A Walk In Connection


Non-Fiction - Animals
232 Pages
Reviewed on 05/24/2016
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Tracy Ane Brooks grew up in the mountains outside of Boulder Colorado. A graduate of Boulder High School, Tracy pursued a career in hand wrought silversmith jewelry creation. In 1989, Tracy donated jewelry from her business titled "Black Wolf Silver" to a newly formed wolf sanctuary in Southern Colorado. This donation changed the path of her life forever. Tracy has been instrumental in building Mission: Wolf, a captive wolf sanctuary, and solar power nature center, located in Southern Colorado. An artist and silversmith, Tracy has created many pieces as fundraisers for Mission: Wolf.
Tracy's biggest contribution to Mission: Wolf is her work with wolves. For nearly thirty years, Tracy has walked wolves into schools, universities, and museums like the Smithsonian Institute, prisons systems, and rehab facilities. It takes a unique personality to handle one or more gray wolves with confidence, in public. And with Tracy’s help, the Mission: Wolf educational program reached countless everyday people through seated programs across the United States. And millions more through different media venues, including T.V. news segments and other programs like ABC, CBS class of 2000 & The NBC Today Show 12-4-1994, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood show and other public or cable specials and a Los Lobo’s stage, on E-Town Radio.
Tracy possesses a deep understanding of the instinctual connection we share with animals. A decade after Tracy began her work as a volunteer for the Mission: Wolf sanctuary, a horse, came into her life. Tracy became fascinated with natural horsemanship and embarked on a ten-year study of horse training. Desiring to discover for herself the magic behind horse whispering. The biggest lesson Tracy took away from her homeschooled horse-woman-ship, was to listen to the horse on an intuitive level and mirror the animal’s natural behavior and attitude. As Tracy became successful working with equines, she began to apply what she was doing consciously, with great success on the wolves. Predators and prey, all have the same root foundation of behavior: flight, fight, and freeze.
Tracy was so inspired by what she was learning, working with these animals that she began work on a book in 2009. Not sure what direction the book was heading, Tracy spent as much time outside in the field with animals, and used her experiences to guide her. Since the publication of “A Walk in Connection” in late 2014, to date, the book has gotten five star reviews and won two finalist awards, The International Book Awards 2016 and Reader’s Favorite International Book Awards 2016. Tracy also shares what she has learned from the animal teachers, spreading her message of connection, with hundreds of students and trainers from all over the world.
Tracy currently lives with Kent, her dogs, horses, cats and chickens.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Tracy Slowiak for Readers' Favorite

What a story I just read! A Walk in Connection by author Tracy Ane Brooks is an absolute revelation. Recounting the real life experiences of the author, an impressive person who served as the director and co-founder of Mission: Wolf, a wolf sanctuary in the state of Colorado, the book includes her amazing experiences with many animals, but with two special ones in particular. Shaman, a British Columbia gray wolf, and Ikus, a strong and independent horse. It is through her relationships with both of these animals, and her ability to allow the animals to serve as her teachers, that Tracy develops her profound ideas on the reality of the human and animal bond and connection.

I found A Walk in Connection to be a simply amazing read, and one that I know I will find myself coming back to again and again over the years. Tracy's experiences and her ability to share them with her readers are simply amazing and thought provoking. For a person who loves animals anyway, this book definitely spurred my interest from the time I read the premise, but any reader would find a great deal to love about it. A Walk in Connection gets my very highest recommendation, and I would love to tell author Tracy Ane Brooks that she should continue writing about her experiences. A follow up book to this great offering is definitely in order, and I certainly hope to see one in the very near future!

Jack Magnus

A Walk In Connection is a non-fiction memoir written by Tracy Ane Brooks. The author had embraced the jewelry-making arts that her father had taught her, and she was able to make a living from selling her designs, but she wanted more. When she heard that Kent Weber, who was one of the founders of Mission: Wolf, a rescue sanctuary for wolves and wolf-dog hybrids, would be bringing a wolf to the University of Colorado for an educational lesson on wolves and their role in the wild, she knew she was going to be there. Weber was a fascinating man who was committed to the rescue program, but Shaman, the wolf ambassador for the program, was the one who really caught Brooks' eye. Shaman made a point of ignoring the people sitting in that classroom while he studiously sniffed at their belongings and the other items in the classroom. Then he came by Brooks, and she held her breath as he investigated her chair and then, for a moment, their eyes met. She was stunned by the intensity in that young wolf's eyes, and the experience would propel her into a life devoted to animal rescue and working with wild animals.

