William EndertEd van Zeeland is a fictional character, but he and the adventures he encounters are largely based on author William (Bill) Endert's real life and career. Endert, who immigrated to British Columbia from the Netherlands in the 1960s, spent ten years-te best years of his life-working as a tree planter, compass man, timber cruiser, and road layout man in the woods of his adopted province, mainly for Integrated Forest Companies and Forestry Consulting in Vancouver, British Columbia. He spent that decade travelling from the Queen Charlottes to the Kootenays, and from the West Coast to the Interior, and he wrote where Men Stand Tall in order to share with readers his countless hard-to-believe experiences while also paying tribute to the beauty and grandeur of his adopted country. Twenty years ago, Endert wrote and self-published a memoir entitled, The Timber cruisers, and borrowed much of its content for this new non-fictionalized account of his life.

Widowed, he lives a not so quiet life in Sechelt, British Columbia, where he kayaked every inlet for twenty one years, and hiked every trail on the Sunshine Coast. Read More Read Less