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Genius at Work
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$25.95In 1885, nine years after his invention of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell and his wife built a house and laboratory in Nova Scotia, where they summered for the next thirty-seven years. In Genius at Work, Eber weaves together the reminiscences of neighbours with excerpts from family journals, diaries and letters, to create an engaging account of this energetic, exuberant and occasionally eccentric man. Equally fascinating are the photographs that document his work and family. Together with the text, they shed new light on the career and character of this great inventor.
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Fire in the Belly How Purdy Crawford rescued Canada, and changed the way we do business
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95Purdy Crawford’s name is synonymous with Canadian business and law. But even after education at Mount Allison and Harvard, Purdy arrived on Toronto’s Bay Street as an outsider, the son of a coal miner from tiny Five Islands, Nova Scotia. So how did young Purdy ascend so quickly and so far to become one of Canada’s top lawyers and best-known business mentors? In this biography of Purdy, bestselling business writer Gordon Pitts begins with the moment in 2007 when Crawford was enlisted by some of the country’s leading corporate officials to stave off financial market catastrophe. The book describes the role Crawford has played in mentoring several of Canada’s brightest economic thinkers, and his contribution to changing the way business was done in the boardroom, particularly in opening the door for women. Includes a photo insert of highlights from Purdy’s professional career and private life.
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Andrew Cobb Architect and Artist
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Andrew Cobb (1876–1943) is synonymous with early twentieth-century architecture in Atlantic Canada. Founder of the Nova Scotia Architectural Association, Cobb designed some of the region’s most renowned landmarks, including Kings College in Halifax, Mount Allison University’s Memorial Library in New Brunswick, and the town site of the Newfoundland Power and Paper Company in Corner Brook. With many of his buildings still standing strong as they approach their centenary, the legacy of Andrew Cobb continues today. More than half a century after Cobb’s death, author Janet Kitz provides a detailed visual biography of the man behind the buildings. Features over 100 modern and archival photographs and forewords from Syd Dumaresq and Graeme F. Duffus.
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From Old Hollywood to New Brunswick Memories of a Wonderful Life
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Imagine receiving a mysterious invitation from Charlie Chaplin, doing jigsaw puzzles with Marilyn Monroe, having a heart-to-heart with Jack Kennedy, or being kissed by Greta Garbo. All of these and more are the sensational memories of UK-born, honorary Maritimer Charles Foster. After an unlikely childhood, his adventurous spirit brought him in 1943 to RAF pilot training school in Calgary. Through a series of incredible circumstances and fortunate friendships, Foster went on to become a Hollywood writer and publicist.Now writing from New Brunswick as a regular columnist for Senior’s Advocate, Foster shares his most tantalizing stories as a collection for the first time. With tales from the golden age of film, radio, theatre, and music, including international adventures from Moscow to Berlin and beyond, From Old Hollywood to New Brunswick shows just how far an RAF uniform, a little bit of luck, and whole lot of charm could take you in mid-twentieth century show business.Includes a 20-page insert of original photographs.
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Joshua Slocum The Captain who Sailed Around the World
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95The newest title in the Stories of our Past series tells the tale of the Brier Island boy who went to sea at sixteen and never looked back. The first person to circumnavigate the globe alone, Captain Joshua Slocum has remained a nautical icon since the publication of Sailing Alone Around the World in 1900.
In Joshua Slocum, journalist Quentin Casey takes readers from the treasured sea captain’s humble upbringing on Westport, Brier Island, through his lifelong quest for adventure on the sea. Follow Slocum’s career from ordinary seaman to master of celestial navigation, and experience a rare look into his personal life, trouble on and off the sea, and his mysterious disappearance. Includes sidebar features on little-known Slocum facts and over 60 images, including photographs, maps, and illustrations.
