Reading time: 2 minutes
Gary Rockwood Jr., a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumnus, released his first book, The Blue Jay Comes Home. The children’s book tells the true story of a blue jay returning to its rescuer.
In 2022, Rockwood’s cat carried an injured baby blue jay back to their house. Rockwood and his family cared for it before taking it to a local animal shelter 12 miles away for better care.
After about a month at the shelter, the bird was released, and a few weeks later, Rockwood noticed a blue jay in his backyard. He and his family suspected this was the baby bird they rescued more than a month before, and named it Little Bird.
“I couldn’t really believe it,” Rockwood said. “I don’t know how they found their way back to my place 12 miles away, specifically in my backyard.”
Unexpected experience hatches nurturing story
After his experience, Rockwood sat on the story for about a year. But, knowing he had a fulfilling story to tell, he started drafting the first parts of the book in 2023, until it was complete the following year.
“I never envisioned myself writing a book, but I just felt like I needed to tell this story because it was so interesting,” Rockwood said.
Through his book, Rockwood wants readers to understand the importance of nurturing animals.
“The message that I want for children is to take care of animals and nurture them,” he said. “If you take care of them, they’ll take care of you.”
Journey to UH Mānoa and beyond
Rockwood moved to Hawaiʻi in the third grade, where he lived on Schofield Barracks and then in Mililani before graduating from Leilehua High School.
Gary Rockwood Jr. with his book, The Blue Jay Comes Home
At UH Mānoa, he studied geography and cartography, while also swimming for the UH Mānoa men’s swimming and diving team. In his senior year, Rockwood was voted as team captain.
“Being at UH was one of the best times of my life,” Rockwood said. “I had to balance being an athlete, but it helped that my teammates were like family to me.”
After graduating from UH in 1992, he started work as a cartographer in California and then settled in Chicago, where he and his family would eventually encounter the injured baby blue jay.
Little Bird still visits the family’s backyard to feed, but is now accompanied by three other birds, who Rockwood assumes are Little Bird’s mate and two offspring.
Inspired by the positive reactions he’s getting from those who’ve read his book, Rockwood is considering writing a second book about Little Bird’s growing family that stills visits his backyard to this day.
“I always knew this was such a fulfilling and intriguing story that needed to be told,” Rockwood said.
—By Grant Nakasone