Hudson, New York was a whaling town in the 19th century, which led to the adoption of the whale as the town's symbol. For several years I have exhibited at the Hudson Children's Book Festival, and in its early years authors and volunteers received a lovely t-shirt with the iconic whale. The giant aquatic mammal has a huge smile and is happily "spouting literacy."

As I wore this t-shirt over the years, it never occurred to me to question what a happy whale was doing, swimming in a river more than a hundred miles upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. Then, at last weekend's workshop with Christopher Cheng, workshop organizer Nancy Castaldo explained for our visitors from Australia, and for us as well. Hudson was a center for processing whales that were towed upstream.

No, the whale was not smiling, or spouting.

The whale was…dead.

Most likely, the unfortunate critter would have been floating on top of the water, towed by a slow-moving vessal, and stinking mightily by the time it arrived at Hudson's docks. I imagine the people rejoiced, however. This was their livelihood, and without a steady supply of dead whales, families would go hungry or have to move away from their homes and community.