Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival

In this down-to-earth memoir, environmental journalist Moyles (Women Who Dig) intertwines her experience losing a sibling to drug addiction with the story of how she learned to coexist with bears. Growing up in northern Alberta along the Peace River in the 1990s, Moyles and her older brother Brendan bonded while hunting grouse and helping their wildlife biologist father care for an orphaned bear cub. As teens, they drank heavily, and by 19, Brendan was struggling with substance abuse. After college, Moyles took a job as a fire tower lookout and became increasingly interested in tracking the bears living outside the electric fence surrounding the tower. At first, she tried to scare away these “pests” using tactics recommended by other lookouts, like blowing an air horn. But the harder Moyles tried, the more she realized that her fear was tied to her estrangement from her brother, whom she had begun to regard “as a beast that could harm me.” While Moyles made peace with the bears, she realized she could not save her brother, a grief she dealt with by immersing herself in nature and finding joy in seeing the bear families grow. Through keen observations and captivating storytelling, Moyles shows that survival is about finding inner peace and learning to overcome fears. This personal history goes straight to the heart. (Jan.)