Kevin Grange - The Secret Lives of Grizzlies

Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson

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Kevin Grange is a Wyoming-based author, paramedic, and firefighter. His most recent book is titled “Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey Into the Secret Life of North America’s Most Fearsome Predator,” which is a must-read for anyone interested in the evolving relationship between humans and bears. The book follows Kevin’s journey throughout the American West and Alaska as he seeks to better understand grizzly bears, debunk many deeply engrained myths, explore case studies of successful coexistence, and more. The book is part travelogue, part adventure story, and part science– making for a fun and educational read that I highly recommend.

Kevin was born and raised in New Hampshire, where he grew up obsessed with the outdoors and, like many of us, obsessed with kids’ outdoor books such as Old Yeller, Sounder, and Where the Red Fern Grows. He attended paramedic school in California and began his career in downtown LA before landing a job as a National Park paramedic in Yellowstone. As you’ll hear in our conversation, Kevin has managed to successfully merge his love of medicine and adventure with his talent for writing, and with a lot of hard work, he’s enjoyed two successful, simultaneous careers– one in medicine and the other in writing.

Kevin and I connected just a few weeks after the publication of “Grizzly Confidential” and had a fascinating conversation about his career, his writing process, and his journey to better understand the legendary grizzly bear. We discussed his career path that led him to the West and his first experiences working in Yellowstone. We talk about balancing his paramedic work with his writing work, and how having a full-time job allows him to be more selective with his writing projects. We obviously talk a lot about grizzly bears– grizzly research, poaching, backcountry bear safety, his travels to Alaska, success stories of coexistence, false grizzly myths, overcoming his fear of grizzlies, and much more. Kevin is also a voracious reader, so he offers up plenty of excellent book recommendations.

A huge thanks to Kevin for writing such a fun and educational book, and a huge thanks to you for listening. Enjoy!

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Kevin Grange
Grizzly Confidential by Kevin Grange
Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/kevin-grange/
Live podcast at the REGENERATE CONFERENCE

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

4:00 - Intro and Kevin’s upbringing
5:45 - Favorite books as a kid
8:15 - First memories of grizzlies
9:15 - First encounter with a grizzly
11:30 - Becoming a National Park paramedic
13:45 - Types of emergencies in National Parks
15:00 - Idiotic tourist mistakes
16:45 - Balancing paramedic work with writing
19:30 - Why Grizzlies?
22:15 - How this book’s angle is different from other Grizzly books
26:20 - What’s the difference between a “Grizzly bear” and a “Brown bear”?
27:45 - Washington State University’s Bear Center
32:45 - Grizzly poaching
37:15 - Learning bear defense methods, including bear spray
41:15 - Basic backcountry safety in bear country
44:15 - Examples of good and bad coexistence strategies
48:15 - Debunking certain grizzly myths
52:45 - Continued learning about grizzlies
55:45 - How writing this book compares to the others
57:15 0 Favorite writers and books
59:30 - How has Kevin changed because of this project?
1:05:30 - Learning to switch gears after an intense paramedic experience
1:07:30 - Parting words of wisdom

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