Roy Lukes has been promoting the preservation and conservation of Door County's wild places and wildlife in more than 1,700 nature columns that have appeared in the Advocate since 1968.

Many readers have told him they wished he'd put all his articles in a book. Since that many reports would translate into a small library, Lukes did the next best thing: He picked 60 of his most well-received stories–five for each month of the year–and published "Tales of the Wild," a 272-page book set to come off the press a week from today.

"We're pretty pleased with it," said Lukes, who along with his wife, Charlotte, self-published the journal of nature notes. "I try to give a nice cross-section of things that are wild in Door County, and northeast Wisconsin.

"Tales of the Wild," subtitled "A Year With Nature," is Lukes' fifth book. His others have all sold out, including "Once around the Sun" (1976), "Out on a Limb" (1979), "The Ridges Sanctuary" (1988) and "Toft Point" (1998).

About 75 of Roy's favorite black and white photographs are included in the new book, which spans a stretch of 27 years of columns from the oldest selected to the most recent pick. A full-color photo of Cave Point, with a storm moving in, graces the front cover, and the dean of Wisconsin birders, Sam Robbins, wrote the foreword. As is his custom in recent years, Lukes ends with four words in bold type, "Keep Door County wild."

"Tales of the Wild" can be ordered autographed and inscribed directly from the Lukes'. The book costs $22.95 plus shipping, handling and sales tax, or a total of $27.96. Make checks payable to Nature-Wise and mail (with special instructions for inscribing) to P.O. Box 105, Egg Harbor, WI 54209-0105. Questions? Call Roy or Charlotte at (920) 823-2478.