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Peter Ludlow

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cbc-don-connollyCBC Information Morning’s Don Connolly talks about some of his favourite Nova Scotia books

Don Connolly has hosted CBC’s Information Morning Nova Scotia for 40 years. He must have interviewed thousands of people during those decades. Quite a few of them have been authors, writing about all manner of things: history, politics, economics, art. Much of the work was focused, not surprisingly, right here in Nova Scotia. So when we asked him to name some of his favourite local  reads (books that are either by local authors or focused on local issues), he was quick with an informed and interesting response. Here’s what he said:

I read Highland Shepherd by Alan Wilson, a biography of James MacGregor, the father of the Scottish highland-shepherdenlightenment in Nova Scotia. If you are interested in the early European period of Nova Scotia, especially in East Nova Scotia, this is a wonderful book that is clear, readable and intelligent.

Untitled-2In a related development we go one county east (from Pictou to Antigonish) and move more than a century forward and go from Protestant to Catholic. The Canny Scot by Peter Ludlow has garnered much less attention than I think it deserves. It is the story of Archbishop James Morrison, who ran the little Vatican for an amazing period (1921-1950), a fascinating history of the period and place.

These choices come from someone who reads limited nonfiction and is a thoroughly deconsecrated Catholic. They deepened my understanding of the history of the province.

 

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The Canny Scot: Archbishop James Morrison of Antigonish Peter Ludlow McGill-Queen’s University PressArchbishop James Morrison of Antigonish (1861–1950) was one of Canada’s last ascetic and powerful churchmen. Historian Peter Ludlow’s The Canny Scot, the latest addition to the McGill-Queen’s Studies in the History of Religion series, is Morrison’s biography. In addition to examining Morrison’s personality, Ludlow also considers his tarnished legacy in relation to the internationally lauded Antigonish Movement, which he helped to create.

Ludlow does an excellent job of situating Morrison within his time and place. Today we forget the threat of communism, the viciousness of coal miners’ strikes, the thinness of the social safety net. A biography is only as strong, however, as the information the writer is able to glean. Ludlow is a fine researcher and a clear writer, but the lack of personal letters and papers, especially from Morrison’s early years, keeps us from knowing the man as well as we might.

The Canny Scot: Archbishop James Morrison of Antigonish
by Peter Ludlow
$34.95, paperback, 352 pp.
McGill-Queen’s University Press, March 2015