Spend time off the beaten track with Amanda Lewis recounting misadventures in the forest; Ellen Schwartz sharing stories as a hippie homesteader; and Caroll Simpson describing remarkable experiences in northwestern BC.
Amanda Lewis is a big-tree tracker and an award-winning book editor. Born in Dublin, Ireland, she now divides her time between the internet and a small island in British Columbia, Canada. Tracking Giants: Big Trees, Tiny Triumphs and Misadventures in the Forest (Greystone Books) is her first book.
Ellen Schwartz is the author of eighteen award-winning books for children, as well as one other non-fiction book for adults, a collection of profiles of women singer-songwriters. In addition to writing books, Ellen works as a corporate writer and editor and as a freelance magazine writer who has published hundreds of magazine articles. Ellen has taught creative writing classes for many years at the college and university levels. Her passions include reading, jazz dancing, baking, and hiking. After a decade of being hippie homesteaders in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, Ellen and her husband now live in Burnaby, BC. Her memoir, Galena Bay Odyssey (Heritage House), was published in 2023.
For ten years Caroll Simpson operated a fishing business by herself and kept a running journal of the fantastic and frightening events each day. Eventually she decided to sell the wilderness lodge that had woven into her soul for 25 years. Flipping through her journals she found tranquility and the inspiration for her book, Alone In The Great Unknown (Harbour Publishing). Caroll now lives on Vancouver Island with her husband Helmut.
“Caroll managed to maintain an energy level in championing an environmental cause unparalleled by many, all the while solely operating a fly-in/boat-in fishing lodge.”
Len Vanderstar, R.P.F. (Ret.), R.P.Bio, Royal Canadian Geographic Society (RCGS) Fellow
