by Jo Barnes | photo by Janis Jean Photography –
Wearing his park warden Stetson on his head, he patrolled the parks and recorded in a log book his daily observations of what he saw.
Now retired, former Canadian national park warden George Mercer has traded in his Stetson for a writer’s cap, and this local author now successfully writes novels inspired by his experiences working in six national parks from Newfoundland to the Northwest Territories to the West Coast.
“I often did patrols on my own. The experiences were incredible,” shares George. “I want to capture in words what park wardens face, give readers a sense of place, and tell them about wild places and wildlife.”
Early on in his career, George discovered that recording basic notations in his log book wasn’t enough.
“For me, it was more than just jotting down dates and times. I would write a story,” he says.
There was plenty of action happening around the park settings. Prowling poachers in the park, the trials of maintaining a balanced ecosystem, battling to save wildlife; the situations to confront as a park warden were diverse. Retirement in 2012 brought the opportunity to tap into those experiences and share them with others. While George had done some technical writing and blogging, he wanted to further develop his creative writing abilities.
“I took courses in fiction writing at Camosun College,” comments George. “My instructor was Robert Wiersema, and he really lit the spark for me.”
Interest ignited and with ideas stirring in his mind, George began to put pen to paper. The efforts resulted in his first published book in 2014 called Dyed in the Green. It was the first in a planned series of six books concerning the adventures and challenges of Canadian national park wardens. The story follows two main characters – Ben Matthews and Kate Jones – who are dealing with an aggressive poacher in Cape Breton Highlands National Park who is undeterred in his behaviour.
That initial story was followed by several others: Wood Buffalo in 2016, Jasper Wild in 2017 and Fat Cats in 2018. His work has received acclaim including silver and gold medals from the Independent Publisher Book Awards for Canada West. For George, writing provides not only a way to communicate about parks and wildlife, but it is an outlet for personal creativity.
“I write about true experiences and what park people face every day, but it is all told with a twist and lots of suspense,” he says.
George’s interest in parks and nature goes back to his childhood, and this impacted his education and career path as a park warden.
“I was drawn to issues around the environment as a kid. I read a lot of Farley Mowat stories,” he comments. “I studied biology for two years at Memorial University of Newfoundland and later completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology at University of Alberta.”
When it comes to source material for his books, George finds there is no shortage. It’s usually a matter of just starting the process of writing.
“I have a bit of a plan. I start writing not knowing where it’s all going,” he shares. “I see the books as movies. I see things happening and transcribe it to paper.”
George deliberates over setting details and uses conversations between characters in such a way as to try and draw readers in so that they are fully immersed in the story.
“The characters are composites of people with whom I’ve worked over the years,” notes George.
“There is a fair amount of dialogue, lots of action, and definitely a sense of place.”
Whether it’s a fight to save a park’s bison or keeping corporate greed at bay or maintaining the balance of an ecosystem, George’s books embrace a variety of challenges involving people, politics and environment.
His current project for release in 2023, The Rhino’s Horn, is the first book to be partially set outside of Canada. It focuses on the plight of a female ranger in Tanzania and has the main characters returning to Canada from their adventures abroad.
“I want to give an international perspective to the series,” remarks George. “The book is about the poaching situation in Africa, the brutality of it, and the reality of how many rangers lose their lives in their line of work.”
It is another project involving planning, research, writing drafts and editing. It’s another opportunity to focus on conservation and craft a story that will hopefully inspire readers to be a part of the movement to protect our national park and other protected areas. He might be wearing his writer’s cap, but George’s park warden Stetson is never too far away.
