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After giving up a hectic life as a journalist in Europe and
Hollywood in the late 1960s to return to his boyhood love of
nature, Mike Tomkies moved to Eilean Shona, a remote island off the
west coast of Scotland. There he rebuilt an abandoned croft house
and began a new way of life observing nature. He tracked foxes and
stags, made friends with seals and taught an injured sparrow-hawk
to hunt for itself. It was the indomitable spirit of this tiny bird
that taught Tomkies what it takes for any of us to be truly free.
Whether he was fishing, growing his own food or battling through
stormy seas in a tiny boat, he learned that he could survive in the
harsh environment. This is the astonishing story of daring to take
the first step away from urban routines and embracing a harsh yet
immensely rewarding way of life which, in turn, led Tomkies to an
even more remote location and inspired an acclaimed series of books
on various animals and the challenges and joys of living in remote
places.
When Mike Tomkies moved to a remote cottage on the shores of Loch
Shiel in the West Highlands of Scotland, he found a place which was
to provide him with the most profound wilderness experience of his
life. Accessible only by boat, the cottage he renamed 'Wildernesse'
was to be his home for many years, which he shared with his beloved
German Shepherd, Moobli. Centred on different landscape elements -
loch, woodlands and mountains -Tomkies describes the whole cycle of
nature through the seasons in a harsh and testing environment of
unrivalled beauty. Vivid colours and sounds fill the pages - exotic
wild orchids, the roar of rutting stags, the territorial movements
of foxes, otters and badgers, an oak tree being torn apart by
hurricane-force gales. Nothing escapes his penetrating eye. His
extraordinary insights into the wildlife that shared his otherwise
empty territory were not gained without perseverance in the face of
perilous hazards, and the difficulties and challenges of life in
the wilderness are a key part of this remarkable book.
This is a boisterous, roller-coaster of a story about Mike Tomkies'
extraordinary adventures after he quit his full-time career as a
celebrity journalist and began working as a logger with the lusty
men of the wild Canadian forests - men who led a free way of life
now long gone. During his first enforced visit back to Hollywood to
generate some funds, Tomkies' companion was Booto, a stray wild dog
who had adopted him in the Canadian wilds and who enjoyed the
attention of stars such as Cary Grant, Omar Sharif and Peter Finch
during interviews. The two also travelled around Mexico and Belize,
where Tomkies spent hours with Dean Martin on the outdoor location
of "Five Card Stud", even photographing the star doing his own
dangerous stunts. Tomkies was the first to test the new Tartan
athletics track in Mexico City for the 1968 Olympics for the "Daily
Express", much to the annoyance of the workmen on site!Mike and
Booto climbed the Pyramid of the Sun, hacked through rough tracks
to the ancient ruins of Palenque, and visited the terrifying Well
of Sacrifice at Chichen Itza where the ancient Mayans sacrificed
young humans, hearts torn out first, to assuage the rain god Chac.
Back in Hollywood, Mike was invited to the Oscar awards ceremony
where, even in his old truck, he was mistaken for Warren Beatty
with compere Bob Hope joking that Beatty was so confident of
winnings Oscars for Bonnie and Clyde he had brought a big truck to
take them all away!After another year in the wilds of Canada,
Tomkies left Booto behind and returned to Hollywood for more
amazing experiences with major film stars. He went motorbiking in
the Mojave Desert with Steve McQueen; spent days with and gained
extraordinary insights into the life of the greatest box office
star of all time, John Wayne; while Doris Day, 'America's
sweetheart', offered him a film test! Tomkies had several feisty
meetings with Hollywood's greatest maverick and wit, Robert
Mitchum, who actually 'laid a joint' on him when he asked if
Mitchum was still on pot! The book ends with Tomkies hiring North
America's greatest Red Indian guide, Clayton Mack, when they went
on dangerous treks deep in grizzly country and saw 21 bears in
three days - and were lucky to escape with their lives. There is a
final poignant farewell to old Booto as Tomkies leaves for his new
life in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands.
You thought he was retired, even dead? No, he is back! At the age
of 86, Mike Tomkies is back doing what he does best - observing our
rarest and most dramatic wildlife, unsuspected and from close
quarters, and writing about it with the kind of intimate detail
that has earned high acclaim from critics and conservationists.
