Mark Leiren-Young is the author of two comic memoirs, Free Magic Secrets Revealed and Never Shoot a Stampede Queen: A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo, which won the 2009 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and was also adapted for the stage. He won the Jack Webster Award for his CBC Ideas radio documentary Moby Doll: The Whale that Changed the World. Leiren-Young is currently finishing a feature length film on the Moby Doll, the subject of his new book. His other books include The Green Chain: Nothing is Ever Clear Cut and This Crazy Time written with the environmentalist Tzeporah Berman. His stage plays have been produced throughout Canada and the US and have also been seen in Europe and Australia. As a journalist Leiren-Young has written for TIME, Maclean’s, The Hollywood Reporter, The Walrus and most of Canada’s daily newspapers.

If you love animals, or Vancouver, this book is worth your time. It’s a captivating read and Leiren-Young’s passion for the issues — our relationship with other species, and the environment — drives the narrative – The Tyee

The Killer Whale Who Changed the World

Mark Leiren-Young gives a fascinating and heartbreaking account of Moby Doll, the first publicly exhibited captive killer whale, whose story forever changed the way we see orcas and sparked the movement to save them. Killer whales had always been seen as bloodthirsty sea monsters. That all changed when a young killer whale was captured off the West Coast of North America and displayed to the public in 1964. Moby Doll  was an instant celebrity. He died within a few months, but his famous gentleness sparked a worldwide crusade that transformed how people understood and appreciated orcas.

Discover More

• For a sample chapter of The Killer Whale Who Changed the World, visit PBS online…
• For a free audiobook test drive audible.com and check out Never Shoot a Stampede Queen. The Killer Whale Who Changed the World will be available there soon…
• Mark Leiren-Young on CBC’s The Current