Linda Moore Kurth
Stories from the Heart
Keiko’s Story: Free Willy Star Finds Home
What happened to Keiko, the biggest star of the movie Free Willy?
Fans have long wondered what became of the orca who captured the hearts of millions. In Keiko's Story: Free Willy Star Finds Home, Linda Moore Kurth describes the famous orca’s remarkable life, following the events that brought him closer to freedom.
This book is a celebration of Keiko and the heroes who went above and beyond to bring him back to health and return him safely to his home waters. Gorgeous photos and lively details take readers through important moments in Keiko’s journey.
Written for all ages, original fans of Keiko can learn his full story while sharing their love of the famous orca with the next generation.
Linda’s Story
How did Linda come to write about
the world's most famous orca, you
might ask. Here's her answer:
"I was all grown up and had never
seen the Free Willy movies when
my dad offered to take me and my
mom 'to see that whale they shipp-
ed in from Mexico.' There in that
crowded observation room, I fell in
love. A few weeks later I was back,
meeting Keiko in person and inter-
viewing his trainers."
Two years later, Linda flew to Iceland and watched as Keiko was lowered into a sea pen in his home waters off the coast of Iceland. Her first book about Keiko, which ended with him safely in his sea pen, was published as a school and library book and read by children across the nation.
Several years later, one of the students who had read the book wrote her, urging her to tell what happened to Keiko after that. This new book, "Keiko's Story: Free Willy Star Finds Home," does just that, with much more background information and photos that track every aspect of Keiko's journey. This is a book fans of all ages can enjoy.
Linda Moore Kurth has done a great job chronicling the twists and turns of Keiko’s odyssey from his early days to stardom in the hit movie Free Willy, to becoming the first captive orca ever returned to his home waters. It’s a story for the ages and reinforces the important message that orcas and other cetaceans belong in the oceans with their families.
-- David Phillips, Director, International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute and President and Founder of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation
Keiko’s Story is a beautifully told and fascinating book. It is short and easy to read and yet provides interesting insight into the complexities of who Keiko was. The book chronicles the extraordinary actions this whale inspired from the humans who loved him. How do you prepare a whale abducted from his family when only a baby to be wild again? Keiko’s Story takes us inside this difficult and inspiring project. This is a story of love and hope and going the extra mile to right a terrible wrong.
Alexandra Morton , Independent Scientist, author, orca and ocean advocate
Keiko's story is delightful and informative, a fascinating and unique tale about saving a whale. It's a convoluted adventure with many plot twists that are fairly and accurately told in a stream of episodes suitable for readers of all ages. Junior readers especially would enjoy and learn much from the many insights into the natural history of orcas, their family lives and habitats. Keiko's endearing and clever personality shines brightly in these pages. I highly recommend this book.
Howard Garrett, Director, Orca Network, Center for Whale Research
Linda checks all the boxes in her new book. Having first met Keiko, better known as Free Willy, at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Linda did her research. Included are wonderful color pictures of the project to free Keiko, staff members she interviewed, and research that helps the reader understand Keiko’s life history. Linda traveled all the way to Iceland to see him make an historic landing in a US Air Force C-17 and his transfer to the newly constructed and largest orca pen ever built. She continued following him throughout his life in the sea pen, later release to the open ocean, swim to Norway, and his final resting place. It’s a fun read for young and old, and one you’re unlikely to put down until you finish. Linda leaves you with the understanding that orcas are a unique marine mammal within the dolphin family. Her message is timely, since so many orcas need our help, both in captivity and in the wild.
Jim Styers, Marine biologist, designer and manager of sea pens,
founder of the Whale and Dolphin Advocacy Group.