Reading was always a huge part of my life, the local library being almost a second home. Year 'round, I'd carry out as many books as I was allowed. In summer, the books' plastic bindings stuck to my skin; in winter, they'd slipped through my arms as I held them to my chest. Although I was a reporter for my high school newspaper, writing wasn't a big part of my life until my twenties, when I became a copywriter in the college department of a New York publishing house. I went on to become a direct response copywriter. I've also written for magazines, among them Ranger Rick, OMNI, Health, Eco Traveler, and the "Sunday" section of the New York Times Magazine. My husband Allen's hobby is turtles. When he became the "adoption chairperson" for the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society, our first apartment filled up with turtles—swimming in the tub, living in tanks in the kitchen, and having sex and laying eggs on the living room floor! In response, I wrote Confessions of a Turtle Wife, the story of how I learned to live with and love my man who loves turtles. I'm from Brooklyn, Allen is from the Bronx, we met while living in Manhattan and now reside in Queens, New York. Our household is comprised of us, three cats and a mere 13 turtles, three of which are mine. Anyone with a hobby-addicted spouse is sure to relate to how I learned to live with (and laugh at!) my husband's um…unusual…obsession.

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Confessions of a Turtle Wife
A turtle wife is a woman (or a man—sometimes called a Turtle Husband) married to someone who is obsessed with nature’s shelled wonders. There are a surprising number of us, and we put up with a lot from our significant others. Like every turtle lover I know, we have dead turtles in the fridge (waiting to be necropsied to determine cause of death), live turtles living in the bathtub, and my husband's need to look for turtles in any city, town, pond or vacation destination we visit. In response to all the turtles residing at, visiting, and parading through my home, I wrote Confessions of a Turtle Wife, the story of how I learned to live with and love a man who loves turtles. It all began in 1986 on a visit to the Bronx Zoo, when my husband, Allen, rediscovered one of the deepest joys of his childhood.

Turtles
Turtles, by Anita Baskin-Salzberg and Allen Salzberg, is today's premier reference on the subject for kids ages 8-12. Softcover, 64 pages, $6.95, ISBN: 0-531-15898-5. Pub: Franklin Watts. Read a sample chapter at the website above. "A well-organized, involving text introduces the world and habits of freshwater turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles. Information about endangered species and how to help turtles is also provided. Clear color photographs enhance the text." The Horn Book