No Ordinary Bird

Drug Smuggling, a Plane Crash, and a Daughter's Quest for the Truth

De: Artis Henderson

Narrado por: Artis Henderson

In the vein of Small Fry or Priestdaddy, No Ordinary Bird is a compelling father-daughter story that flows like true crime, haunted by a question the dashing and mysterious Lamar Chester had always taught his daughter to ask: “How do you tell the good guys from the bad?”

Artis was five when a plane crash killed her beloved father. For years, it was simply called “the accident.”

But many things weren’t getting discussed. Like Lamar himself—a swashbuckling, larger-than-life pilot, a doting father and husband, and the most popular farmer in Georgia. Or that the IRS had immediately taken everything: the chickens, the airplanes, the islands in the Bahamas. Afterwards, Artis and her mother broke contact with everyone and fled, rebuilding from the bottom up as if Lamar’s big, wild life had never happened.

Years later, a friend tells Artis Lamar’s plane was sabotaged: her father had been one of the biggest drug smugglers in Miami in the 1970s. At the time of his death, he was about to testify in a trial that had swept up everyone from the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, to a US district attorney, to the Colombian drug cartels. But the deeper Artis digs, the more unexpected the story becomes.

Beyond the dramatic betrayals, dangerous drug lords, and geopolitical intrigue is the beating heart of this riveting memoir: a daughter’s grappling with a dark legacy and her memories of the father who had been the light of her life. Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, and is there a difference at all?

©2023 Artis Henderson (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Raw and Impossible to Put Down

No Ordinary Bird is powerful, heartfelt, and unforgettable. I cried and felt every emotion. To AJ: thank you for your courage, I’m so sorry for what you endured, and your strength in telling this story is inspiring.

A vulnerable tale

A wonderfully vulnerable tale of a daughter looking for answers about her father death and longing of family.

Captivating story!

Listened in one day…beautifully written and shared with such feeling…couldn’t put it down!

Great story.

Just a great story that checked all of the boxes for me. It left you with the ability to draw your own conclusions.

Story Telling

I love the ability of the to tell a story, in voice and in the written word.

Artis the Survivor

Artis…she is a true story teller, author, & writer. This book like her last is hard to put down, makes your heart hurt, & is raw & beautifully written & shared.

Wow what a great book!

Well written and narrated! As a local who was born the same year as the artist and heard bits and pieces of the story, I was more than interested and on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. Thank you for telling your story!