Tracy Ane Brooks' non-fiction memoir, A Walk In Connection, is an engrossing account of the author's decades-long work with wolves, wolf-dogs and horses. As someone with two canine companions, I was especially interested in the differences between wolves and their domesticated cousins, dogs, and loved reading about how Brooks discovered how to earn the wolves' trust and, later on, devotion. Her descriptions of Mission: Wolf, the sanctuary she helped build and was a part of for over twenty years, are marvelous. Brooks is a gifted nature writer as well; one who can share her experiences with her audience with a timeless sense of immediacy. I felt as though I were there on that first day when she met Shaman and looked into his eyes for that moment, and that sense of being there continued on throughout my reading of her book. I also enjoyed that part of the story which detailed her work with the two Percheron horses she later acquired, and the work she did with Ikus, who was a particular challenge for her. Brooks' description of the techniques she used to eventually gain his trust and compliance show an intuitive and innate insight into animal behavior that is inspiring to say the least. A Walk In Connection is highly recommended.

Gisela Dixon

A Walk In Connection by Tracy Ane Brooks is a non-fiction book on Tracy’s experiences of working closely with wolves and understanding them and their behaviors. A Walk In Connection is an autobiographical account of Tracy’s background and how she has always been drawn to wolves. Her opportunity came while attending an educational session where she encountered the speaker, Kent, whom she later went on to develop a relationship with, and Shaman, the first wolf she had met face to face. From then on, she continued to work closely with Shaman as well as various other wolves, including feeding them, taking them on walks, and bonding with them. Her experiences with each wolf and the amazing range of personalities and intuitive abilities that each wolf displays is captured wonderfully. The wolf pack structure is explored in detail, along with the alpha conflicts that accompany it. The book also includes Tracy's experiences working with horses.

A Walk In Connection by Tracy Ane Brooks provides great insight into the minds and behaviors of these shy, reclusive, intelligent, and highly perceptive creatures. I especially enjoyed reading about the various rivalries and dynamics that can develop in a wolf pack. It was also amazing to hear some of her encounters with wolves that almost made me question if wolves possess an intuition and intelligence beyond what we imagine. In the end, this book is not just about wolves, but also about the fact that essentially we all, humans and animals alike, share the same feelings and are capable of the same emotions. Hopefully, a book like this will go a long way towards developing compassion and respect for all animals and ending all forms of animal abuse and cruelty.

Chris Fischer

In the very interesting and intriguing true life story of author Tracy Ane Brooks, A Walk in Connection is a book that readers will devour all in one sitting if they can. Poring over Tracy's experiences living with wolves in her position as the co-founder and director of Mission: Wolf, a sanctuary for wolves in Colorado, her relationship with one special wolf, Shaman, and eventually, with one special horse, Ikus, informs her entire belief system on human-animal relationships. Tracy's story is one of great bravery, great trust, and great intuition, and is one that will have readers holding their breaths, shedding tears, and even laughing at times. Tracy's desire to share what she has learned, for the betterment of both humans and animals, shines through brightly in this highly emotional and heartfelt book.

I very much enjoyed A Walk in Connection. Author Tracy Ane Brooks has done a fantastic job in delivering her story in such a way that any reader, but especially those who love animals, will be completely enthralled. The descriptions of the inner lives of both animals and people are so genuine and insightful that it will often bring tears to readers' eyes. Her knowledge of the lives of animals, especially those of Shaman and Ikus, and her descriptions of how the animals became her teachers are phenomenal. I highly recommend this book, and I hope that author Tracy Ane Brooks will continue to provide her readers with additional stories from her life and adventures in the future!

Maria Beltran

A Walk In Connection by Tracy Ane Brooks is a fascinating account of her life with animals. The daughter of a silversmith, she follows in her father’s footsteps and starts her own home business, the Black Wolf Silver in 1987. Growing up in the mountains of Colorado, she has a natural affinity with nature and is already drawn to wolves, although she hasn’t seen one yet. After over a year, she presents her first jewelry collection at an exhibit, but sales are minimal and she feels the urge to expand her career. At the same time, she donates some of her pieces to charities and dreams about doing something for the animals. An encounter with Shaman, a British Colombian gray wolf, and Kent Weber, founder of Mission: Wolf, give her the chance to pursue her dream.

A Walk in Connection is Tracy Ane Brooks’ account of her close encounters with wolves and horses. A co-founder of a wolf sanctuary in Colorado, she has the enviable experience of getting to know the shy and powerful Shaman, the confident and curious Cyndar, the gruff grizzly-bear-like Hota, and many other wolves who find sanctuary in Mission: Wolf. Not known to be domestic animals, these wolves will show Tracy a glimpse of their captivating and sometimes cruel world. Highly social, wolves live in packs under the rule of an alpha male and female pair and in the wild, territorial disputes with other packs can lead to deadly encounters. In captivity, they display the same characteristics. Tracy also gets to own Ikus, a strong and independent horse who refuses to be tamed, forcing her to find novel ways to connect with him. Tracy Brooks’ life long experience with these animals should teach us that it is possible for humans and other members of the animal kingdom to communicate and live in harmony.