The Featherhood

From the hidden but high-stakes world of pigeon racing comes the inside story of what really happened to “The Black Deuce”, Belgium’s legendary winner of Europe’s greatest race, Barcelona. In the 1990’s, flying faster than 47,000 pedigreed homing pigeons, he won this 600+ mile event twice, a feat never before equaled. Adding tenfold to his value, his proven ability to sire champions.

Then, tragedy. Imported to America, he was frightened from his new home. More than 5,000 miles from Belgium, returning there was suicide. But he tried, only to be ripped from the sky by a pair of deadly falcons. Lost, alone and only minutes from death, fate brought a young boy into his life.

Jim Jenner’s fascinating and heartwarming story reveals how “The Black Deuce”, a bird worth twenty time his weight in gold, fell into the lives of inner-city children with no idea of his value. But, more than money, his true worth lay in the transformative effect pigeons often have on their human keepers. This ancient, and life-changing transformation forms a bond they call “The Featherhood”.