The Birth of Jack Wirdth - Morrison, Robert

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Résumé :
A dark cloud of sin hangs over the puritanical village of Omer, a town lost to history and bound there by the stifling doctrine of its evil pastor, Icabod Kroll. Under the pretense of a curse, and encouraged by Kroll, the pilgrims of the town shun Eva Wirdth during her pregnancy. In the throes of painful labor, Icabod betrays Eva and delivers her child into the hands of the megalomaniac, genetic physicist Dr. Friedrich Von Skrimmel. The zealous Doctor's interests lay in the child alone and Eva is left to die following a botched cesarean section at the hands of the ruthless and controversial Dr. Inga Stitch. Born with a head of tremendous size, the infant (Jack Wirdth) is prized as a biological anomaly and hailed as the missing puzzle piece in Dr. Von Skrimmel's ridiculous theory of human genetic manipulation for the U.S. military. Ultimately doomed by budget cuts, the research facility closes and Jack Wirdth and the Doctor find themselves on their own, lost in a world of ambivalence and uncertainty. Through many twists and turns, Jack finds himself stumbling headlong into a collision with his mysterious past and the tumultuous delivering of retribution upon the town that shunned and betrayed his mother on the night of his birth.

Biographie:
Robert Morrison, OAM CF is an Australian zoologist and science communicator. He co-hosted The Curiosity Show which aired on television from 1972 to 1990. He has written or co-written 48 books about science for the general public. Morrison is a Professorial Fellow in the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work at Flinders University. He is also a past President of the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia (now publicized as Zoos SA). His research has focused on comparative anatomy of the mammalian olfactory system, the identification of animals from tracks and traces, the design of artificial nesting boxes, and techniques to breed animals and birds which face extinction in their native habitats in order to reintroduce them in the wild. He was called as an expert witness concerning dingoes in the case of Azaria Chamberlain's death. He is a founding member of the Friends of Science in Medicine, and he served as its Vice President for many years. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to conservation and science communication. In 2008 he was named the Senior Australian of the Year for South Australia.