The Life of a River - Softcover

Russell, Andy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0771078765 ISBN 13: 9780771078767

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 2000

Synopsis

“For those with eyes to see, a river can be a living link with our past.”

In this unique blend of history and reminiscence, Andy Russell tells the story of the Oldman River, running east from the Rocky Mountains. He recalls his personal encounters with the land and the people; the astonishing role this area has played since the Ice Age as the only ice-free passage on the continent; the ancient peoples who lived and hunted along its shores; the coming of the first white explorers, and then settlers; and finally, the dam that will destroy the river. Part memoir, part history, part passionate defence of nature, this book is an “emotional and fascinating tale” (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix).

About this title

About the Author

Andy Russell was born in 1915 into a pioneer Alberta family — his father was the first white baby born in what is now Lethbridge — Andy left high school in the Depression to become a trapper, cowboy, bronco buster, and trail guide. In time his guiding expeditions in the Rockies led to campfire yarns that found their way into magazines, and a new career as a writer and film-maker soon beckoned.

Over the years he became the best-known of all the writers about the Rockies and the wildlife to be found there. His book titles speak for themselves. In order he wrote Grizzly Country; Horns in the High Country; The Rockies; The High West; Memoirs of a Mountain Man; Andy Russell’s Adventures With Wild Animals; The Life of a River; The Canadian Cowboy; Andy Russell’s Campfire Stories; and finally Wild Country, edited by his friend Bruce Morrison, which was published in 2004.

Always an outspoken public figure, famous for his battles with the oil and gas industry, in 1976 he received the Order of Canada. An early conservationist, he began to film wildlife in the Rockies when he tired of guiding trophy — seeking hunters, and switched to trophies on film. He produced Grizzly Country and two other films for international lecture tours; he would introduce them on stage in his everyday Western gear, which he used to great effect. His films and his books — especially The Life of A River, a plea to stop the Oldman River Dam — had a major impact on our understanding of the fragile environment of the Rockies, foothills and prairies.

Andy Russell, author, outdoorsman and conservationist, passed away in Pincher Creek, Alberta, on June 1st at the age of 89.
From the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Russell clearly has a spiritual relationship with a spectacular Rocky Mountain river, and he shares his knowledge and passion without reserve.”
–Vancouver Sun

About this edition

• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0771078765
• ISBN 13: 9780771078767
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 192