Black Ice The Lost History of the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925 (Twentieth-anniversary edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$27.95Expanded and revised edition of the pioneering work of history about the Coloured Hockey League, founded in Halifax, NS. Now a documentary film.
Black Ice is the first written record of the Colored Hockey League in the Maritimes, founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1895, more than 20 years before the founding of the National Hockey League. The Colored Hockey League was a force in Canadian hockey that was conveniently ignored and whose contributions were stolen as other leagues emerged. Black Ice explores the unique culture that still exists today.
Titanic True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew, and Legacy (pb)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95This book tells the lives of the passengers on the Titanic‘s ill-fated voyage, and shines a spotlight on the vessel’s lost treasures, its celebrated send-off from Belfast, its animal passengers, the iconic music and movies inspired by the story, and the many, many tales of heroism and bravery that arose from this tragedy. Richly illustrated with archival photographs and newspaper clippings, as well as a comprehensive index, timeline, and suggested further reading, this all-ages book presents an accessible, fascinating history of the world’s most famous ship. Includes over 50 black and white photos.
Where the Ghosts Are
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95If you’re from Halifax, you’ve probably heard that the Five Fisherman Restaurant is supposedly haunted, and that Georges Island is overrun with ghosts. If you’re from Nova Scotia, you probably know about rumours of buried treasure on Oak Island, or about the UFO sighting in Shag Harbour. But what about the Grey Lady of Stoney Beach? Or the Ghost of Haddon Hall? Featuring addresses and GPS coordinates, this guide to Nova Scotian haunts maps out the origin stories of 50 spooky tales.
Author Steve Vernon has covered every corner of the province in search of the spooky, bizarre, and unexplained. The perfect companion for those interested in the history of the province and thrill-seekers alike, Where the Ghosts Are is a DIY-ghost tour of Nova Scotia’s most haunted spots.
Westray
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95Vernon Theriault was off shift when the Westray mine exploded in 1992, killing twenty-six men in Plymouth, Nova Scotia. Theriault took part in the perilous rescue operation that followed. As the magnitude of Westray took hold, Theriault found himself struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares. When he tried to re-educate himself for another line of work, he discovered that he was both illiterate and dyslexic. Theriault found new purpose when he became part of a labour movement that successfully lobbied the federal government to bring in a worker-safety law that became known as the Westray Bill.
Theriault openly discusses his complicated journey in this straightforward, simply written memoir, which begins with the promise of a good job with good pay at Westray.
Treat Them Where They Lie
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing Limited$26.95This long-awaited memoir of a trailblazing emergency physician (otherwise known as “Doc Hollywood”) and a former Nova Scotia Minister of Health also tells the story of modern emergency medicine.
Toes in My Nose
Artist: Sydney SmithPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95The twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of Canada’s nonsense poet’s classic book, illustrated by Governor General’s Award-winning illustrator Sydney Smith, portrays a neighbourhood of kids flying to the moon, playing banjo with orangutans, and bathing with submarines. Now available in paperback.
The First Ones on the Ice (pb)
Artist: Alex MacAskillPublisher: Nimbus Publishing Limited$14.95A brother and sister spend one quiet winter day on the icy pond behind their house–clearing the snow, skating with the crowd of neighbourhood kids, and cheering on the local hockey team, who play until the sun begins to set. Finally, under the moon and stars, the siblings once again have the ice to themselves.
The August Gales
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Three different fishing communities, three different countries, but in their pursuit of fish on the banks they would have much in common, including the terrors of the North Atlantic storms.
The August Gales is a richly detailed history of the banks fishery, the perils of the North Atlantic, and more specifically, the three powerful, and ultimately deadly, August storms that devastated not only an industry, but entire communities. The great gale of 1873, which struck near the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia, was only a prelude to the gales of 1926 and 1927, which brought unthinkable grief to the towns of Lunenburg and Gloucester as well as the island of Newfoundland. (On one fateful day, a woman in the village of Blue Rocks, near Lunenburg, lost her husband, two of his brothers, and three of her own brothers.) Impeccably researched and with over 40 black and white images, The August Gales is a fascinating and at times moving account of the schooners that made their living, and met their end, in the famed North Atlantic gales.
Tent Dwellers (Trade Edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Albert Bigelow Paine (1861-1937) was an American novelist, biographer, and editor. He was the official biographer and literary executor for Mark Twain.
