Experts’ Testimonials

It is an honor to receive great remarks from these inspiring people around the country.

  • Jim Brandenburg, International Award-Winning Nature Photographer
  • George Archibald, Co-Founder (International Crane Foundation)
  • Christopher Cokinos, Author of Hope is the Thing with Feathers
  • John Nuhn, Photo Director (National Wildlife Magazine)
  • Chuck Hagner, Editor (BirdWatching Magazine)

Indeed, it is refreshing these days to see a book that I may have attempted but then concluded I could not have done it as well. Save the Last Dance is a near perfect expression of a man’s passion for his subject.

Having grown up on the Plains, I know this topic well and have found myself many early spring mornings shivering away in a blind waiting for those elusive photographic moments.

This book is a powerful testament to a mission of telling a story about our dwindling and precious native grassland grouse population.

From the title on the cover to the last page, I found a superbly written and remarkably photographed journal. 

Jim Brandenburg

Nature Photographer

Native grasslands, so readily destroyed by the plow, are among the most endangered ecosystems in North America.

In his remarkably beautiful book, Noppadol Paothong tells their story in magnificent images and captures the personality of these fascinating creatures. 

His work will reinforce the efforts of many conservationists who use the prairie grouse as ambassadors for their fragile habitats.

George Archibald

Co-Founder, International Crane Foundation

North America’s native grouse get a fitting treatment in this beautifully designed volume by photographer Noppadol Paothong and writer Joel Vance.

The concise but thorough information on each species, including large range maps, complements the spectacular images of the birds and their habitats.

Photographing these wild fowl isn’t easy, but Paothong was up to the challenge, spending hundreds of hours in photo blinds over many years to capture the birds’ behavior.

The result is impressive. 

John Nuhn

Photo Editor, National Wildlife Federation Magazine

Excellent reporting and exquisite photography combine in this captivating and important book devoted to birds that are at once beautiful, surreal and under siege. 

May this book inspire humans – and protect the grouse.

Christopher Cokinos

Author, Hope is the Thing with Features

A collection of photos this good, I know, is the product of miles of travel, days spent away from loved ones, countless early wake-ups, and lots and lots of making do in the cold and dark.

Still, after viewing Noppadol Paothong’s beautiful, dawn-washed images of strutting, dancing, booming grouse — surely our nation’s most overlooked national treasures — I can only wish I’d been there with him. 

Chuck Hagner

Editor, BirdWatching Magaziine