Kelly Milner HALLS Q&A'S for ALBINO ANIMALS

QUESTION: Why did you write a book about albinism in the animal kingdom?

Kelly Milner Halls: I saw a beautiful African American girl about 12-years-old in Denver one day and she took my breath away. I thought she was so lovely, but I realized I didn't know anything about albinism.  Writing a book about animals with albinism was a fun way to find out more and to share what I'd learned with the general public, without making human beings feel exploited.

QUESTION: How did you find so many albino animals?

Kelly Milner Halls: I started with the Internet -- by using a search engine. Then I had to track down the people who'd seen or worked with these beautiful animals and make sure the stories I'd found on the websites were true. It took hours and hours and hours of research to put this book together...even more hours to find all the photographs. But in the end, I think it was worth the time invested, don't you?

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite story from ALBINO ANIMALS? A favorite animal?

Kelly Milner Halls: Boy, that would be hard, to pick a favorite. I kind of love them all. But I thought the story of Lincoln, the albino lobster was really amazing. Fishermen in Maine caught Lincoln in a lobster trap. He was fair catch -- big enough to sell for a lobster dinner. But they didn't do that. They thought he was so special he deserved to live. They didn't even sell him to Ripley's Believe it or Not when they could have pocketed a lot of money if they had. They wound up letting him go, where they caught him because they thought he deserved a normal, happy lobster life. I thought that was heroic. But all the stories in the book wound up teaching me a lot about people, animals and life itself. It was an amazing experience.

QUESTION: What one albino fact was the most amazing to you?

Kelly Milner Halls: The fact that albino animals have red eyes because you can see through the normally pigmented parts of the eye to the blood vessels of the inner wall. But I also thought the fact that they haven't found any albino tigers was really fascinating. Why no albino tigers or any big cats, for that matter?  I'd still like to understand that better.

QUESTION: Did all the albino stories make it into the book?

Kelly Milner Halls: No, unfortunately.  There was an albino shark, an albino zebra, an albino Great Dane -- several more great stories that we just didn't have room for in this book. Broke my heart to leave them out.

QUESTION: What comments have surprised you about ALBINO ANIMALS?

Kelly Milner Halls: Some people say the animals look creepy. I couldn't disagree more. I think the conditions of albinism create truly beautiful animals and people. That's part of why I wanted to write this book -- to celebrate that unique beauty.