# 74 - August 29th, 2007

Greetings one and all, I hope I find you well…I must immediately apologize – I think this is Apology #247 - for the shortened effort that I offer to you this week, although there will be some amongst you who will be no doubt grateful (but don't forget, I know where you live)...By the time you read this I will have returned from a road trip with good friends, The Large-Breasted Warbler and her mate, The Long-Tailed Illinois Falcon, and I was unable to get much else done with all the preying that we did on our journey… Neverthless, some things are just too important to be overlooked, so here is The T.V. (Turkey Vulture) Quiz …All three questions this week are concerned with some of the Valley’s more famous/infamous residents…Answers at the end of the column…
1. Which Valley resident had his likeness in pen and ink printed on the front page of The Wall Street Journal back in 1986?…
2. Gchwend Road, near to the Philo-Navarro border, is the home to two gentlemen who are regarded as “world experts” in their respective fields. One won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993 and the other is the self-proclaimed “world’s leading expert on labyrinths” - and he may be correct…Who are they?
3. Which Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist lives up in the hills in the northwest end of the Valley?

That’s it - I must go, but first I would like to thank readers for the numerous positive responses that have greeted my return to the illustrious pages of the A.V.A. A few simple words such as “great to see you flying again” are much appreciated. After all, everyone needs a little validation on occasions, even self-righteous and opinionated Turkey Vultures!
Be careful out there and, most importantly, before I zoom off - let us prey…Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture…..
You can contact me with your requests for Apologies, or anything else for that matter, either through the Letters Page of the A.V.A. or by e-mail at…turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net

Quiz Answers…
1. It was the A.V.A.’s very own “Mighty Leader”, Mr. Bruce Anderson…And yes, it was the Wall Street Journal not the Post Office Wall…
2. Kari Mullis won the Nobel Prize for his work on the development of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), which allows the amplification of specified DNA sequences – to a simple Turkey Vulture that would be the cloning technique as seen in the movie Jurassic Park (I think)…Alex Champion is the man responsible for many labyrinths in the Valley and far beyond. His book, “Earth Mazes” is, in his own words, “Somewhere between being out of date and a classic”…
3. Alice Walker, who received her prize for the book “The Color Purple” in 1983…