Chris Sweeney with Lisa Weidenfeld: The Feather Detective

In person at Brookline Booksmith! Celebrate the release of The Feather Detective with author Chris Sweeney, in conversation with Lisa Weidenfeld.

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The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne

The fascinating and remarkable true story of the world’s first forensic ornithologist— Roxie Laybourne, who broke down barriers for women, solved murders, and investigated deadly airplane crashes with nothing more than a microscope and a few fragments of feathers.

In 1960, an Eastern Airlines flight had no sooner lifted from the runway at Boston Logan Airport when it struck a flock of birds and took a nosedive into the shallow waters of the Boston Harbor, killing sixty-two people. This was the golden age of commercial airflight—luxury in the skies—and safety was essential to the precarious future of air travel. So the FAA instructed the bird remains be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for examination, where they would land on the desk of the only person in the world equipped to make sense of it all.

Her name was Roxie Laybourne, a diminutive but singular woman with thick glasses, a heavy Carolina drawl, and a passion for birds. Roxie didn’t know it at the time, but that box full of dead birds marked the start of a remarkable scientific journey. She became the world’s first forensic ornithologist, investigating a range of crimes and calamites on behalf of the FBI, the US Air Force, and even NASA.

The Feather Detective takes readers deep within the vaunted backrooms of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to tell the story of a burgeoning science and the enigmatic woman who pioneered it. While her male colleagues in taxidermy embarked on expeditions around the world and got plum promotions, Roxie stayed with her birds. Using nothing more than her microscope and bits of feathers, she helped prosecute murderers, kidnappers, and poachers. When she wasn’t testifying in court or studying evidence from capital crimes, she was helping aerospace engineers and Air Force crews as they raced to bird-proof their airplanes before disaster struck again.

In The Feather Detective, award-winning journalist Chris Sweeney charts the astonishing life and work of this overlooked pioneer. Once divorced, once widowed, and sometimes surly, Roxie shattered stereotypes and pushed boundaries. Her story is one of persistence and grit, obsession and ingenuity. Drawing on reams of archival material, court documents, and exclusive interviews, Sweeney delivers a moving and amusing portrait of a woman who overcame cultural and scientific obstacles at every turn, forever changing our understanding of birds—and the feathers they leave behind.

Chris Sweeney is an award-winning journalist whose reporting has appeared in Audubon, The Guardian, Popular Science, Men’s Journal, and WIRED, among many others. He has worked as a senior editor at Boston Magazine and a staff writer at Village Voice Media’s New Times in South Florida. Sweeney was a United Nations Foundation Global Issues Press Fellow, and he has taught at Tufts University, Regis College, and Western Connecticut State University. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Northwestern University’s Medill School, he now lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his wife and two young daughters.

Lisa Weidenfeld is an arts editor at the Boston Globe, where she covers television, movies, theater, and comedy. She has published essays, criticism, and more at the AV Club, Boston magazine, Episodic Medium, and other publications, and worked as the senior digital editor at Boston magazine.

About Brookline Booksmith

We are one of New England’s premier independent bookstores, family-owned and locally run since 1961. We offer an extensive selection of new, used, and bargain books; unique, beautiful gifts; award-winning events series; and specialty foods. Every day, we strive to foster community through the written word, represent a diverse range of voices and histories, and inspire conversations that enrich our lives. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

EVENT ACCESSIBILITY

This event will take place at street level. If possible, the event will be livestreamed to YouTube. ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event. Seats are limited. Please email us at ticketing@brooklinebooksmith.com as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. We will do our best to serve your needs!