Life List by Olivia Gentile

I felt almost compelled to read the book “Life List: A Woman’s Quest for the World’s Most Amazing Birds” by Olivia Gentile after having personally witnessed the zeal and enthusiasm of birders (equipped with vests, binoculars, and spotting scopes) at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in northwest Ohio. This book is about the life and personality of a woman named Phoebe Snetsinger. She was a typical wife and mother of four who found her life (in the 1950s and 1960s) to be depressing, lonely and boring. Snetsinger and a friend decided to start bird-watching as a backyard hobby in order to enrich their lives. In 1965 she saw a Blackburian warbler (a black and white bird with a yellow head and orange throat) and this experience was an epiphany that sent her on a quest to keep a “life list,” or tally, of each new bird species that she saw. Then, at age 49, she was diagnosed with melanoma and given less than a year to live. This diagnosis changed her life. She was determined to see as many species as possible before dying. Snetsinger travelled to all seven continents and toured as many places (mostly tropical) as possible. Unexpectedly, however, she lived another 20 years and ended up setting the record for the most birds seen by a person—8,674 species (84% of all living birds).
“Life List” is full of interesting insights into the life of Phoebe Snetsinger. I learned about how she distanced herself from her family, about how she traveled the world visiting exotic locations and experiencing many adventures as well as tragedies, and about the fascinating determination and passion that characterized her life. It was interesting how birding evolved from a casual hobby into an obsession and it ended up saving her life both in an emotional and in a physical sense. Reading this biography made me wonder about how I would react if I received a medical diagnosis like Snetsinger.
Bird enthusiasts will love this book. It will give them the details of a famous birder’s life, it will give some insight into the art of looking at birds, and it will make them aware of the possible perils involved in birding, especially overseas.
Readers who liked “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer also might enjoy “Life List.” Both books are about passionate people who separated themselves from their families and “real life” in order to pursue a dream in the wilderness. And, ultimately, both of them died pursuing their dreams.