Within days of arriving back from five years of studying bears,
wolves and lynxes in Spain, he is up a wild cliff in Cornwall
watching three peregrine falcon chicks from hatching to flying
stage. We can follow his astounding adventures over the next ten
years as he obsessively searches all through Britain for that
elusive 'small wild paradise' so many of us would also like to
find. He lives in, but finally loses, no less than six new homes in
that time and the complications and reasons why are both hilarious
and sad. Even more fascinating is his continual obsessive quest to
get up close and personal with nesting goshawks, buzzards and
ospreys, as well as mammals like fishing otters, a fox family and
he even feeds wild badgers by hand. At one remote farmhouse in the
Borders, he learns how to handle a bulldozer, digs out his own
70-yard lake and stocks it with trout. Over three years there he
raises ten barn owl chicks and establishes three breeding pairs in
areas where they had long been absent. It was the most successful
barn owl release at the time. There are many amusing anecdotes such
as when he dreaded taking some of Prince Harry's classmates to
'otter bay' and then saw far more otters than when he had gone
there on his own! Transcending all are his new studies and
descriptions of hunting and nesting golden eagles, during which he
passed his 3,050th hour in one of his home-made 'invisible' hides,
and a huge female allowed him to bring much-needed meat to her
chicks in their eyrie. The book ends with triumphant filming of the
magnificent white-tailed sea eagles on Mull, hunting and sailing
into their high nest with prey and feeding their chicks. Mike also
achieved valuable publicity for the pioneering public sea eagle
hide project on Mull.
In wildlife circles, Mike Tomkies is a legend - called 'The
Wilderness Man'. But here he tells the story of the very different
first half of his life - before the wilderness years. He describes
his boyhood, both idyllic and traumatic, his days with an
extraordinary gamekeeper, his first love of nature, and running
away from home to join the Coldstream Guards where he became an
army athlete and saw active service in Palestine. Then follows his
years as a cub reporter and successful amateur cycle racer - with
hilariously funny narrative. An attempt to sail around the world in
1952 with a motley crew ended in shipwreck with an arduous 400-mile
tramp from Lisbon to Madrid. He describes his first real love, his
provincial reporter years and progress to Fleet Street where,
having landed a major scoop by gaining an interview with Ava
Gardner after her divorce from Frank Sinatra, he was elevated into
writing for a best-selling magazine's show business column. From
then on he flies the world - Paris, Rome, Vienna, Madrid, Hollywood
- getting 'scoop' interviews and having adventures with major movie
stars. He has an amazing encounter with Mario Lanza, tracks down
and spends three days with Elvis Presley at the time when he was an
American soldier in Germany, and under strict orders not to speak
to the press. He admits he became, for a time, a complete hedonist
and was 'arrogant, conceited and totally insufferable', going
through sports cars like a frustrated racing driver. His racy
anecdotes about the other stars he met are fascinating - Sophia
Loren, Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner,
Clark Gable, Dean Martin, Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Jayne
Mansfield, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Joan Collins, Peter O'Toole and
Sean Connery are just a few who either reveal some of their secrets
or give him unusual encounters. Tomkies describes how
disillusionment finally sets in with both his work and himself -
and why, at 38 he decides to start a new life and flies off to
Canada. Long-demanded by Mike's numerous fans, this
searingly-honest and wide-ranging adventurous tale of his first
life, will be of huge appeal to a very wide audience including
anyone interested in the stars, celebrities and their biographies.
This is a book which has it all - true-life adventures and stories
of the stars all laced with exceptionally funny anecdotes.
After giving up a hectic life as a journalist in Europe and
Hollywood in the late 1960s to return to his boyhood love of
nature, Mike Tomkies found Eilean Shona, a remote island 'between
earth and paradise' off the west coast of Scotland. There he
rebuilt a rotting wooden crofthouse which sheep had used for
shelter from the bitter Atlantic winds and began a new way of life,
observing nature, that was to last to the present day. He tracked
wildlife, stags, foxes, made friends with the seals, and taught a
young injured sparrowhawk to hunt for itself. It was the
indomitable spirit of this tiny hawk that taught Tomkies what it
takes for any of us to be truly free. Whether he was fishing,
growing his own food or battling through stormy seas in a small
boat, he learned that he could survive in the harsh environment.
This book, the beginning of a remarkable Scottish odyssey, has long
been out of print until now - but one which has long been demanded
by Tomkies' loyal readers. "Between Earth and Paradise" tells of an
astonishing story - of daring to take the first step away from
urban routines, which many of us only dream about - which led in
turn to an even more remote location and his unrivalled series of
books on the golden eagle, the wildcats he reared, and his faithful
dog, Moobli. "Between Earth and Paradise" will be of immense
interest, not only to Mike Tomkies' fans, but also to anyone with
an interest in wildlife, the natural world and those with an
interest in living self-sufficiently. Between Earth and Paradise is
also an engrossing story which will transport the reader to share
Mike's lonely but rewarding lifestyle.
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