Book - May/June 2002

Cover:
Clan of the Cave Bear's Jean Auel
Back For More Fun.
Seriously.

Article:
By Ellen Emry Heltzel
Photgraphs by Richard Ross

(pg. 40)

[photo caption] Grin and Bare it: Jean Auel goes head to head with the skeleton of a 
saber-toothed cat at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

(pg. 41)

After a twelve-year absence, the creator of the Earth's Children series thaws out Ayla, 
her Ice Age überwoman

the return of jean auel

To get inside the caves at Altamira, you have to be somebody. 

The caves, located in northern Spain's Basque country, boast Paleolithic paintings so 
technically advanced that the site has been dubbed the Sistine Chapel of its era. They're 
off-limits to the public. 

But Jean Auel isn't the public. Author of the prehistoric-themed bestsellers The Clan of 
the Cave Bear and its sequels, this former credit manager and circuit board designer has 
the kind of reputation in the archeological community that opens doors - or, in this case, 
caves. So her visit last summer to one of the world's most important archeological sites 
became a media event.

(pg. 42)

With paparazzi and cameras stationed outside, Auel - along with her husband of forty-eight 
years, Ray, and a close friend, Claudine Fisher - was escorted inside the cool darkness. 
The group stood silent, as if in a temple. Gazing at the designs left on the walls by some 
of Europe's earliest human inhabitants, Auel began to cry. 

Evidence of early human expression can move Auel, the creator of the Ice Age saga known as 
the Earth's Children series, to tears. Part of the reason is the sense of awe anyone might 
feel, but the rest has to do with how much Auel identifies with her work. 

"She's a passionate person," says Fisher, a French professor at Oregon's Portland State 
University. "And she lives her books." 

A lot of other people do, too. Since the series began in 1980, The Clan of the Cave Bear 
and its follow-ups have sold more than 34 million copies - and for many of the series' 
fans, the books are almost sacred. Literary critics have been less reverent, but the fans 
don't care. They've created a cult following for the writer and Ayla, Auel's 
preternaturally capable lead character. They've thrown themselves into the Ice Age world 
Auel brought to life, preparing prehistoric recipes, setting up campsites like the ones 
she has described and learning the mythology she's crafted. They've formed Web sites and 
reading groups and they've named their daughters after Ayla. They're thrilled that after 
more than a decade's wait, they've got a new book. With the April 30 release of The 
Shelters of Stone, both Ayla (sounds like "Ay-luh") and Auel (sounds like "owl") are back. 

This is all I'm allowed to put online. Get the magazine to read more! 
http://www.bookmagazine.com/