Grey Owl and Me

Submitted by dmacdonell on Sun, 2009-10-04 14:59

Grey Owl and Me

Stories From the Trail and Beyond

Illustrated by Hap Wilson and Ingrid Zschogner

978-1-55488-732-3
June 2010
248pp, Paperback
$26.99 CAD

Shelve it

If you enjoyed [Hap Wilson's] other hilarious and jaw-dropping memoirs, you won't be disappointed. This one, too, is sprinkled with sparks of brilliant and insightful writing.

Ottertooth.com

Wilson's stream of conscious writing style has the feel of a campfire story: It's impossible not to be engaged by his tales, which range from idyllic summer canoe trips to winter dogsled expeditions, and standing at the frontlines of environmental debates with the likes of Paul Watson, the founder of the notoriously radical Sea Shepherd Society. The book is hard to put down.

Canoe and Kayak Magazine

Hap Wilson is back for another journey, this time on the lighter side of the adventure trail, where the bizarre melds with the sublime. Nurtured by the writings of Canadian environmentalist and wannabe-Native, Grey Owl, Wilson adopted a lifestyle similar to the 1930s conservationist but with his own twists and turns along a meandering path full of humorous misadventures. Wilson, too, learned many of his nature skills as a youth, paddling in Temagami, working as a wilderness canoe ranger and guide, and following in the footsteps of one of Canada's most revered outdoor icons.

The author recounts early days winter camping, motorcycling the Labrador coast, and teaching actor Pierce Brosnan how to throw knives and paddle a canoe for the Richard Attenborough film about Grey Owl. He also takes us to a few of his favourite places and shares intimate secrets of wilderness living. Here, Grey Owl has returned as an ever-present critic -- a buckskin-clad spectre in a modern world of Gore-Tex, Kevlar canoes, and gear freaks.