What we don’t know about Nova Scotia fills book
First-time author wants readers to learn another side of Nova Scotia
Halifax freelance journalist Sarah Sawler is launching her first book, 100 Things You Didn’t Know About Nova Scotia, this Saturday, April 23, 2:00 pm at the Halifax Central Library.
The book started as a popular series of articles for Halifax Magazine that aimed to highlight interesting features and histories that most Haligonians were unaware of. Sawler says expanding to a provincial scope for the book took her on the same journey – beyond the usual expectations – that she hopes to give her readers.
“We all get stuck in our own little area,” she says. “And, nothing against lighthouses, but Nova Scotia is about more than lighthouses and boats.”
Her book highlights lesser-known historical anecdotes, such as baseball great Babe Ruth’s frequent hunting vacations in Yarmouth. She combed the province’s libraries for hidden gems, like the “accidental murder” during gold-rush days at the Ovens Natural Park near Lunenburg. A man was showing off his new gun, which he thought was out of bullets, and shot his friend dead.
This tidbit was hidden in plain sight, in a duo-tang at a library in Bridgewater. “I looked for the oldest, most decrepit thing I could find,” Sawler says.
The launch will feature readings of just a few of the 100 things, questions, snacks and, titillatingly, a prize basket for a person who can tell Sawler something she doesn’t know about Nova Scotia. You can enter here.
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