Canadian explorer and best-selling author Adam Shoalts is coming to Owen Sound this week.
Shoalts is an explorer with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and has written a number of books about his expeditions to some of Canada’s most remote locations.
On Dec 14th, Shoalts will be at the Bayshore Community Centre to talk about his latest book, Where the Falcon Flies.
He’ll also be on Bayshore Broadcasting’s Open Line show on 560 CFOS from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on December 14th.
Where The Falcon Flies has been featured on the Globe and Mail Recommended Reads List. It’s also been a #1 Amazon Bestseller, listed on Indigo/Chapters’ Most Anticipated Books List, and is on the CBC Recommended Reads List.
It takes readers on Shoalts’ 3,400 kilometre journey from his house in St. Williams (not far from Port Dover) to the Arctic shores of Ungava Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Shoalts embarked on his expedition after being inspired by the migration of a peregrine falcon, seen from the window of his home in southern Ontario. He decided to follow the world’s fastest birds to their nesting sites in the far away Torngat Mountains.
Traveling alone, with his tent and canoe, Shoalts first navigates the sometimes crowded, difficult route through the densely populated GTA and other urban areas, before traversing the wilder landscapes of Quebec and Newfoundland, all the way to the Arctic.
On his journey he confronts a gauntlet of obstacles from Great Lakes storms and white-water rapids to swarms of black flies, diminishing food rations, feet rubbed raw from hiking, man made dangrous currents around bridges and hydroelectric dams and busy commercial freighter traffic.
The story of adventure is also one of the generosity and kindness of those Shoalts encounters on the way, as well as a message about the importance of wild places as habitats, whether they’re urban parks, larger protected green spaces or remote areas humans seldom see.
A release says Shoalts’ career has included mapping rivers, leading expeditions for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and completing a nearly 4,000 km journey alone across Canada’s Arctic.
In 2022, he was presented with the Louie Kamookak Medal for his work “making Canada better known to Canadians and the world.”
When not on expeditions, Shoalts is a popular guest speaker.
Hosted by the Owen Sound Field Naturalists, Shoalts is set to speak at 7 p.m. at the Bayshore Community Centre December 14th. He’ll be selling and signing his book and sharing a presentation featuring photos from his adventure.
He is also the author of the national bestseller Beyond The Trees, as well as Alone Against the North, The Whisper on the Night Wind and A History of Canada In Ten Maps.
