An Evening with The Feather Detective author, Chris Sweeney

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As part of the 10th Coronado Community READ, Coronado Public Library welcomes author Chris Sweeney for a special evening celebrating the 2026 Community READ selection, The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne.

The Feather Detective tells the remarkable true story of Roxie Laybourne, the world’s first forensic ornithologist, whose groundbreaking work identifying bird feathers helped solve crimes, prevent airplane disasters, and transform scientific understanding. Blending biography, history, and natural science, the book has been praised as “engrossing” and “a biography that reads like a novel.”

Chris Sweeney is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Audubon. In this talk, he will discuss Roxie Laybourne’s extraordinary legacy, the research behind the book, and why her story resonates today.

This event kicks off a monthlong celebration of reading, discovery, and community marking ten years of Coronado Community READ.

This event is free to attend thanks to the support of the City of Coronado and Friends of the Coronado Public Library. Seating is first come, first seated.