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Haunted Girl Esther Cox and the Great Amherst Mystery
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95In 1878 eighteen-year-old Esther Cox arrived in Amherst, Nova Scotia, to live with her sister’s family. Shortly after Esther moved in, the story goes, the house was plagued by unexplained occurrences–something (or someone) knocked on the walls, hid household items, moved furniture around, and set fires. Esther herself was subject to mysterious fevers, prodding and, on one occasion, stabbing. These occurrences followed her when she went to stay with other families in the area. Eventually she was charged with robbery and spent a month in jail, after which the haunting ceased.
Was Esther the victim of paranormal powers or the troubled mind behind a series of elaborate hoaxes? At the time of her alleged haunting, the plausibility of Esther Cox’s claims were hotly debated in newspapers and by fellow Amherst residents. In the hundred years since her death, Esther’s story has been retold numerous times and she remains to this day the town’s most famous historical figure.
Includes 30 photos of key locations in Amherst related to the story as well as Esther’s family members.
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Elizabeth Bishop Nova Scotia’s “Home-made” Poet
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) is best known as an American author, but she spent formative years in Great Village, Nova Scotia, and in fact called herself “3/4ths Canadian.” In recent decades there has been a growing movement in Nova Scotia to reconnect appreciation of Bishop with the landscape of her childood. This pictorial biography highlights the early influence of Bishop’s maternal family and the cultural community of Great Village, and the poet’s lifelong ties to Nova Scotia.
Author Sandra Barry takes readers through the significant chapters in Bishop’s life, from her ancestry and early years in Great Village to her first publications, her extended stays in Florida and Brazil, and her final years teaching at Harvard University. The book concludes with an overview of some of the Bishop-inspired work made since her death, and the commemorative efforts undertaken in Nova Scotia and around the world.
With photos throughout, sidebar features on historic events, Bishop’s publications and travels, and background on her awards and other achievements, the book provides a fascinating introduction and important new angle on one of the best-loved poets of the twentieth century.
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Molly Kool First Female Captain of the Atlantic
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Born and raised in Alma, New Brunswick, Molly Kool started her life at sea helping her father sail the lumber scow the Jean K through some of the most challenging waters in the world, including the changing tides of the Bay of Fundy and the Reversing Falls in Saint John. When it came time for Molly to choose her own career, her first instinct was to get her captain’s licence, but doing so would involve more than just hard work—it would also mean changing some of Canada’s oldest laws. But thanks to her inspiring example and the tireless efforts of contemporaries in the 1930s and ’40s, the Shipping Act of Canada was changed and Molly became the first female sea captain in North America. With interviews, colour photos, and background on other women pioneers and shipping practices in the early twentieth century, Molly Kool: Captain of the Atlantic also includes an interview with the first woman to command a Canadian warship, Commander Josee Kurtz.
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The Great Maritime Detective
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95He was a sailor a miner, a bounty hunter, a prospector, a ghost hunter, and a railway guard, just to name a few. Whether sinner or saint, Peter Owen Carroll, a.k.a. Peachie Carroll, is best remembered as the infamous Maritime police detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Although his methods were sometimes unscrupulous, and he was often considered a mercenary, Peachie Carroll was a formidable investigator. Peachie was fired, re-hired, and quit many times, but as a police officer Peachie solved some of the Maritimes’ best-known crimes, such as the murder of Moncton police officer Joseph E. Stedman. He arrested moonshine-makers and embezzlers, petty thieves, rum-runners, bank robbers, and murderers. In 1896, Peachie gained fame again, solving the New Brunswick murders of Eliza Dutcher and her son.
In The Great Maritime Detective, author Monica Graham profiles this long-standing hero of Pictou County and one of the region’s ultimate characters. -
Jerome
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95For many Nova Scotians the name Jerome is synonymous with Maritime mystery, much like Oak Island, the Marie Celeste, or the Shag Harbour UFO crash. Jerome was the name given to the nearly dead, legless stranger who washed up on a Digby Neck beach in 1863. During the next fifty years, Jerome spoke only a few words and never revealed his identity.
