Rick Whitteker got the call April 16 that 500 copies of his self-published book, Nature Nuggets, had arrived from a Markham printer to Parker Pad and Printing.
“It’s very exciting,” the newspaper columnist told The Highlander in an interview.
He said he had never envisaged writing a book, so the fact it has come together “is almost hard to comprehend. I’m super happy.”
Nature Nuggets is a compilation of 30 articles Whitteker has submitted to County Life over the past two years via his bi-weekly column Naturally Yours. He said the book idea came from feedback on those columns.
“People would go out of their way to talk to me, in a restaurant or on the street, not people I would normally socialize with. They would tell me they really enjoyed my last article. And I started to think, ‘maybe, there’s something here’. I dipped my toe into the idea of whether a compilation would work.” He talked to some folks and thought he could self-publish if he kept the project modest.
Nature Nuggets includes 20 articles on day hiking and paddling destinations and 10 articles on a range of ecological topics connected to the environs of Haliburton County.
A made-in-Haliburton product, Whitteker said all contributions to the book, including the writing, editing, publishing, and almost all the photos, were sourced locally. “I just felt there were enough resources within the community to get this done. It’s all about the Haliburton Highlands, so it made sense to try to keep everything in that envelope. It’s kind of unique that way.”
Whitteker said that to write columns, he needs to have “some real contact with my content beforehand. The articles I enjoy the most are the ones that I go out and experience something that’s really impressive; whether it be going for a hike and experiencing wildlife, or just something that’s impressive environmentally.”
He said this time of year, it can be harder to find topics, especially under current flood conditions. Last week, however, he started writing a column about the mental health benefits of bird song. “It’s something I felt when I went outside.”
Whitteker moved to the Highlands in 1997. He was the editor of a wolf magazine when he worked at Haliburton Forest. He has worked in outdoor adventure, including at Fleming College for 15 years. He still works part-time at the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust. It was through that work that he decided to write again with Darren Lum giving him the opportunity with County Life.
At the Land Trust, they talk about climate change resiliency and biodiversity, themes represented in his writing; about having a long-term vision for the land and water.
“As an older adult, this gives me purpose and joy, and is the main reason why I’m doing it. And the whole idea of getting people out into nature is important to me. too. You can’t protect what you don’t love, or you can’t take care of something you don’t know. The more people are outdoors, the more likely they are to say ‘I believe in conservation, or I believe we need to take care of what’s around us better,’ because we can see the results of not doing that.”
He’s already sold 100 books sight unseen. There will be a book launch May 8, 10 a.m. to noon at Castle Antiques in Haliburton. The book is, or will soon be, available at the Agnes Jamieson Gallery, UpRiver in Minden and Haliburton, and Masters Bookstore in Haliburton.
“It’s a project. You take it on and you see it through to fruition. You have some self doubts along the way. And then it ends up coming in 50 boxes and you reflect on that and you feel pretty good about it.” Whitteker said.
