Submitted by Griffin Bay Bookstore

Gene Helfman discusses his two ecothrillers “Beyond the Human Realm” and “Fins: A Novel of Relentless Satire” on Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m.

Helfman is an animal behaviorist turned conservation biologist turned novelist. With a PhD in Ecology from Cornell University, he was on the faculty of the University of Georgia for thirty years, authoring four books on fish and marine conservation and dozens of related scientific papers.

He spent much of his professional career underwater demonstrating that fish are smarter than conventionally thought.

In an effort to get the conservation message to a larger audience, and recognize that more people read fiction than non-fiction, he wrote an eco-thriller novel about endangered killer whales, “Beyond the Human Realm.” The novel won the 2022 National Indie Excellence Award for Animal Fiction and the 2022 Readers’ View Award for Animal Fiction.

His second novel crosses the genres of eco-thriller, horror and comedy. FINS, A Novel of Relentless Satire, is the story of the reprehensible practice of shark finning. “FINS” won the 2024 Reader Views National Silver Award for Humorous Fiction.

Helfman lives with his wife Dr. Judy Meyer, an aquatic ecologist, on Lopez Island.