ABOUT THIS EPISODE:In this episode Megan Cole talks to Harley Rustad about his book Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada's Last Great Trees, which was nominated for the 2019 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. Harley shares what it was like when he first saw Big Lonely Doug as well as what it was like to work with one of the integral characters to the story, Dennis Cronin, who saved one of Canada's biggest, and most famous trees.

ABOUT HARLEY RUSTAD:

Harley Rustad is a journalist, author, and editor. His writing has appeared in Outside magazine, The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, Geographical, Guardian, CNN, and elsewhere.

He is the author of Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees, which was named a best book of 2018 by the Globe and Mail and one of the best Canadian nonfiction books of the year by the CBC, and was nominated for several awards.

Lost in the Valley of Death, his second book, will be published by Harper (US) and Knopf (Canada).

He received a silver National Magazine Award for an article about a logger who saved one of the largest trees in Canada (Big Lonely Doug) and an honourable mention for a feature on digital mapping in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut (Where the Streets Have No Names).

He is a features editor at The Walrus magazine, a faculty editor at the Banff Centre's mountain and wilderness writing residency, and the founder of the Port Renfrew Writers’ Retreat. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and originally from Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.