Originally published in 1936, this classic collection of Canadian yarns harkens to a simpler time, a time when we were closer to the natural world around us. It is a celebration of the pure delight of storytelling, and of the bounty of the land. Grey Owl was both a hearty outdoorsman and a skilled raconteur, and his stories of life in the bush, so beloved by readers then and now, are the perfect companion for a cold winter night or a lazy summer afternoon. In Tales of an Empty Cabin, he offers an eclectic sampling of campfire stories—some are tall tales, while some are drawn directly from the author’s own day-to-day life. All are characterized by Grey Owl’s unique wit, charm, and passion of nature.

An Englishman with the imagination and the arrogance to pose as a North American Indian, a fur trapper who kept beaver as pets, a drunken brawling bigamist who embraced the wilderness to escape his ghosts, a compelling champion of that wilderness who travelled much of the world speaking to huge audiences about the fate of the natural world - who was the real Archie Belaney, known to many as Grey Owl?Grey Owl, the Mystery of Archie Belaney is a unique, accessible collection of narrative poetry and journal entries which examines this dynamic, often contradictory, always fascinating man who reconstructed his identity and delivered a message of conservation to the world.

"He gave his extraordinary genius, his passionate sympathy, his bodily strength, his magnetic personal influence, even his very earnings to the service of animals..." - Lovat Dickson, publisher. This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: biography or animals. Grey Owl was known to millions of people as an outstanding Native Canadian spokesman who championed the cause of nature, conservation, and preservation. His cause was true, but the truth about Archie Belaney's mysterious ancestry was another story.

Join Kathleen and Michael Pitt as they leave the comfort and temperate climate of suburban Vancouver to spend an isolated winter north of the Arctic Circle. With neither power nor running water, over 40 kilometres from the nearest community of 75 people, this middle-aged couple learns to embrace temperatures that regularly fall below minus 40 degrees. From their home base in a small, one-room cabin, they seek the challenge of winter camping and the adventure of expeditions across the ice. In January 1999, the Pitts flew by Twin Otter to Colville Lake to pursue Michael's life-long dream of living beyond the reach of roads and concrete. By the time the ice went out of the lakes and rivers in mid-June, their lives had been changed forever. Michael and Kathleen Pitt had been paddling the rivers of Northern Canada for ten years. Yet their experience seemed incomplete. Summer is for visitors. Michael needed to spend a winter in the North, where rivers, lakes and muskeg remain frozen for 7 to 8 months of the year. Only by following the winter trail did Michael believe that he could truly know the character and soul of Canada's vast, seemingly limitless Northern landscape. "A mesmerizing account of the North's beauty and the winter Michael and his wife Kathleen lived in a tiny cabin above the Arctic Circle. Well-written and insightful, this book will delight anyone who has explored the northern latitudes or dreams of doing so." -- Julie Angus, author of Rowboat in a Hurricane: My Amazing Journey Across a Changing Atlantic Ocean "Personal, humorous and witty, Pitt has crafted an Ode to Winter, sharing with us practical tips of wintercraft, philosophical musings and personal observations on life, the North and the majesty of Winter." -- Alan Fehr, 21-year resident of Arctic Canada and Superintendent of Prince Albert and Elk Island National Parks About the author, Michael D. Pitt Born and raised in California, Michael D. Pitt emigrated to Canada in 1975 to accept a position at the University of British Columbia as a professor of grassland ecology in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, where he eventually served as associate dean for eight years. In 1981 he married Kathleen, who worked at the university as an administrator in Information Technology Services. The lure of a rural lifestyle, however, with golden sun reflecting on winter snow, inevitably proved irresistible. Kathleen said goodbye to commute traffic, deadlines, memos and office walls in 2000. Michael escaped 18 months later. They now live on 565 acres in the Aspen Parkland near Preeceville, Saskatchewan, where sled dogs Brownie, Grey, Sailor and Slick help them operate Meadow's Edge Bed & Breakfast. Kathleen and Michael Pitt are authors of Three Seasons in the Wind: 950 km by Canoe Down Northern Canada's Thelon River, published in 1999.

This is the autobiography of a man who has spent thirty-five years of his life covering scientific psychical research, with detailed investigations into all kinds of manifestation that might be supernatural or paranormal in origin, including spiritualism, ESP, telepathy, hauntings and other occult phenomena. Many of the true experiences from the author’s casebook are published here for the first time.

A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year: “Uniformly excellent” stories about our relationships with each other and with the treacherous natural world (Publishers Weekly). In the title story, a man and woman travel across an eerily frozen lake—under the ice. “The Distance” casts a skeptical eye on Thomas Jefferson through the lens of a Montana man’s visit to Monticello. “Eating” begins with an owl being sucked into a canoe and ends with a man eating a town out of house and home, and “The Cave” is a stunning story of a man and woman lost in an abandoned mine. Other stories include “The Fireman,” “Swans,” “The Prisoners,” “Presidents’ Day,” “Real Town,” and “Two Deer.” Each is remarkable in its own way, sure to please both new readers and avid fans of Rick Bass’s passionate, unmistakable voice. “Bass focuses a naturalist’s eye not only on the frozen lakes and interplay of predator and prey often found in his work but also on the ebb and flow of human emotions and relationships . . . Thought-provoking and entertaining, these stories move along quickly but continue to resonate long after the reader is done; several have been anthologized in award collections.” —Library Journal “Beautiful in their magical imagery, dramatic in their situations, and exquisitely poignant in their insights, these stories of awe and loss are quite astonishing in their mythic use of place and the elements of earth, air, fire, and water.” —Booklist “Bass puts his talent as a nature writer to terrific use.” —The New York Times Book Review “Bass’s language glistens with the beauty of the landscapes he evokes.” —San Francisco Chronicle Book Review