Author Fraser Mooney Jr. embarked on a ten-year investigation to find the remarkable truth about Jerome. Using newspaper articles, historic documents, and interviews, Mooney explores and dispels the myths that have long been associated with Jerome and provides amazing detail about his life on Digby Neck. He takes us through Jerome’s life-from his appearance on the beach, through the time he spent living with a number of families in the region, to his death. Most importantly, Mooney discovers the truth behind the identity of the anonymous, mutilated man who took his secret to the grave. Including photos of Jerome, the beach where he was discovered, and those who knew him, Jerome is an incredibly well researched, intriguing book that will appeal to readers who enjoy Maritime mysteries and historical non-fiction. -
Ketchum’s Folly
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$13.95“Even today, after man has been to the moon and regularly takes jaunts into space, the idea of a huge ship being transported by rail over dry land in order to avoid the stormy waters elsewhere sounds like science fiction.” The author states in his introduction. “Perhaps that was the Chignecto Ship’s Railway’s problem.” IN examining Henry Ketchum’s dream, and both his spectacular successes and failures, Jay Underwood contributes to a better understanding of an interesting segment in Maritimes’ history.
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Valiant Hearts
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$26.95Valiant Hearts chronicles the stories of inspiration and courage shown by men in wartime, stretching from the Crimean War (1854-1856) to World War Two, telling the life stories of the gallant men from Atlantic Canada who won that most coveted of bravery awards- the Victoria Cross.
The twenty men profiled in this book all have strong connections to Atlantic Canada (11 of them were born in the region; 9 have other ties to the region, having either lived or served here). With a focus on historical accuracy, this book tells the stories of these courageous men by filling in the details of their lives before and, for those who survived, after winning the VC, with attention to the specific events that led to their recognition as heroes.
No comparable book has ever been written. Most books about Canadian Victoria Cross winners cover the entire country and were published some time ago. Most of the previously published books contain little more than citations for the awards or excerpts from them, with only the briefest of personal details. This book is particular to the Atlantic region, and is detailed, personal and informative as well as being carefully written. -
The Alpine Path
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95Lucy Maud Montgomery, the creator of Anne of Green Gables and many other popular children’s stories penned this memoir during World War I and it is often considered the best account of her childhood on Prince Edward Island and her first years as a writer. The Alpine Path references her long and difficult journey to become a full-fledged writer and describes, in charming detail, her childhood in rural Prince Edward Island during the closing years of the 1800s.
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The Search for Heinrich Stief
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95Heinrich and Regina Stief left their homeland in 1749 and settled in Pennsylvania. From there, they and a small band of fellow settlers migrated to the rough terrain around New Brunswick’s Peticodiac River. Faced with starvation, frigid winters, and abandonment by their sponsors-among them Benjamin Franklin-the settlers defied the odds by not only surviving but prospering. Steeves descendants now number upwards of 150,000 worldwide.
Heinrich’s tale has been told so many times that its parts have become legend. From the stories his earliest descendants told around the fire to the ones family historians have written and published since then, the facts surrounding Heinrich Stief, his roots, and his exploits have become confused, murky,and half remembered. Certain pieces of the puzzles has always eluded genealogists.
Recently, a Stief family descendant with a knack for research and more than his share of luck has uncovered a piece of history that is as significant as it was elusive. Here, then, is Heinrich Stief’s story, told as never before. -
Helen Creighton Canada’s First Lady of Folklore
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95Helen Creighton was born at the turn of the nineteenth century and until her death in 1989, she made a remarkable contribution towards retrieving the stories, songs, and legends that have shaped the culture and the people of the Maritimes. Written by her protégé and fellow folklorist, Clary Croft, this intimate biography offers both an intriguing portrait of a woman whose life was destined to become woven into the fabric of Canadian folklore, and a fascinating glimpse into the social mores of her time.
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The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis
Photographer: Bob BrooksPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$35.95Maud Lewis (1903-1970) was recognized and revered in her own lifetime. She offered her endearing images to the passing world through her roadside sign, “Paintings for Sale,” and was rewarded by the enthusiastic response she received from both the community and tourists as well as from art collectors.
