The detectives missed her. They kept missing her. Years passed and they grew weary of traveling without a destination. Eventually they moved back to Minnesota and became security guards. They read about her colobus in zoological textbooks and issues of Primate Monthly. Sometimes they would hear from an old contact—a Miss Waldron had been heard, a Miss Waldron had been smelled, a Miss Waldron had been spotted in the trees. These sightings grew fewer and farther between, and then they stopped completely.

Dedication

This book is for my parents,
Hester and William Tinti.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

There are many people who have helped bring this collection to life. My readers, fellow writers and loyal friends: Helen Ellis and Ann Napolitano. My magic-working agent: Nicole Aragi. My brilliant editor: Susan Kamil. The best assistants in publishing: Margo Lipschultz, Alissa Shipp and Tenette Ludlow. My teachers: Blanche Boyd, Barbara Jones, Paule Marshall, Dani Shapiro, A. M. Homes and E. L. Doctorow. Organizations that provided time and places to write: New York University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program, Hedgebrook, The Writers Room, Blue Mountain Center and the New York State Writers Institute’s Master Writer Mentoring Program. Editors who gave me boosts along the way: Lois Rosenthal, Will Allison, Anne Brashler, Marie Hayes, Robin Lauzon, Ronald Spatz, Nicholas Delbanco, Sydney Lea, Michael Koch, Otto Penzler and Michael Connelly. Forgiving employers who hired me for “real jobs”: Writers House, Jennifer Lyons, Gordon Pattee, Alex Steele, and Howard Stringer and the Stringettes: Virginia Garity, Barbara Benesch and Suzie Nash. Friends who offered advice and encouragement: Maribeth Batcha, Ariane Fink, Kate Gray, John Hodgman, Yuka Lawrence, Karin Schulze and especially Alex Twersky for his love and support. My sisters, who make me laugh harder than anything: Honorah Tinti and Hester Tinti-Kane. And finally my parents: Hester and William Tinti, patient listeners of my dreams.

A Note to the Reader

A Note to the Reader

about “Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus”:

Native to Ghana and the Ivory Coast, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus (Procolobus badius Waldroni) was first described by scientists in 1936, based on eight specimens shot in 1933 by a man named Willoughby P. Lowe, a collector for British Museums. Lowe named the monkey “Miss Waldron” for one Miss F. Waldron, who was described in records simply as Mr. Lowe’s “traveling companion.” The monkey was declared extinct in 2000, but in 2002 the freshly cut skin of a Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus was discovered, raising hopes that the animal still exists.

Although loosely based on historical fact, all characters and events in this story are fictional.

By Hannah Tinti

By Hannah Tinti

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About the Author