Fat Cats by George Mercer North Saanich: George Mercer, 2018 $19.99 / 9780987975461 Reviewed by Ron Dart First published Sept. 17, 2018 * Born in Gander, Newfoundland, George Mercer worked for 35 years as a park warden, starting in 1979 at Newfoundland’s Terra Nova National Park and ending in 2012 as monitoring ecologist at the…
Read more #376 Gulf Islands parks and predators
Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada by Olav Slaymaker (editor) Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2017 $149 (U.S.) / 9783319445953 Reviewed by Syd Cannings First published September 13th, 2018 * Thirty-four leading specialists contribute to Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada, a collection of essays edited by Olav Slaymaker, professor emeritus of geography at UBC. “Wherever you are in western…
Read more #373 Olav’s love of landscape
Julia by Michael Kluckner Vancouver: Midtown Press, 2018 $19.95 / 9781988242200 Reviewed by Yvonne Van Ruskenveld * Born into a wealthy manufacturing family in Durham, England, in 1868, and educated there, Julia Henderson came to Canada in 1884 with her sister and brother-in-law. They settled in Montreal, where Julia married broker and merchant Charles Henshaw…
Read more #338 Julia, graphically yours
Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator by Jason M. Colby Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2018 $32.95 / 9780190673093 Reviewed by Anna Hall First published June 18, 2018 * It was a quiet day in the summer … when the shots rang out … the injured mother [killer whale] pushed…
Read more #324 Orcas through history
Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson Toronto: Penguin Random House (McClelland & Stewart), 2017 $34.95 / 9780771096525 Reviewed by Walter O. Volovsek First published May 17, 2018 * Based in Coquitlam, B.C., the remarkable Paul Watson–not to confused with that Sea Shepherd captain also named Paul Watson who…
Read more #305 Finding the Erebus and Terror
First published April 7, 2018. A Field Guide to Insects of the Pacific Northwest by Robert Cannings Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2018. $7.95 / 9781550178340 Reviewed by Norma Kerby * One of the major gaps for the enthusiastic amateur naturalist has been an approachable guide to insects. Robert Cannings’ new field guide goes some distance…
Read more #284 Field Guide to Insects
Pacific Reef and Shore: A Photo Guide to Northwest Marine Life from Alaska to Northern California (Revised Second Edition) (First published by Harbour in 2003 as Pacific Reef and Shore: A Photo Guide to Northwest Marine Life) by Rick Harbo Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2017 $12.95 / 9781550177862 Reviewed by Cathy Carolsfeld First published April…
Read more #282 Creatures as teachers
First published Mar. 23, 2018. Best Places to Bird in British Columbia by Russell Cannings and Richard Cannings Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2017. $22.95 / 9781771641661 Reviewed by Briony Penn Naturalist and geographer Briony Penn reviews Best Places to Bird which highlights 275 B.C. bird species, viewable from thirty locations–more than half of B.C.’s species. –…
Read more #271 Birding hotspots of B.C.
Where The River Flows: Scientific Reflections on Earth’s Waterways by Sean W. Fleming Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2017 $26.95 (U.S.). / 9781400885022 Reviewed by Colin Levings First published March 19, 2018 * Sean Fleming, who received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. from UBC in 1994 and 2004 and is now a member of UBC’s Department…
Read more #268 How rivers can remember
Northern Star: J.S. Plaskett by R. Peter Broughton, with a foreword by James E. Hesser Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018. $67.50 / 9781442630178 Reviewed by John Hutchings First published Mar. 17, 2018 * John Stanley Plaskett (1865-1941) was the founder and first director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria. This biography is well-timed, published…
Read more #266 Pioneering stargazer J.S. Plaskett
Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi: Teachings from Long Ago Person Found by Richard J. Hebda, Sheila Greer, and Alexander Mackie (editors) Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum, 2017 $49.95 / 9780772666994 Reviewed by Tom Koppel First published March 7, 2018 * It was back in August of 1999, in the northwest corner of British Columbia, in the traditional territory of…
Read more #261 Tatshenshini Man
Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction by Travis Lupick Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017 $24.95 / 9781551527123 Reviewed by Danya Fast First published Feb. 4, 2018 * Locally and globally, Vancouver is celebrated for its world-class harm reduction and social housing programs, and regarded as a…
Read more #244 Downtown Eastside influencers
INTERVIEW: Rachel Rose with mutt maven Stanley Coren April 26, 2018 * Having produced possibly the bestselling non-fiction book about dogs ever written, The Intelligence of Dogs, as well as Why We Love The Dogs We Do, Dr. Stanley Coren has a career that most writers and researchers only dream of; his lectures at UBC routinely…
Read more #243 Going to the dogs with Stanley Coren
Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger, with a foreword by Wade Davis and an introduction by Margaret Atwood Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2017 (first published by Western Producer Prairie Books, 1988; subsequent editions by Douglas & McIntyre, 1998, and Greystone, 2004 and 2014) $24.95 / 9781771641739 Reviewed…
Read more #223 Starvation Cove & Terror Bay
First published Dec. 12, 2017. Alison’s Fishing Birds by Roderick Haig-Brown Illustrated by Sheryl McDougald Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2017. $21.95 / 9781987915198 (First published by Colophon Books, 1980). Reviewed by Caroline Fox * Roderick Langmere Haig-Brown (1908-1976) gained an international reputation for his meditative books on fly fishing on Vancouver Island’s Nimpkish and Campbell…
Read more #219 Early Haig-Brown revitalized
British Columbia: A Natural History of Its Origins, Ecology, and Diversity With a New Look at Climate Change (revised and expanded third edition; first published by Douglas & McIntyre, 1996) by Richard Cannings and Sydney Cannings Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2015. $34.95 / 9781771640732 Reviewed by Loys Maingon First published Dec. 10, 2017 * Richard and…
Read more #216 Ignorance is not bliss
First published Dec. 7, 2017. Island of the Blue Foxes: Disaster and Triumph on Bering’s Great Voyage to Alaska by Stephen R. Bown (D&M $34.95) tells the story of The Great Northern Expedition which resulted in the mapping of the Arctic Coast of Siberia and large parts of the North American coastline, and the discovery…
Read more #215 Island of Blue Foxes
First published Dec. 4, 2017. Chasing Smoke. A Wildfire Memoir by Aaron Williams Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2017. $22.95 / 9781550178050 Reviewed by Dan Gallacher The threat of terrorism is over-rated. ‘First responders’ were everywhere in 2017 dealing with hurricanes, earthquakes and forest fires. Aaron Williams’ Chasing Smoke: A Wildfire Memoir (Harbour $22.95)…
Read more #213 The forest smokeaters
First published Nov. 29, 2017. Our Vanishing Glaciers: The Snows of Yesteryear and the Future Climate of the Mountain West by Robert William Sandford Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books 2017. $40 / 9781771602020 Reviewed by Clayton Whitt Melting glaciers and climate change may initially seem like odd topics for a coffee table book. But…
Read more #212 Our vanishing glaciers
At Home in Nature: A Life of Unknown Mountains and Deep Wilderness by Rob Wood Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2017 $22.00 / 9781771602518 Reviewed by John Gellard First published November 20, 2017 * Rob Wood might have saved my life … or at least my left foot. Some years ago I fell off a log…
Read more #204 Climbing bard of Maurelle Island