Canadian Geographic called Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Canada’s Rachel Carson and Canada’s Thoreau, noting that she spent 50 years studying birdlife in a remote forest on the Mattawa River.

An endlessly curious self-trained amateur ornithologist and nature writer, de Kiriline Lawrence changed the way we think about birds.

Merilyn Simonds started watching birds when she was seven and has been a writer for almost as long. Her latest work—Woman, Watching—is an innovative memoir/biography of de Kiriline Lawrence.

Zooming in from the mountains of Mexico on December 7, 2022, Simonds will be presenting to MFNC members the fascinating story of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence: The Making of a Midcentury Amateur Ornithologist.