Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs
Never Shoot a Stampede Queen
A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo
- Publisher
- Heritage House Publishing
- Initial publish date
- Jun 2009
- Category
- Personal Memoirs, General
- Recommended Age
- 15
- Recommended Grade
- 10
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781894974523
- Publish Date
- Jun 2009
- List Price
- $19.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781926613192
- Publish Date
- Feb 2011
- List Price
- $9.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Winner of the 2009 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
The cops wanted to shoot me, my bosses thought I was a Bolshevik, and a local lawyer warned me that some people I was writing about might try to test the strength of my skull with a steel pipe. What more could any young reporter hope for from his first real job?
The night Mark Leiren-Young drove into Williams Lake, British Columbia, in 1985 to work as a reporter for the venerable Williams Lake Tribune, he arrived on the scene of an armed robbery. And that was before things got weird. For a 22-year-old from Vancouver, a stint in the legendary Cariboo town was a trip to another world and another era. From the explosive opening, where Mark finds himself in a courtroom just a few feet away from a defendant with a bomb strapped to his chest, to the case of a plane that crashed without its pilot on board, Never Shoot a Stampede Queen is an unforgettable comic memoir of a city boy learning about—and learning to love—life in a cowboy town.
About the author
Mark Leiren-Young is a writer, documentary filmmaker, playwright, podcaster and orca activist. His book The Killer Whale Who Changed the World won the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada general audience book award. He wrote, directed and produced an award-winning documentary The Hundred-Year-Old Whale, and his documentary about Moby Doll is being produced by Middle Child Films. Mark hosts Skaana, a podcast about orca and ocean stories and is actively involved in the fight for the survival of the endangered southern residents. Mark has written for other young audiences for ABC, PBS, YTV, Treehouse and BBC Kids. His books for young readers include Big Whale, Small World, Orcas of the Salish Sea and the City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize winner, Orcas Everywhere. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
“Mark Leiren-Young is the kind of author who produces trustworthy works of nonfiction that will both entertain and educate children.”–CM: Canadian Review of Materials
Editorial Reviews
“Williams Lake comes across as the Wild West mixed with Capone-era Chicago with a soupcon of Jim Crow Deep South segregation and an unsavory dash of perversion. And that’s just in the first chapter. —Tom Hawthorn, the Globe and Mail
[E]ach tale grabs my attention and holds on tight —John Robert Colombo
Loved it! . . . I salute you, sir. Thanks for a great read. —Zachary Petit, Managing Editor, Writer's Digest
An absolute charmer in the Stuart McLean/Will Ferguson vein. —John Threlfall, Monday Magazine
Librarian Reviews
Never Shoot a Stampede Queen: A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo
This collection of stories is taken from the real news stories the author himself covered in his brief but adventurous stay as a rookie reporter in William’s Lake, BC. He had no idea what he was getting himself into either socially or job wise. News topics incorporated into the story include murders, homelessness, discrimination, car crashes, a train derailment and child abuse cases.This book won the 2009 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. Leiren-Young is a screenwriter, playwright, performer, journalist and filmmaker.
Caution: Includes swear words and mature subject matter.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2009-2010.
