Kevin Van Tighem, a former superintendent of Banff National Park, has written more than 200 articles, stories, and essays on conservation and wildlife which have garnered him many awards, including Western Magazine Awards, Outdoor Writers of Canada book and magazine awards, and the Journey Award for Fiction. He is the author of Bears Without Fear, The Homeward Wolf, Heart Waters: Sources of the Bow River, Our Place: Changing the Nature of Alberta, and Wild Roses Are Worth It: Alberta Reconsidered. He lives with his wife, Gail, in High River.
For anyone who cherishes the wild, grapples with environmental grief, or seeks inspiration to keep moving forward, this memoir is both a solace and a call to action.
Drawing on a lifetime spent in the wilds of western Canada’s national parks and years of conservation work, Van Tighem reflects on a career spent protecting the natural world and the emotional toll of witnessing its decline. Freed from bureaucratic constraints after retirement, he turned to writing, activism, and politics, driven by a sense of duty to the landscapes and species he loves. But alongside his commitment to action came profound grief and the pressing question: how do we find hope amid environmental loss?
Van Tighem’s reflections are anchored in the “understory” of his life—the hidden, tangled layers beneath the surface of his experiences. Like the shadowed depths of a forest, these memories and insights are both beautiful and unsettling, revealing the challenges and rewards of engaging fully with the world around us. With unflinching honesty, he examines the joys of connection, the pain of loss, and the enduring value of caring deeply, even when the odds feel insurmountable.
Written with the lyricism of a naturalist and the candour of a seasoned storyteller, Understory invites readers to confront their own relationships with nature and consider how they, too, can find purpose and hope in uncertain times.
In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Iyarhe Nakoda Nations, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation within Alberta District 6, and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.
We’d love to be able to connect directly with you. Sign up here to receive exclusive weekly updates and new show announcements. We promise to make every email newsworthy and entertaining (and by signing up, you help us avoid having to pay to advertise our events on social-media channels).
Join our email list to receive a reminder when shows go on sale.
