Listen to award-winning author Steven T. Callan, as he talks about his hit book, Badges, Bears, and Eagles—The True-Life Adventures of a California Fish and Game Warden. Steve’s book, a 2013 “Book of the Year” finalist, chronicles his illustrious thirty-year career as a wildlife protection officer for the state of California.
During his career as a wildlife protection officer, Steve Callan conducted some of the most fascinating, complex, and highly successful wildlife investigations in California history. He also collected a wealth of action-packed, suspenseful, and often humorous true stories. In Badges, Bears, and Eagles, Steve provides a vivid first-person account of his adventures. Steve and his colleagues outsmarted game hogs, thwarted fish thieves, and foiled outlaws. Callan was even stalked by African lions and mauled by a five-hundred pound Bengal tiger. Callan and his working partner, Dave Szody, conducted a three-year undercover investigation which exposed a statewide criminal conspiracy to kill California black bears for their valuable gallbladders. It’s not all about catching bad guys—it’s also about conservation: in “Saving Lake Mathews,” Steve chronicles how he helped save a beloved wildlife sanctuary from development.
Callan has earned numerous awards for his work in wildlife protection. He also was recently awarded the 2014 “Best Outdoor Magazine Column” Craft Award, from the Outdoor Writers Association of California.
Passionate about the environment, Steve and his wife Kathleen are avid kayakers, anglers, bird watchers, and scuba divers. They currently live in the Redding area. The interview includes some commentary by a young State Warden, Ryan Hanson based on the Blue Fin in Morro Bay Harbor.
Listen to Steve’s interview on the Lowell Thomas Award winning travel podcast, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured weekly on NPR.ORG and produced by California Central Coast NPR affiliate KCBX Check out this episode!
Steve can be found online at callan.coffeetownpress.com