CSUâ??s Grandin makes a splash with new book

Whoâ??s that the Eye spies on the Jan. 14 Entertainment Weeklyâ??s â??Must List?â?
Whoâ??s that the ear hears on Terry Grossâ?? â??Fresh Airâ? interview Jan. 11 on National Public Radio?
Itâ??s Temple Grandin â?? Colorado State Universityâ??s fastest-rising star.
Grandin, a CSU animal-science professor who has turned her autism to advantage by unlocking the deepest secrets of animal behavior, is out with her new book, â??Animals in Translation.â?
Thatâ??s what landed her at No. 3 on EWâ??s weekly list of musts â?? ahead of Hilary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio and Heidi Klum.
Granted, Grandin is no stranger to celebrity. Her previous book, â??Thinking in Pictures,â? established her identity as one of the worldâ??s foremost animal-rights advocates.
But what really fascinates is how Grandin can describe, with such ease, how she got there. In opening the first chapter of her book, subtitled â??Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior,â? she delivers a deliciously simple explanation:
â??It took me a long time to figure out that I see things about animals other people donâ??t,â? she writes. â??Autism made school and social life hard, but it made animals easy.â?
Terry Gross and EW arenâ??t the only ones to latch onto Grandinâ??s new book.
Last month, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals â?? the much-maligned and much-misunderstood group thatâ??s better known by its â??PETAâ? acronym â?? gave Grandin its highest award, â??Visionary of the Year,â? for her work in designing humane animal-handling systems at slaughterhouses.
No wonder Grandin didnâ??t have time to visit with the Eye. No worries, Temple. Weâ??re proud to have you among us.