Grizzly Heart

An absorbing first-hand account of living with bears, from the acclaimed author of The Spirit Bear. To many people, grizzlies are symbols of power and ferocity -- creatures to be feared and, too often, killed. But Charlie Russell, who has had a forty-year relationship with bears, holds the controversial belief that it is possible to live with and truly understand bears in the wild. And for five years now, Russell and his partner, artist and photographer Maureen Enns, have spent summers on the Kamchatka peninsula, located on the northeast coast of Russia, and home of the densest population of brown bears in the world. Grizzly Heart tells the remarkable story of how Russell and Enns have defied the preconceptions of wildlife officials and the general public by living unthreatened -- and respected -- among the grizzlies of Kamchatka. In an honest and immediate style, Russell tells of the trials and successes of their years in the field, from convincing Russian officials to allow them to study, to adopting three bear cubs left orphaned when their mother was killed by a hunter (and teaching these cubs how to survive in the wild), to raising environmental awareness through art. Through a combination of careful study and personal dedication, Russell and Enns are persuading people to reconsider the age-old image of the grizzly bear as a ferocious man-eater and perpetual threat. Through their actions, they demonstrate that it is possible to forge a mutually respectful relationship with these majestic giants, and provide compelling reasons for altering our culture. "We have been able to live beautifully with these animals, with no serious threat, because of what we've learned. Hopefully, sharing what we learn will help people -- and be a big help to our bears, too."

In this “powerful story about the healing every man needs” (John Eldredge, New York Times bestselling author), a near-fatal attack by an enraged grizzly bear leads to an unexpected encounter with God for alpha male Greg Matthews. Greg Matthews was the ultimate poster-boy for masculinity. Avid hunter and outdoorsman, Air Force and civilian firefighter, EMT, rescue helicopter pilot, fugitive recovery agent, Ground Zero volunteer and more, Greg had spent his whole life striving to serve others but for all the wrong reasons. After his parents’ divorce when he was young, Greg believed deep down that the only way he could be loved and valued—by his father, by his family, and by God—was if he earned it through daring, high-stakes, high-risk—what society commonly refers to as “manly”—achievements. But everything changed when an idyllic hunting trip through the backwoods of Alaska turned into a harrowing fight for his life. Greg was attacked by a grizzly bear—but the gruesome, nearly fatal conflict offered an unexpected encounter with God. Greg’s eyes, and more importantly, his heart, were finally opened to the lie that he’d internalized as a child: that his dangerously high-risk achievements were the sole signifiers of his worth. The road to recovery was long and painful, but it forced Greg to come face-to-face with the long-held view of manhood he had absorbed as his own identity. The relentless grizzly uncovered something in Greg’s heart: that he was being pursued by an equally persistent God, who loved him unconditionally. A gripping tale of survival and a rebuttal to outdated notions about masculinity, Wild Awakening “will help you lead a life of greater purpose” (John O’Leary, author of On Fire).

A spectacular journey into the heart of bear country, with more than 175 full-colour photographs, from the authors of Grizzly Heart. The moments of unexpected communion they’ve captured on film will change the way you think about bears forever. What if the thought of encountering a grizzly bear filled you with anticipation and wonder? What if you knew a bear her whole life, and the bear treated you as a welcome friend whenever you visited? What if bears themselves could be free to live as they were meant to, enjoying nature’s splendour and not fearful of gun-bearing humans? Not everyone can live the dream, but at least two people (and many more bears) have. For seven years, renowned naturalist Charlie Russell and his partner, artist Maureen Enns, have spent summers in the remote wilderness of Kamchatka, Russia. Home to the densest population of brown bears in the world, the region is also home to Russell and Enns’s unprecedented first-hand study of the kinds of relationships that can exist between bears and humans. The authors’ first book together, Grizzly Heart, told the unforgettable story of their work with Kamchatka’s brown bears. Now comes Grizzly Seasons, a stunning array of photographs of these captivating and elusive creatures. Central to their project are three bear cubs -- rescued by Russell and Enns from a squalid Russian zoo -- who are reintroduced to the wild and allowed to grow into the wild animals they were meant to be. We also meet other bears face-to-face, who over the years have come to accept, and at times even embrace, the couple’s presence.

Grizzly Lessons is a survival guide to living in, or visiting, grizzly and wolf country. Fear, physical danger, financial hardship, and animosity between neighbors are contemporary challenges of the everyday Western experience. Stories of grizzly attacks reveal the remarkable psychological resilience of survivors. Most have returned to the wilderness with increased respect for bears and their love of nature intact. Grizzly Lessons avoids the polarizing rhetoric of the vitriolic wolf-bear debates. In contrast, Blanchard presents accounts of coexistence, from historical Native Americans to present-day ranchers, hunters, and other wilderness explorers. For those who are open to them, the ultimate lessons of humility, respect, and interdependence are offered through grizzly encounters.

This is an intimate portrait of Charlie Russell's philosophy of nature. Accompanied by stunning photography, the book is written in narrative form, the way Charlie spoke and shared his stories and knowledge with others. Each of the chapters describes some facet of Charlie's philosophy and experiences through the stories of individual bears and what they taught him: the meaning of trust, respect, attention, love, and much more.

With a lyrical beauty that reverberates off every page, Sweet Hearts tells the tale of a brother and sister that is as haunting as it is majestic Sixteen-year-old Flint Zimmer escapes juvenile detention, hitchhikes 612 miles across Montana, and arrives home, trailing “bad weather and bad luck,” to be reunited with his half sister, ten-year-old Cecile, the only person he trusts and loves. Together they terrorize a local doctor and steal their mother’s car, then strike out alone on a desperate journey south to the Crow Indian Reservation, where their ancestors once lived—and where Flint’s rage and fear will erupt into irrevocable violence.

The story of a grizzly bear named Millie: her life, death, and cubs, and what they reveal about the changing character of the American West. An "ode to wildness and wilderness" (Outside Magazine), Down from the Mountain tells the story of one grizzly in the changing Montana landscape. Millie was cunning, a fiercely protective mother to her cubs. But raising those cubs in the mountains was hard, as the climate warmed and people crowded the valleys. There were obvious dangers, like poachers, and subtle ones, like the corn field that drew her into sure trouble. That trouble is where award-winning writer, farmer, and conservationist Bryce Andrews's story intersects with Millie’s. In this "welcome and impressive work" he shows how this drama is "the core of a major problem in the rural American West—the disagreement between large predatory animals and invasive modern settlers”—an entangled collision where the shrinking wilds force human and bear into ever closer proximity (Barry Lopez). “Andrews’s wonderful Down from the Mountain is deeply informed by personal experience and made all the stronger by his compassion and measured thoughts . . . Welcome and impressive work.”—Barry Lopez

A Broken Flute is a book of reviews that critically evaluate children's books about Native Americans written between the early 1900s and 2003, accompanied by stories, essays and poems from its contributors. The authors critique some 600 books by more than 500 authors, arranging titles A to Z and covering pre-school, K-12 levels, and evaluations of some adult and teacher materials. This book is a valuable resource for community and educational organizations, and a key reference for public and school libraries, and Native American collections.