"So now that you've written a book, we'll need a picture of you and your bio for the back cover," my chosen publisher announced as I debated the typical arrangement. "I don't think so," I muttered before sending him an autographed photo from one of my modeling shoots. "Why's that?" he asked. "You're not exactly hard on the eyes!" he flattered as I shook my head. "It's not about me, Andy," I retorted. "You see, it's about Pearl's life and adventures, but more than that, my series has become a way to unite the poets, singer-songwriters, artists, sculptures, small business owners and supportive fans of the world that agree with my motivations. One can rescue and rehabilitate an endangered parrot but is that going to stop the destruction of the natural resources of her native land of Mohaka, Indonesia, making it a near impossibility for her species along with the Tanimbar and Umbrella cockatoos from becoming more and more scarce in the wild?" The one-word answer is "no." In my opinion, for what it's worth, the ONLY way to cease the trading of endangered animals that are raised in captivity is to focus our interest on other commodities that aren't quite so "high maintenance" such as the arts and that's why I reserve the back covers of my series in order to pay it forward by thanking the artists of the world for stepping up to donate and/or auction off their art in order to support Pink Pearl's Parrot Rescue, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization (Federal Tax ID-46-4794769). In order of which they came forward, I extend my humble gratitude to Daisy Timonan for her beautiful illustrations that she created in honor of Pearlybird; Tony Sanchez for his generously donated Giclêe and for offering to accept commissioned paintings to support us; Daniel Oropeza for hosting our first fundraiser at his wonderful studio; Donjo Medlevine for being a memorable friend of 20+ years and for stepping up to create parrot sculptures in support of our endeavors along with auctioning his other sculptures at our first fundraiser; Michael and Marie Parker for their contributions and donation of the lovely Giclêe pictured above with Chloe Cockatoo and Pink Pearlybird on the front cover beneath my acrylic painting titled, "Porsche"; and last but I'm sure will never be least, Wyland for donating his autographed and limited numbered lithograph to auction off. In the famous words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward." -- Respectfully yours, Jes Führmann, author