Interview with Author, Martha Hunt Handler

Her fiction novel, Winter of the Wolf, somewhat based on personal tragedy, addresses heavy topics such as suicide and grief. Making this narrative palatable for a younger audience was no easy feat, but Martha believes that young adults should be confronted in literature with these important issues to help them navigate their own trials and, most importantly, learn to trust their gut. Winter of the Wolf, published in July of 2020, made Barnes and Noble’s list of Most Notable Indie Books of 2020. All of the author proceeds are going to support her work at the Wolf Conservation Center (nywolf.org). Martha is currently considering writing an equal to this novel where she’ll tell the same story from another character’s perspective.

You seem to have such a deep connection with wolves, what does the wolf symbolize to you? From a young age, I frequently had a black wolf appear in my dreams. It generally showed up when I wasn’t paying attention to something I perhaps should have been. So, I’ve always felt connected to wolves even though I hadn’t ever seen a real wolf until I was 36 years old and pregnant with my fourth child. We’d just moved from Los Angeles to South Salem, New York, which is an hour outside of New York City. As we were settling into our rental house, I began to hear wolves howling. I knew that this was very strange because wolves haven’t inhabited the state since the late 1800s. Deciding I needed to investigate these howls, I walked into the woods behind our house and eventually came upon an enclosure with three wolves in it next to a trailer. I knocked on the door and met Hélene Grimaud, the world-renowned French concert pianist. She was very young, probably no more than 25 years old, at the time. She enthusiastically told me of her plans to open up a wolf conservation center and asked if I’d be interested in helping her. Having recently quit my job as an Environmental Consultant, her offer literally felt like a dream come true. It’s truly been an honor and a joy to work on behalf of an animal that I feel such an affinity towards. I’m looking outside right now and I’m excited to see that the snowstorm they predicted has finally arrived. My friends won’t be happy, but I know the wolves will be. They enjoy nothing more than romping around in the snow in their thick winter coats!

Amazing. It seems like your whole life wolves have been seeking you out. Yes, I always say that there aren’t such things as coincidences, there are just co-incidents. You just have to have your eyes open and your heart open, so that you see that and make that connection so that you’ll become more fully aligned with your soul’s path. I feel strongly that wolves are my soul creatures. They have a lot to teach us about working together, family loyalty, respectin