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Author, naturalist Douglas Chadwick to embark on book tour through Kootenays

American author, naturalist and biologist Douglas Chadwick will be touring the Kootenays in February to promote his latest book entitled, Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All.
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Douglas Chadwick will be touring the Kootenays in February to promote his latest book Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All. Joe Riis photo.

American author, naturalist and biologist Douglas Chadwick will be touring the Kootenays in February to promote his latest book entitled, Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All.

Wildsight is working with Chadwick for presentations at Kimberley’s Centennial Hall on Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. and at the Fernie Seniors Centre on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

The other locations on his seven-stop Kootenay tour include Invermere, Golden, Revelstoke, Nelson, and Creston. Information on all of the tour stops and how to purchase tickets can be found at wildsight.ca/events/book-tour/

Chadwick has a master’s degree in wildlife biology and has had a long career spent researching mountain goat ecology and social behaviour high in the Rockies, and studying many other species such as wolverines in Montana, right whales in the subantarctic and snow leopards in the Himalayas.

He has published over 200 articles over the course of his career, including around 50 articles for National Geographic and written 13 books about wildlife and conservation, with several focused on his work in the Rocky Mountains.

Four Fifths a Grizzly was published by Patagonia in 2021 and is a series of interrelated essays connecting Chadwick’s personal experiences alongside science and history. In it, he advocates for a path towards conservation that begins with how individuals see their place in the world.

“The goal of my book is to get people thinking about nature in fresh ways by taking them on a sort of safari through different communities of life, some hard to find in remote wildlands, others active all around us and underfoot, still others flourishing — by the trillions — inside our own bodies,” Chadwick said in a Wildsight press release.

“We and nature are anything but separate. We are indivisible. Which is why the future of human existence is bound to the health and stability of natural communities near and far across the only living planet we know.”

Chadwick is a founding board member of the Vital Ground Foundation, a conservation land trust and also serves on the board of the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation, which supports wildlife research and conservation programs around the world.

“Wildsight is excited to offer people in the Kootenays an opportunity to hear Doug Chadwick’s always insightful stories that highlight our intimate connection with nature,” said John Bergenske, Wildsight’s conservation director.

“We hope people will come out for an entertaining presentation that looks at the family of all living things, and what that means in our own lives. We will give people a glimpse of Wildsight’s role in line with Doug’s vision.”

Each stop on the tour will include a presentation from Chadwick and an overview of Wildsight’s work in the region, plus time for discussion and questions.

Admission is by donation for the stop at Centennial Hall in Kimberley. Wildsight suggests buying a ticket to secure a spot and to be entered for a door prize: a signed copy of Four Fifths a Grizzly.

“Humans are part of nature, and nature is part of humankind, and in this truth we discover our greater selves,” Chadwick said.



paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin

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