Throwing Dead Fish for Fun and Ecological Profit

Chucking chum and coho carcasses into a salmon-spawning stream supports more than just an ecosystem. Hakai Magazine, June 1, 2017.

“On a chilly January morning, four-year-old Eli Burger stands on the bank of Douglas Creek, on the outskirts of Victoria, British Columbia, hugging a dead salmon half as long as him against his red parka. He looks up at his father, Andrew Burger, who nods encouragingly. “Go ahead,” he says, “chuck it in.” Eli shuffles forward until his blue rubber boots touch the edge of the creek and heaves the fish as far as he can into the shallow water. It lands with a splash and drifts for a moment before settling against a boulder. “It’s floating!” Eli exclaims, his delight in the salmon’s buoyancy eliciting smiles from several nearby adults. For a moment, it’s almost as if the handsome coho could wriggle back to life.

Eli’s salmon is just one of 100 or so chum and coho carcasses that will land in Douglas Creek in a half-hour frenzy of activity this morning—lobbed, pitched, flung, plunked, or otherwise deposited by dozens of volunteers of all ages under the watchful eye of Darrell Wick, the man who has convened this gathering. None of the salmon will miraculously rise from the dead, but Wick is in the resurrection business.”

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Ideacity here I come – June 16, 2017

Now in its eighteenth year, Toronto’s annual ideacity conference has earned a reputation for being Canada’s “Premier meeting of the minds.” I’m honoured to be among the presenters who will be appearing at the three-day event this year. My talk on “The Mighty Beaver” is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 16, leading off the second session of the day. You can view the full schedule and buy tickets here. Use code “BEAVER” to get 10% off your ticket.

Moses Znaimer’s vision for his conference is to offer a program that “deliberately knocks down professional or academic categories and boundaries, and brings everyone together for a single transformative experience.” The location for all of the talks is the Royal Conservatory of Music’s gorgeous Koerner Hall, a 1,135-seat performance space designed in the tradition of the classic “shoebox” venues of Europe. What a thrill it will be to share my passion for beavers in that spectacular venue.

Back to the Beaver State – May 6 & 7, 2017

I have two Once They Were Hats events coming up in Oregon, which proudly calls itself the Beaver State. Both events are free.

The fabulous travelling Beaver Tales Art Exhibit moves to Seaside on May 6, where it will run until May 31. From 1:00 to 3:00 pm on Saturday, May 6, join me for a reading and book signing at Seaside’s Beach Books (616 Broadway St.).

Then, on Sunday, May 7, I’ll be at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, giving a beaver talk from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. For the zoo event, enter at the Zoo Education Center doors (no admission fee), downhill from the parking lot.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska

A hike on the Daemonelix Trail in Agate Fossil Beds National Monument leads to the Lakota’s Ca’pa el ti, strange spiral burrows of a long-extinct beaver. The New Territory, Issue 03.

“It’s only the middle of June and already it’s hot as hell out here in the far northwestern corner of Nebraska, where the Niobrara River cuts through the prairie’s tough hide like an old, half-healed knife wound. A wiry pelt of vegetation swaths the undulating slopes, but in the steepest places, the crumbling, pale gray flesh of the earth shows through. The afternoon sun bounces off the bare bluffs, throwing heat and light back at me as I scan their flanks, and sweat trickles down my spine. Perfect weather for checking out what the homesteaders who settled these parts in the 1800s called the Devil’s Corkscrews.”

Read the online preview >>

 

High praise from High Country News

Rob Rich knows beavers well — he’s been observing and writing about them for several years in Whatcom County, Washington — so his enthusiastic response to Once They Were Hats is all the more welcome. In a recent review, published in the High Country News, Rich writes: “Backhouse is a perceptive observer and listener, ever alert to the subtle ways the beaver’s story entwines with individual people. She has the knack of a documentary filmmaker.” He also notes that the book offers “a wide assortment of reasons to value the beaver’s utterly unique lifestyle, while helping us understand how it has shaped — and still shapes — our own.”

You can read Rob Rich’s own writings about beavers in his blog, the Whatcom Field Journal.

A conversation with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller

In January 2016, I sat down with Dave Miller, the host of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s daily talk show “Think Out Loud” to think, and talk, about beavers. Dave and his executive producer, Sage Van Wing, are an interviewee’s dream team: smart, thoughtful, witty and, best of all, prepared. They read my book in advance and we had a wonderful, wide-ranging 20-minute conversation about beavers in general and Once They Were Hats in particular. Click below to listen.

Second time around on the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize list

I’m not sure whether I was more surprised when I won the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for Children of the Klondike in 2010 or when I found myself on the shortlist again in 2016. Although Once They Were Hats didn’t carry the day this time (so far, no one has won this prize twice), I was honoured to be among the finalists and appreciative of the jurors’ citation, which says: “Backhouse not only restores the dignity and grandeur of Canada’s national symbol, but along the way—through exhaustive research, fine writing, an eye for the telling anecdote—she tells a story as informative as it is entertaining.” As always, the gala was a wonderful celebration of writers and writing and a reminder of Victoria’s vibrant literary scene.

Reading at the 2016 Victoria Book Prize gala.

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival Reading – Sept. 18, 2016

Eden Mills banner

I’m looking forward to appearing at the 28th annual Eden Mills Writers’ Festival on Sunday, September 18. This outdoor literary event is held on the banks of the Eramosa River in the village of Eden Mills, Ontario, 80 kilometres west of Toronto. It features more than 40 adult, YA and children’s authors.

Helen Humphreys, Katherine Govier and I will appear together on a panel entitled The River of Time, which runs from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. I’ll be reading from Once They Were Hats. Check the festival website for the full schedule and list of authors.

Festival attendees are advised by the organizers to bring a folding lawn chair, blanket or waterproof ground cover, a hat, an umbrella (just in case!), a water bottle and an inquisitive mind. It sounds like my kind of event!

“Once They Were Hats” Shortlisted for the Lane Anderson Award

I’m delighted and honoured to announce that Once They Were Hats has been shortlisted for the Lane Anderson Award. This award celebrates the best Canadian science book of the year in two categories: Adult and Young Reader. The winners will be announced on September 30, 2016.

Tweet the title of your favourite finalist with the hashtag #laneandersonaward for a chance to win all four finalists in either the Adult or Young Readers category. Feel free to tag me – @franbwrites – when you tweet. The contest closes on Sept. 29, 2016.

The Lane Anderson Award was created by the Fitzhenry Family Foundation, a private charitable foundation devoted to the promotion of human rights and education, animal welfare, culture, and the protection of the earth and its resources from overzealous development.