and writing books. This expertise accounts for how this book, A Wolf Called Romeo, came to be written, replete with a highly professional repertory of unforgettable photographs that Nick took of Romeo over a period of six years.But in addition to Jans and the wild wolf Romeo being the main characters in a stellar cast of thousands harmoniously living their lives together in this unusual community in Juneua, Alaska, they are also messengers of what I think is a universal Manifesto to inspire the rest of us to follow in their footsteps. The way I interpret this Manifesto is that each and every one of us human beings should strive to create similar relationships with members of the animal kingdom in our communities so they can teach us important about how to survive on this planet and make life more worth living on it and less destructive. Here are several of the messages I discerned from this story and their Manifesto.1. Human beings are in the process of rendering more and more animal species extinct every day, directly and indirectly, causing great pain and unnecessary suffering, just as they are doing to plant life and increasing forms of bio-diversity.2. Many of these species, like elephants, have evolved, over thousands of years and even millennia, far more complex, caring, and compassionate social structures than human social structures, many of which are cruel and predatory in nature, and inflict great harm and suffering on human beings, as well as animals and plants.3. As Romeo's behavior exemplifies, he brought with him into the community in Juneau an advanced social and emotional intelligence that enabled him to interact harmoniously and playfully with humans and dogs, even while he remained fundamentally wild and undomesticated.4. But while Romeo's insertion into the welcoming Juneau community enabled him to live a longer life than lived by most wolves fighting for survival in the harsh Alaskan wilds (because its members "broke trail" for him, which enabled him to find food more easily) Romeo's life was cut short by two sadistic and perverse social deviants who deliberately shot him in 2008 at close range, just for the fun of it, while Romeo was waiting patiently inside the community for his friends to come out and play. These two sickies planned and sought out the sick pleasure of not only killing the trusting, unsuspecting Romeo but also of causing countless members of the Juneau community to grieve unremittingly at his loss -- including and especially Nick Jans who to this day appears to be still coping with his grief -- in company with the rest of us who now know the story.5. But the victory here, snatched from what otherwise might appear to be the jaws of defeat, is the lesson that Romeo and Nick is teaching us, together with the two lost souls who killed Romeo. This lesson is that in the "top-down" controlled, conflict-plagued 21st century, we have to learn how to build new forms of inclusive, caring communities from the "bottom-up" that nurture all of its members' capacities' for love and sharing -- animals and humans. These new communities should leave none of their members so abused, denied, enraged and drug-addicted that they seek revenge in cruel and wanton acts such as killing an extraordinarily trusting wild wolf who created unprecedented friendships and loving relationships throughout an entire community.6. We need to shift our attention from the similarly lost souls of so many heads of state and government lawmakers who continuously prove themselves incapable of building the trusting and caring relationships that one wolf built in a single community.7. What I think Romeo's and Nick's Manifesto is telling us is that we need to start at the grassroots, to invent new communities with each other and our animal friends, wild and domesticated. We need to use these new communities to create increasingly harmonious relationships and social structures -- including political structures -- working upwards until we figure out how to live together on this planet before we destroy it and everything living here.These are the lessons that Romeo and Nick and the Juneau community have taught me. What more can I say?

Nick Jans lures you in with his descriptive storytelling of a most unique wolf, intertwined with a panoply of interesting, factual, informative asides regarding the wolf in general. Even though Romeo is the main event, the detailed picturesque landscape of Alaska adds so much to this magical story. Smart, well documented, and with a hint of the political atmosphere of the time, this is the book you want to lend to everyone you know so they get to experience it! That is why I bought two copies!

The author shares the amazing story of a black wolf who walked into the lives and hearts of the people of Juneau, AK. Nick Jans brings you along on the 6 year journey of Romeo's life with the people and dogs who knew him best. This is a once in a life time story about a once in a life time wolf. Buy the book, and be prepared for a magical journey that tugs on your heart strings. I promise you will not soon forget the black wolf of Juneau.

I read a article on Romeo a few years ago on the Internet and I was hoping that would be a book so I looked it up and here it was. too bad those poachers killed him Sounds like he was a really Good wolf I wish he was still around. Makes me wish I lived in Alaska at this time he was alive I would’ve loved to seen him but at the same time I feel sorry for the people in Alaska that is no longer around

Heart warming . . . and heart jerking, for anyone with a heart. Enjoy and don't anticipate the next story line.