The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis is an invitation to share once again with the world the perceptions of this celebrated Nova Scotia folk artist in prose, photographs, and reproductions of her works.
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Woman of Labrador
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95Originally published in 1973, Woman of Labrador is Elizabeth Goudie’s enduring and candid story of her pioneering life as a trapper’s wife in the early 1900s. She was left alone much of the year to rear eight children while her husband worked the traplines, providing furs for their meagre income. Independent and resourceful, Elizabeth filled multiple roles as homemaker, doctor, cook, hunter, shoemaker, and seamstress for her growing family.
In the span of eighty years, she witnessed radical changes to Labrador, such as the construction of an airport at Goose Bay during the Second World War. Where once there had been pride and contentment in a harmonious relationship with the land, there came displacement and despair as the wilderness was overtaken by military and industrial projects. One of Elizabeth Goudie’s greatest triumphs was her steady pride in Labrador, her “country,” and her ideal of peace among neighbours. Her memoir is not about bitterness and defeat but courage and love, recounted with pride and humour.
In 1975, Elizabeth was awarded an honorary degree from Memorial University. She died in Happy Valley, Labrador, in 1982.
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Eva and Me
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$14.95How radically lives can be altered by sudden twists of fate . . . by luck . . . by backroom politics in a darkened corridor in Beijing. From an orphanage in Guongdong, South China and the 13,000 kilometre (8,000 mile) journey to a village on Nova Scotia’s south shore, this is just one story in what was the largest exodus of children from a single country in the history of mankind. This is the story of Eva and Me.
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The Chemistry of Innovation Regis Duffy and the Story of DCL
Publisher: Island Studies Press$34.95How did a farm boy from Prince Edward Island become a succesful businessman, mentor and community philanthropist? In 1970, Regis Duffy %38212; then dean of science at UPEI — started a small chemical reagent company to create summer jobs for his students. Diagnostic Chemicals and its offspring, BioVectra, soon grew into global competitors in the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry, employed hundreds of Islanders, and provided a model for entrepreneurship and economic development in Canada’s smallest province. The key to his success? As Regis once said, “Innovate or die; the atlernative is not that appealing.”
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Through the Eyes of Mary The Mary Morehouse Diaries (1920-1958)
Publisher: Chocolate River Publishing$18.95The Mary Morehouse diaries give the reader a vivid picture of life in rural New Brunswick in early twentieth century. Through Mary, the reader can follow the highs and lows of village life during the throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and the war years of the 1940s. Bird has researched this time period for her other books and her annotations and introductory sections give context to the individual diary entries.
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Today’s Joe Howe
Publisher: Wolfville Historical Society$12.95The father of freedom of the press, a pioneer in the fight for responsible government, advocate for public education, groundbreaking journalist and honoured statesman – Joseph Howe has had a profound and lasting influence on Nova Scotia and, indeed, all of Canada. On the 200th anniversary of his birth, this unique book explores his ongoing legacy. Fiercely loyal to Nova Scotia, Howe was a romantic and a humanist, with a vision that’s every bit as relevant today as it was in the 19th century.
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Famous Nova Scotians
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$10.95Heroes from the province’s exciting past including Membertou, Portia White, and Jack Gray.
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Getting It Done
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$24.95It’s often said that the future of Cape Breton depends on the vision and initiative of her sons and daughters. But when we go on a quest for leadership –what is it we’re looking for? Originally conceived as a series for CBC Radio and now adopted to book form, Getting It Done is an exploration of effective leadership through the experiences of people who have “been there.” From cabinet ministers to CEOs, a Juno winner to an Olympic medalist and two former premiers, Steve Sutherland delves into the habits and philosophies of some Cape Breton’s most prominent and influential figures. Featuring exclusive material that didn’t appear in the original radio interviews, Getting It Done is a compendium of insights about how these leaders got where they are, and what they do to make things happen.
