“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.

Beavers in the ‘hood at Vancouver’s Olympic Park

Beavers have moved into Vancouver’s Hinge Park, right in the heart of the trendy Olympic Village neighbourhood, and are attracting international attention. In June, a reporter from PRI’s “The World” travelled to B.C. to meet these urban celebrities and invited me to join her for a chat on the walkway overlooking their lodge. Read and listen to Andrea Crossan’s PRI story >>

In exciting recent news, three kits have been born to the pioneering beaver pair and can be seen swimming about in their home stream with their parents. To keep up-to-date with the family, follow OlympicVillageBeaver (@VancouverBeaver) on Twitter.

Hinge Park beaver lodge (© Frances Backhouse).

Hinge Park beaver lodge (© Frances Backhouse).

 

 

The Calgary Stampede Hat Tradition

It’s Stampede time in Calgary and cowboy hats are everywhere. To celebrate this annual tradition, “Calgary Through the Eyes of Writers” turns to the hat-making chapter in Once They Were Hats, with this blog post. While you’re there, check out lit-blogger Shaun Hunter’s complete Calgary Reading List: a wagon-load of nonfiction, fiction and poetry works that bring Calgary to life on page from a multitude of perspectives.

The Smithbilt Hats factory, Calgary, Alberta (© Frances Backhouse)

The Smithbilt Hats factory, Calgary, Alberta (© Frances Backhouse)

When I visited Smithbilt Hats in 2011, while researching my book, I watched master hatter Brian Hanson craft a beaver-fur felt hat using vintage equipment (some of the machines and hat blocks are more than 100 years old) and skills that have almost died out. The day before, he had put the finishing touches on a pair of white cowboy hats, made of rabbit-fur felt, to be presented that week to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.

A beaver hat in the jam blocker at Smithbilt Hats (© Frances Backhouse).

A beaver hat in the jam blocker at Smithbilt Hats (© Frances Backhouse).

Charlotte Gray Trains Her Binoculars on Beavers

Historian Charlotte Gray reviews Once They Were Hats in the June-July 2016 issue of Canada’s History magazine. Like many Canadians, she has beavers as neighbours at her cottage, but she’s looking at them differently now: “thanks to Backhouse’s thoughtful, fascinating exploration of beaver know-how, I will not complain about the neighbours next summer” she writes. “Instead, I’ll have my binoculars trained on them.” Maybe she’ll spot the beaver dude who graces the cover of this issue and looks like he’d be right at home in cottage country.

Read the review >>

Once They Were Hats: “a must-have book to take to the lake”

Ottawa Magazine has declared Once They Were Hats to be one of the four books everyone should take to the lake this summer. Their round-up story on essential cottage reading says: “Frances Backhouse’s much-praised book will tell you more than you ever imagined about beavers, from their prehistoric past as two-metre-long rodents to their popularity as hat material, their elevation as national symbol, and their huge influence in reshaping the Canadian landscape. Every true-blue cottager should study, if not memorize, Backhouse’s writings. Amaze your neighbours with beaver trivia. Surely you don’t want to discuss just septic tanks and rotting deck boards.”

OTWH beach chair

Salish Stories

Exploring British Columbia’s southern Gulf Islands and learning about Hul’qumi’num life: a six-day sailing tour on a classic schooner. Canadian Geographic Travel, Spring 2015.

“It’s late afternoon when we drop anchor in Bedwell Harbour, but the mid-April sun still rides high above the horizon, illuminating the long, west-facing shore. A small crescent beach, tucked at the base of a forested slope, gleams as white and enticing as an unopened letter. In the three hours since the Maple Leaf left Sidney, we’ve cruised past several of the many islands and islets that make up the terrestrial portion of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. I’m eager for a closer look.”

Read the full article >>

The Maple Leaf in Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

The Maple Leaf at anchor (© Frances Backhouse).

What Publishers Want – May 19, 2016

What do publishers want from authors? Join Taryn Boyd, Associate Publisher at TouchWood Editions/Brindle and Glass, and me for a discussion of this question from both sides of the table. Presented by Canadian Authors–Victoria.

When: Thursday, May 19, 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Doors: 6:30 pm.
Where: Arbutus Room at the Saanich Commonwealth Place, 4636 Elk Lake Drive, Victoria, BC.
Admission: Members $5, Non-Members $10, pay at the door.
For more information, contact: liz_walker@shaw.ca

Victoria Natural History Society – April 12, 2016

Please join me for the VNHS Natural History Night on Tuesday, April 12, 7:30-9:30 pm, in Room 159 of the Fraser Building at the University of Victoria. I’ll be reading from Once They Were Hats and talking about “The Quintessential Ecosystem Engineer: Past, Present and Future.” The event is free and open to the public. Additional information here.

beaver dam

Beaver engineering

Douglas Day at Fort Langley National Historic Site – Nov 19, 2015

DSCN0185

Douglas Day marks the day on November 19, 1858, when James Douglas proclaimed British Columbia a Crown Colony in Fort Langley’s Big House. This year, I’ll be part of Fort Langley National Historic Site’s annual Douglas Day celebration, from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 19th.

Enjoy wine, cheese, music and a re-enactment of the proclamation of the colony of British Columbia, plus the mainland launch of Once They Were Hats.

See more info »

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