The Phenomena of the Wolf...man...

Even as a young person I have always been fascinated by the wolf. I used to head to the Fair Lawn Library on Fair Lawn Ave and order hardbound non-fiction books written about wolf culture, wolf habitat, and wolf ecology. A longtime lover of animals, including anti-fur protesting in NYC in my wild college days, the wolf in particular was always a fascination of mine.
In college I was lucky enough to be part of a wolf program in which a man brought a 'tame' timber wolf to schools to show they are not as fearsome as fairy tales made them out to be, and indeed, Wolves have always gotten a pretty bad rap.
The auditorium was full and we all howled together trying to get this huge animal inspired enough to join us. When he did, his singing was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes.
I headed next to Isle Royal, MI. A small island in Lake Superior known for it's wolf/moose population. I was there to see a wolf in the wild. Never did. The big bad wolf was terrified of humans. Who could blame it. I spotted its footprints, heard it bay at the moon, but canis lupis never showed himself to me.
In my 'den' is a 3 foot by 3 foot painting of a wolf, which I did in college. It was originally purchased by an editor of a newspaper in NY because he wanted it to intimidate people who came into his office. When the newspaper sold, he gave me back my painting. A win/win if ever I should think.
Now the wolf phenomenon has hit an all time high. Wolf men are no longer the nasty weirdos like Lon Chaney, nor the nearly comic roles played by Michael Landon and Micheal J. Fox. To romance writers and readers, and movie fans, the wolfman...has gotten a bit of a sexy upgrade.
He's the new 'vampire' of sexy horror. Women swoon over their shape-shifting wolfmen and love True Blood, Being Human and the Twilight Saga. Just put the word 'wolfman' into your search engine. The number of movies will amaze you. But contemporary wolfmen are the new sexy hunks of the big and small screen, and did I mention fiction? The shape-shifter from wolf to man is all the rage. Yes, I too have succumbed and though my next release is my first shape-shifter, and well, I may not know all the 'rules' I loved writing it. The characters became sensual and limitless, like the real timber wolf itself.
Of course in reality, we hunt the poor wolf from helicopters, trap them as vermin, and to be honest have some notion of bringing them to the brink of extinction because....well, I never did know why. I won't go into my strong abhorrence to the murder of wild wolves, let's just say they are a necessary part of nature's ecosystem which man has continually ignored or destroyed.

Wolves...the last outcasts? Trapped for parka hood trim? Misunderstood? Sounds slightly like life imitating fiction. Romance too writes about the misunderstood wolfman. But we love them so much. Maybe some of our fascination will turn to compassion for an animal who has sincerely had a hard ride from mankind.

Be safe out there.