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Percy Willmot: A Cape Bretoner at War
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$23.95When Britain went to war with Germany in August 1914, Canada and the rest of the British empire followed without question and without being asked. By the time the Great War finally ground to an end in November 1918, 619,636 Canadians had enlisted in the struggle. One of them was Percy Willmot.Percy wrote frequently to his sister, no matter where he was or what was going on and he was a gifted writer, whose sparkling personality still clearly emerges more than eighty years later.Willmot’s letters tell us much about the experiences of thousands of soldiers: progress of the war and daily experiences of the men, sometimes pointing out the contrast between the beauties of nature and the unspeakable horrors of modern warfare. They remind us of the intense intimacy of the shared experience of the trenches, perhaps especially for someone like Percy, serving in a unit with many comrades from his own community.
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I’m Just Sayin’ My Shorter Writings
Publisher: Breton Books$17.00I’m Just Sayin’ is a collection of short essays about Cape Breton life and David Muise’s own childhood in Cape Breton—a book that keeps alive the joy of growing up in this rare world that once was Industrial Cape Breton. A generous river of good humour and empathy flows through this book.
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Buddy MacMaster The Judique Fiddler
Publisher: Breton Books$18.95The renowned Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster grew up in Judique, Inverness County, influenced by musical giants including Bill Lamey, “Little Jack” MacDonald, Angus Chisholm and Mary MacDonald. By 1949, Buddy performed for local square dances, and by the 1960s he played across Canada, the U.S. and Scotland, sustaining old-time music and the dance tradition. A master fiddler, his awards include the Order of Canada, the Order of Nova Scotia, and honorary degrees from ST.F.X.University and Cape Breton University. Buddy adhered to the Gaelic fiddle tradition that he cherished as much as life itself.
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Women of Courage 15 Cape Breton Lives, In Their Own Words
Editor: Ronald CaplanPublisher: Breton Books$19.95Women’s lives and accomplishments are so often private and rarely shared. Women of Courage offers intimate interviews with fifteen ordinary women whose lives leap with energy, humour, pathos, and power. Hard work, high spirits and abiding love are the threads through their unforgettable lives. Rita Joe, Clara Buffett, Katie Margaret Gillis, Hattie Carmichael, Lexie O’Hare and many more. These spoken lives are reminders of the thousands of women who have been the fundamental underpinning of Cape Breton Island.
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Song of Rita Joe Autobiography of a Mi’kmaw Poet
Publisher: Breton Books$21.95Song of Rita Joe is a book of exceptional courage and insight, the words of a gentle woman who fought for her family, justice, and her own independent voice. She faced intolerance, ignorance, and abuse, searched her inheritance for strength, and wrote poems of clarity and encouragement that continue to inspire not only her people but all people.
Finally, she was a humble woman, an honoured Mi’Kmaw elder, poet, and member of the Order of Canada.
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Sister to Courage
Publisher: Breton Books$19.95In Sister to Courage, Wanda takes us inside the world she shared with Viola and ten other brothers and sisters. Through touching and often hilarious stories, she traces the roots of courage and ambition, good fun and dignity, of the household that produced Viola Desmond.
Tough and compassionate, Viola shines through beyond the moment she was carried out of Roseland movie theatre for refusing to sit I the blacks-only section. Viola emerges as a defender of family and a successful entrepreneur whose momentum was blocked by racism.
With honesty and wit, Wanda Robson Tells her own brave story, giving new life to two remarkable women and the family the loved.
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The Cape Breton Giant
Publisher: Breton Books$16.95James Gillis was born on July 11, 1870, at Strathlorne, not far from the residence of John MacIssac, Donald’s son. In early childhood he moved to Upper Margaree. He attended school there and later on became proficient enough to teach.
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Highland Heart in Nova Scotia
Publisher: Breton Books$14.95A new edition celebrates 50 years of a remarkable Cape Breton classic. A wonderful, exuberant, rich, overstated and humble piece of writing, which tries to tell us of the peace and invincibility and raw humour of Celtic Cape Breton.
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