14 Sep 2015 UCA's Mark Spitzer interview

Tune in to 89.1 FM at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, for KUAR’s rebroadcast of Arts & Letters featuring Mark Spitzer, fish-writer and University of Central Arkansas writing professor.

This 29-minute episode produced for NPR member station KUAR highlights Spitzer’s work with gar (a native fish species capable of reaching lengths of 10 feet) and features excerpts from his latest nonfiction fish book, “Return of the Gar” (University of North Texas Press, 2015). Additionally, there are interviews with local fishery experts. The episode reflects on various eco issues and ends on a highly personal note as Spitzer releases his pet gar of 10 years into the wild. Original music is provided by the Sioux City Kid (Jared Griffin) and the Little Rock band Know Who’s a Robot.

“The theme of gar returning happens on a few different levels,” Spitzer said. “On one hand, there’s a lot of collaboration now between federal and state agencies, universities, private and public labs and hatcheries, commercial fisheries, and aquariums all over the world. Basically, we’ve had some success in resurrecting alligator gar in the United States, which will be good for environmental balance, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

In Conway, “Return of the Gar” is available at Hastings and the UCA Bookstore. It is also available online. For more information on this episode of Arts & Letters, contact Hickey at 501. 569.8485, Minnick at [email protected], or visit at http://ualrpublicradio.org/programs/arts-letters.