Canadian author Kay Chornook is set to launch her new book on Costa Rica's Quaker pioneer and conservationist Wolf Guindon this evening near the very cloud forest he for years has sought to protect, Monteverde.

Chornook will present her book “Walking with Wolf: Reflections on a life spent protecting the Costa Rican wilderness” (Wandering Words Press) at 5 p.m. at the Bromelias Music Garden, which is in the north-central Costa Rican town of Monteverde.

The author told The Tico Times via e-mail that Guindon is a “Quaker, conscientious objector, pioneer of Monteverde, most recognized conservationist in the area, walking, talking man of the jungle (and) now a 77-year-old great-grandfather.”

She based “Walking” on dozens of tape recordings that Guindon filled over the years and more recently in conversations with Chornook. It's a walk whose Costa Rica path began about a half-century ago, when four members of an Alabama Quaker group left the United States after being prosecuted for objecting to the military draft.

Following an agricultural study tour through Central America, the group was captivated by Costa Rica and its political stability with no military. In 1951, they settled here.

For Chornook, the significance of launching her work in Monteverde is huge.

“This is a highly anticipated book in this community because of who Wolf Guindon is and what he has done,” she said.