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by Morad Tahbaz (Author), Richard Wiese (Foreword by)
In this extraordinary memoir, Tahbaz reveals how nearly six years in Evin Prison, including solitary confinement and torture, taught him that the skills he'd developed tracking Persian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs could save his own life.
When Iranian authorities arrested Morad Tahbaz in January 2018, they thought they were capturing a spy. They were wrong. Tahbaz was a conservationist--and they had handed him a new wilderness in which to survive. In this extraordinary memoir, Tahbaz reveals how nearly six years in Evin Prison, including solitary confinement and torture, taught him that the skills he'd developed tracking Persian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs could save his own life. He found forty-seven animals hidden in his cell's stone walls. He designed Persian carpets in his mind. And every dawn, he listened to the wild green parrots screaming in the prison's ancient poplars--proof that life persists even where designed to be denied. Green Parrots is not a victim's story. It's a survival manual for anyone facing darkness.Author Biography
Morad Tahbaz is a conservationist, artist, and former political prisoner. In 2008, he co-founded the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which documented endangered species including Asiatic cheetahs and Persian leopards across Iran. In January 2018, he was arrested on fabricated espionage charges and spent sixty-eight months in Iran's notorious Evin Prison, including four months in solitary confinement. A graduate of Colgate University (BA) and Columbia University (MBA), he spent his career supporting wildlife conservation across three continents before his imprisonment made him the subject of international hostage negotiations. He was released in September 2023 as part of a high-profile diplomatic agreement. Since his release, he has advocated for other wrongfully detained citizens and for continued attention to Iranian conservation. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Vida.
