David Pitt-Brooke trained originally as a biologist and veterinarian. He served almost ten years with Parks Canada working as naturalist and educator in Glacier NP, Mount Revelstoke NP, Waterton Lakes NP, and ultimately Pacific Rim National Park. He subsequently established his own communications business and has written on a wide variety of topics – from grizzly bears to critical path analysis. In June 2002 he received a Canadian Science Writer’s Association Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Science Journalism in Canadian Media.”
Pitt-Brooke is based in Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and has travelled widely – by fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter, powerboat and kayak – absorbing the landscape and lore of Clayoquot Sound and adjacent areas to create this multi-faceted portrait of Canada’s Pacific Coast.
“When I first came to work for Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island, I thought I’d gone to heaven. The job was a joy. The profusion and variety of life were a naturalist’s dream. I could take a group of people into the forest, stop anywhere, reach out and touch some marvel. I could escort visitors onto the beach, pick a tiny creature from a tide pool and drop it into a child’s hand for closer inspection, then return the beast to its pool with no harm done to either. It was environmental education at its best and most vivid. My companions on those walks were an enthusiastic lot, passionate and eager to learn, keen to establish some sort of connection with the natural world in that remarkable place. Nobody knows exactly how many people visit the west coast of Vancouver Island every year, but the number is certainly in the hundreds of thousands, an amazing phenomenon. Unfortunately, most visitors haven't the time, the means, or the knowledge to venture very far from the beaten path. I’ve always thought that many must go away feeling vaguely short-changed, denied the fullness of an experience they’ve come so far to embrace. And what of all those others who can only dream of travelling to places like Clayoquot Sound? I’m hoping my book Chasing Clayoquot will help.
"Chasing Clayoquot is a voyage of personal discovery. We’ll venture out at least once in each of twelve calendar months and each journey will focus on the events and attractions particular to its season: the special places, the notable species of plants and animals. With a little luck, there will be glimpses of nature’s true face–an elusive prize even in Clayoquot Sound–moments of vivid beauty revealed in different moods and manifestations: the tumult of a winter storm, bright spring mornings, warm still evenings in sheltered valleys where the view hasn’t changed substantially in five thousand years. By the time we’re finished we’ll have reacquainted ourselves, at least in passing with much of what is unique and extraordinary in this unique and extraordinary place. My goal, above all, has been to give readers a vicarious experience, a sense of having been there and seen it all for themselves.”