Albert Bigelow Paine’s account of his three-week fishing adventure in the wilderness of Nova Scotia is a true classic. For over one hundred years, the adventures of the author and his companions, Eddie, Del, and Charlie, have been enjoyed by fishers, canoeists, and armchair travellers alike. Written with an unassuming wit, this nimble narrative captures the camaraderie of the journey and the appeal of life in the woods. Paine’s observations on the art of fishing conveys the elements of meditation, competition, and obsession familiar for those who practise, and enlightening for those who do not. His humorous and poetic depictions of campfire meals, tenting, navigation, encounters with wildlife, and assorted triumphs and blunders are as engaging and entertaining today as when The Tent Dwellers was first published in 1908.
Stories From the Six Worlds (2nd edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95In Stories from the Six Worlds, it is their stories, passed down by word of mouth, that best preserve and present Mi’kmaw culture. For in their tales, the People themselves speak about their world and give us glimpses of how their universe manifests, in all its fascinating otherness. Mi’kmaw stories have many levels: entertainment, instruction, warnings. They might subtly encode maps of the land’s important resources, or of the wheeling skies at night. Telling stories, Elders wove humour and stark tragedy, terror and beauty, to teach their listeners how to survive. More importantly, they underlined, over and over again, how their listeners, as humans, must conduct themselves. Their tales resound with the universal themes included in any worldview—Order and Chaos, Courage and Fear, Change, Revenge and Mercy, Death, Rebirth, and Power—yet are powerfully rooted in Mi’kmaw tradition, Mi’kmaw land. Their voices still speak to us, down the centuries.
Drawing on various sources, Ruth Holmes Whitehead retells the tales in a voice close to that of the original storytellers. This new edition includes an updated design and the original collection of twenty-nine stories. In Stories from the Six Worlds, Mi’kmaw legends are offered to all people whose search for meaning draws them again to the ancient cultures.
Sailing Alone Around the World (Nimbus)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95As the first person to circumnavigate the globe alone, Captain Joshua Slocum is celebrated as the “patron saint of small-boat voyagers, navigators, and adventurers all over the world” (Joshua Slocum Society), and heralded as the penultimate example of independent marine navigation at a time when the invention of steam had nearly put an end to the Golden Age of Sail. His timeless account, Sailing Alone Around the World, still coveted by sailors and thrill-seekers alike, has continued to inspire scores of lone adventurers, and challenged countless readers to change their lives since its initial publication in 1900.
Oak Island Gold
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95For over two centuries, the mysterious labyrinth of shafts and tunnels under Oak Island, a tiny island on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, has been the scene of a frantic search by scores of treasure hunters from two continents. They believe that the shafts and intricate man-made flooding system hold the secret to a treasure of untold wealth. Although millions have been spent, bitter feuds have erupted, and men have died, the treasure has remained as elusive as the answers to who built the labyrinth, why and how it was constructed, and the nature of the treasure itself. Until now.
In his second book on the Oak Island mystery, William Crooker meticulously sifts through the evidence unearthed by treasure hunters on the island, past and present. Then, armed with some starling new discoveries, he neatly fits the pieces together to offer a plausible solution to the baffling puzzle of Oak Island.
Mi’kmaq Medicines (2nd edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95In this delightful book, Laurie Lacey’s reflections on the magical world of plant life and the gathering of remedies chronicles more than 70 plants used by the Mi’kmaq as medicines. Since the Mi’kmaq healing process begins with the gathering and preparation of medicines, Lacey takes us into swamps and bogs, the barrens and woods, to explore the habitats of plants with healing properties. He then illustrates each medicinal plant and describes its traditional use or uses. Whether one is hiking through a field listening for the sound of the “sacred plant,” the yellow rattle, exploring bogs in the hope of finding the elusive blue flag, or simply interested in the Mi’kmaq approach to health and healing, Mi’kmaq Medicines will prove a helpful and enjoyable companion.
This new edition includes a fully revised text and a new preface from the author on current perspectives in Mi’kmaq medicines.
