Harley Rustad is a Canadian journalist, magazine editor, and author of ''Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas'' and ''Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees.''

Early life

Rustad was born on

Salt Spring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settle ...

, British Columbia, Canada, where he spent the first few months of his life in a tent while his parents built their home. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Journalism career

Rustad has been an editor and writer at

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, non-profit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an 8-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a national ...

, a Canadian general interest magazine, since 2014. His writing has appeared in publications including ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * Outside (magazine), ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoor ...

'', ''

'', '' The Globe and Mail'', ''

Geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', and

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the ...

. He is a faculty editor at the

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

’s Mountain and Wilderness Writing Residency.

Big Lonely Doug

His first book, ''Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees,'' a nonfiction book published in 2018 is about the second-largest

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are thre ...

in Canada that was a saved by a logger who wrapped green LEAVE TREE ribbon around its trunk, and the fight to protect old-growth forests in British Columbia. The tree,

Big Lonely Doug Big Lonely Doug is a large Coast Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree located in the Gordon River Valley of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the second largest Douglas-fir tree in Canada after the Red Creek Fir in n ...

, is growing in the middle of a clear cut near

Port Renfrew A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, British Columbia. The book started as a magazine article in ''

.'' The book was nominated for the 2018

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writers� ...

, the 2019

Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize The Roderick Haig-Brown Prize is part of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, awarded in celebration of the achievements of British Columbia writers and publishers. It is awarded to the author(s) of books who "contributes most to the enjoyment and under ...

, and the 2018

Banff Mountain Book Competition The Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada. Grand Prize * 1994: Chris Bonington and Audrey Saukeld (editors), ''Heroic Climbs'' * 1995: Thomas Wharton, ''Icefields'' * 1996: Stephen Ve ...

Lost in the Valley of Death

His second book, ''Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas,'' was published in 2022 and investigates the 2016 disappearance of Justin Alexander Shetler in the

Parvati Valley Parvati Valley is situated in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. From the confluence of the Parvati River with the River Beas, the Parvati Valley runs eastwards, through a steep-sided valley from the town of Bhuntar, in the Kullu dis ...

, India. It was nominated for a 2022 Banff Mountain Book Award and a Crime Writers of Canada Award, was a Canadian bestseller, and appeared on the cover of the February 13, 2022,

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read ...

. ''Lost in the Valley of Death'' won two awards at the 2023 Poland Mountain Book Awards and a 2023 US Religion News Association Award.

Awards and honors

* 2023 Mountain Literature Awards, Poland (winner non-fiction category and winner Grand Prix) for ''Lost in the Valley of Death'', Polish translation * 2023 Religion News Association Award (winner) for ''Lost in the Valley of Death'' * 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Award (finalist) for ''Lost in the Valley of Death'' * 2022 Banff Mountain Book Award (finalist) for ''Lost in the Valley of Death'' * 2022 CBC Best Canadian Non-fiction Books of the Year for ''Lost in the Valley of Death'' * 2018

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it f ...

Best Books of the Year for ''Big Lonely Doug'' * 2018 CBC Best Canadian Non-fiction Books of the Year for ''Big Lonely Doug'' * 2018

(finalist) for ''Big Lonely Doug'' * 2018 Banff Mountain Book Award (finalist) for ''Big Lonely Doug'' * 2019

(finalist) for ''Big Lonely Doug'' * 2016

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

(silver) "Big Lonely Doug" published in ''The Walrus''. * 2015

(honourable mention) for "Where the Streets Have No Names" published in ''

Bibliography

* ''Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees.''

House of Anansi Press House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. History Anansi ...

. 2018. ISBN 978-1487003111 * ''Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas.''

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Il ...

. 2022. ISBN 978-0062965967

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rustad, Harley Canadian magazine journalists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian nature writers Canadian travel writers Writers from British Columbia Living people 21st-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 1985 births