Animal lovers will love this book. This book is well written and just reading it, you fall in love with Romeo !

Jans’ writing style is lean and informative, but it is in his storytelling that the book shines. In some ways it reads as one long murder mystery/eulogy to Romeo, beginning with his first appearance and well-researched pontifications as to what caused him to linger in the area and fraternize with numerous canines, and going all the way through to the wolf’s untimely demise as the hands of, what is far too common in Alaska: would-be sportsmen with little woodsmen skills, looking for easy kills and displaying little to no actual animal hunting skill or ethics.As a resident of this state, I was aware of Romeo’s story from newspaper articles during the time the wolf was still alive, but was surprised to read many facts in Jans’ book that were left out of some of these news stories. Facts such as the first person to bring an accusation that Romeo killed their dog, had on him at the time, a predator call. There were also many details relating to the court cases of the creatures known as Myers and Peacock that were absent in the newspaper stories.This book sheds light on what is often overlooked about wolves, and animals in general, which is they have their own remarkable personalities, and may not always conform to our preconceived notions of how they should act. Jans does an excellent job, for most of the book, detailing what a one-of-a-kind wolf Romeo truly was.I think the book would be an eye-opening read for anyone who doesn’t live in Alaska because it details some of the best and worst of this state wildlife politics, and in terms of the later giving poachers, such as the ones who took Romeo’s life, a slap on the wrist for their crimes. Sad that shooting a hole in a pipeline can garnish someone 35 years in a federal penitentiary, but killing a unique and special animal, like Romeo, brought only fines, suspended jail time, and a brief loss of hunting privileges.Jans also illuminates just how much animal lovers(often erroneously labeled as animal rights extremists), and those fond of wolves in particular, are marginalized by the vast majority of sport hunters, Fish and Game, the Alaska court system and various other entities in state. He does this while making the point, often juxtaposed to his own hunting past and subsistence hunters he knew in the Kobuk region, that not all hunters are bad, but the ones that are – like Myers and Peacock – often have their sociopathic behaviors overlooked by those with an “us versus them” mentality to hunting. These cowards killed Romeo because it was easy, sure, but primarily because other people loved him and saw him as more than the stereotypical version of a feared, dangerous creature.Reading various reviews here complaining about the end. I think their disgust is with the actual events that occurred, and are detailed toward the end of the book, much more than Jan’s writing, story arc, or his conclusion of the book. In fact, I found his final two chapters to most heart-felt writing of the book, albeit the most gut-wrenching to read through. This is a book you will be thinking about for weeks after you finish it.

I love wolves and dogs, so I thought I'd really like this book. It was recommended by a friend. I found the beginning interesting and good reading. Then it got boring and same after same. No real story. I am already on the save the wolf band wagon. This was so redundant about... save the wolf, it was boring

What a beautiful true story of a beautiful wolf. I love wolves and this is at the top of my reading list. The wolf in question, Romeo, pictured on the cover, is an amazing animal who befriends various dogs whilst out on their daily meanderings with their owners. There are some dogs that Romeo befriends easily, without any ulterior motive other than wanting to be friends. Other dogs (perhaps their owners don't help), Romeo doesn't want to know and therefore runs away. As usual, there are the bad guys who can't wait to "bag" a wolf hide!! Uplifting, funny and sad, a brilliant book relating the account of a wolf who just wanted to be a friend.

This book was supposed to be a story about a friendly wolf. FORGET THAT. It's beginning and further on is all about the breed. I NEVER give up on a book. Animal books I like to read. But if you want technical knowledge of wolves, read it. No story line by the time I was 25% through. Oh what a disappointment....

Very good and well written book. I was very moved by the true story of a lone black wild wolf and his relationship with the dogs belonging to the both the writer and also with those of others living in the locality. It took a bit of getting into so don't expect to be gripped from the first page but I would encourage you to persevere.. Lots of additional facts and information for wolf lovers from an author who obviously know his stuff and cares deeply about wolves.

An extraordinary account of a sensitive, intelligent wolf during years of his encounters with good people who treated him with respect and admiration leading to extra special understanding on both sides.

I cannot comment on the actual story, as I brought this as a gift for someone, but I wanted to comment on the print size. Unfortunately this is quite small print and the person I brought the book for will struggle. I wish there was some easy way of knowing what the print size was before purchasing a book.