Indian School Road
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$25.95In Indian School Road, journalist Chris Benjamin tackles the controversial and tragic history of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, its predecessors, and its lasting effects, giving voice to multiple perspectives for the first time. Benjamin integrates research, interviews, and testimonies to guide readers through the varied experiences of students, principals, and teachers over the school’s nearly forty years of operation (1930-1967) and beyond. Exposing the raw wounds of Truth and Reconciliation as well as the struggle for an inclusive Mi’kmaw education system, Indian School Road is a comprehensive and compassionate narrative history of the school that uneducated hundreds of Aboriginal children.
In the Great Days of Sail
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Archibald MacMechan revelled in the tales of worldwide adventure, pirates, storms, fires, rescues, and tragedies. MacMechan’s collections, all popular successes in their day, have been out of print for several years. Now In the Great Days of Sail brings fourteen stories together for a new generation of readers. Edited and with an introduction by Halifax author Elizabeth Peirce, the book displays the very best of this master chronicler’s work.
Historic Black Nova Scotia
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95The history of Nova Scotia’s black communities is a complex story of triumph and struggle, intertwined with the many stories of ancestors, destinies, and challenges. The knowledge and insight of veteran authors Bridglal Pachai and Henry Bishop provide welcome guidance to the mosaic of Nova Scotian black history in Historic Black Communities. Presented in the engaging format of an Images of Our Past book, this readable history book is interspersed with ample black and white photos, providing a visual link to the stories of the past.
Eleven chapters explore the African presence in Nova Scotia, and range from topics such as the influence of the church and the African United Baptist Association (AUBA); pioneers in publishing, law, politics and business; the legacy of Africville; heroes of sports, military, arts, and volunteer activism; Historic Black Communities provides a comprehensive, but always accessible entry into the many realms of black influence. Above all, the many photos and stories of this historic tribute salute the dignity and achievements of the resilient black community in Nova Scotia, and provide an unshakeable optimism for its promising future.
Historic Annapolis Valley
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95The allure of the Valley is its diversity- seacoast and agricultural land; ocean basins and fresh water lakes; tidal rivers and mountain streams; marshlands and meadows, fishing ports and farming hamlets, urban towns and country villages. Historically, the Valley’s heritage is as rich as its soil, with roots reaching back four hundred years. Historic Annapolis Valley is first and foremost about a region, not individual communities, although many are included as part of the overall story. The book covers the Annapolis Valley from Digby to Windsor, with an emphasis on the mid-valley, from Bridgetown to Berwick, beginning with the French in the 1600s and discussing topics relevant to the present day.
Haunted Harbours
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95This is a collection of ghost stories from Nova Scotia—from the restless spirits of Devil’s Island to the Black Dog of Antigonish Harbour. Documented and well-known stories from the provincial archives are mixed with word-of-mouth legends of strange happenings and scary sightings from across Nova Scotia. Steve Vernon relies on his storytelling experience to create moody and terrifying tales from the annals of history.
Glooscap Legends
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95These stirring tales describe the life-history of Glooscap. Endowed with supreme powers, Glooscap, the benevolent warrior against evil, was credited with the creation of many wild creatures and the change in form of others. Even the land was influenced by his handiwork and several notable landmarks along the Fundy Coast are linked with this story.
In Glooscap Legends, both famous and little-known legends are told of this god who made his home on the mountaintop of Cape Blomidon. He was a giant, a magician and a friend to the oppressed. This edition is illustrated by native artist Teresa MacPhee and includes a map of Glooscap landmarks.
Believing the Line
Publisher: Breton Books$18.00Painter Jack Seigel died penniless and forgotten. He comes alive again in Silverberg’s Believing the Line, this new book of poetry-and-art celebrating the paintings and drawings by Jack Siegel. Seigel was the quintessential single-minded artist: difficult, self-absorbed, and completely dedicated to his work. George Payerle has written that “Jack Siegel was a lonely man who drew a world of humanity, one moment at a time.” Mark Silverberg’s 65 poems, an image at a time, stand as poignant tribute to those Seigel moments.
Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs, and Hermit Bill
Publisher: Islandport Press$21.95In Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs and Hermit Bill, wildlife biologist Ron Joseph recounts his youth in central Maine, the importance of his family’s dairy farm, and his adventures in the field over the course of a career that spanned more than three decades.
Anne of Green Gables
Artist: Briana Corr ScottPublisher: Nimbus Publishing Limited$14.95An updated edition of the bestselling illustrated adaptation of the classic Anne of Green Gables series for ages 6+ featuring beautiful new colour illustrations from celebrated artist Briana Corr Scott.
