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Ronald Caplan

November 22, 2018 by Chris Benjamin

Fiction

The Smeltdog Man
Frank Macdonald
Pottersfield Press

Think: burgeoning fast-food empire. Think: Cape Bretoner with the munchies. Think: the smeltdog. Macdonald’s latest novel showcases his usual sense of satire and silliness, nods to an old character from Tinker and Blue, with a bit more of a freewheeling sensibility. But as always, common sense wins out over greed—at least in the hearts of the wise.

Treason’s Edge
Susan MacDonald

Breakwater Books

This is the third and final instalment in MacDonald’s YA fantasy series, The Tyon Collective. The tension is ramped up on high for protagonist Alec, whose terrifying abilities are being controlled by the traitorous Anna, with the fate of the world at stake.

Politics & Society

Crossing Troubled Waters
MacQuarrie, Pierson, Stettner, Bloomer
Island Studies Press

“Trouble” serves as a euphemism for unwanted pregnancy, in the old parlance. The trouble is magnified in societies lacking effective reproductive care. This work examines modern barriers to healthcare in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Prince Edward Island, an apt comparison given the power of the church on each island.

Hell’s Flames to Heaven’s Gate
Jack Fitzgerald
Breakwater

Jack Fitzgerald, journalist cum folklorist cum historian, talks about the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Newfoundland, which has been a historical sanctuary for Irish-Catholic immigrants and is one of the most powerful political and social influencer on the Rock.

Viola Desmond: Her Life and Times
Graham Reynolds with Wanda Robson
Fernwood Publishing

Nine years before Rosa Parks made US history, Viola Desmond was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat in a segregated movie theatre in Nova Scotia. Desmond’s younger sister, Wanda Robson, played an active role in winning a posthumous pardon for Desmond. With Graham Reynolds, Robson tells Desmond’s life story, including her role as a pioneering African Canadian businesswoman.

Westray: My Journey from Darkness to Light
Vernon Therriault as told to Marjorie Coady
Preface from Steve Hunt, United Steelworkers
Nimbus Publishing

This is the memoir of a brave person, a survivor and a fighter. It is the story of the Westray mine disaster told by a man who worked in the mine and who won a Medal of Bravery for his part in the unsuccessful rescue efforts. In the aftermath—fraught with chronic pain and PTSD—Theriault found purpose in fighting for the Westray Bill to hold negligent companies criminally responsible.

Holiday Gifts

Christmas in Atlantic Canada: Stories True and False, Past and Present
David Goss
Nimbus

Old-world countries like England have grand narratives by beloved authors to give them a sense of Christmas past. But the holiday didn’t gain significance here until…well, 1604 as it turns out. Thankfully we have folklorist David Gross tracing the history of Christmas in our region, from the first live Santa sighting to the first awed crowd surrounding a Christmas tree in a store window.

Cape Breton’s Christmas, Book 5
Ronald Caplan, editor
Breton Books

Collected Cape Breton Christmas stories have become an annual tradition, and for editor Ronald Caplan a year-round endeavour. The Cape Breton Post reported him scouring the beaches for prospective writers saying, “everyone has at least one good Christmas story to share.” He proves himself right every year, with a diverse collection of well-crafted, touching stories.

Saltwater Mittens
Christine LeGrow & Shirley Scott
Boulder Publications

It’s a very Newfoundland book in one sense, but anyone north of say the 42nd parallel is sure to appreciate a good pair of wool mittens, especially ones as stylish and authentic as those knitted by LeGrow & Scott. A perfect gift for your favourite knitters.

History

Halifax Harbour 1918
Anabelle Kienle Ponka
Goose Lane Editions

As significant as a centennial is, it is equally fascinating to envision the site of a disaster a year after the fact. How fortunate that Harold Gilman and Arthur Lisman—a co-founder of the Group of Seven—were working in Halifax as war artists a year after 1917’s Halifax Explosion. Their contrasting depict a critical moment in the history of Canadian art, and of Canada itself.

Album Rock
Matthew Hollett
Boulder

St. John’s visual artist and writer Matthew Hollett became fascinated with the question, “Why are a group of French sailors from the mid-1800s painting the word ‘ALBUM’ on a rock?” Album Rock: Looking back through the lens of Paul-Émile Miot is Hollett’s personal journey to solve the mystery of NL history.

Bounty: The Greatest Sea Story of Them All
Geoff D’Eon
Formac

Bounty was the 1787 ship where the most infamous mutiny in British naval history took place. They made a Hollywood movie about it in 1962 using a recreation of the ship built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which eventually sunk in Hurricane Sandy in 2012. D’Eon’s account of the famous ship spans 400 years of “romance…cruelty, lust, loyalty, jealousy, misadventure, hubris, heroism and death.”

The Blind Mechanic: Eric Davidson, Survivor of Halifax Explosion
Marilyn Elliott foreword Janet Kitz
Nimbus Publishing

Eric Davison lost both eyes in the Halifax Explosion. Supporting his fascination with cars and mechanics, his brothers read him auto-repair manuals. He learned well and went on to a decades-long career as an auto mechanic, winning the hearts and loyalty of his Halifax customers.

Personal Accounts

The Other Side of the Sun
Thien Tang
Pottersfield Press

Given the number of people from troubled spots across the globe who have found refuge in this region, it’s remarkable how rare published refugee memoirs are. Prince Edward Islander Thien Tang’s eloquent, honest, lyrical and heartrending story, in addition to personalizing the kind of harrowing account most of us only hear on the news, contributes an important thread in the fabric of our regional culture.

New Brunswick Underwater
Lisa Hrabluk, photography Michael Hawkins
MacIntyre Purcell

The 2018 Saint John River flood was a record breaker that affected thousands of New Brunswickers, cost millions to clean up after, and may have been but a glimpse of a changed-climate future. Award-winning journalist Lisa Hrabluk personalizes the statistics with moving individual accounts of despair, heroism and resilience.

The Nova Scotia Book of Lists
Vernon Oikle
MacIntyre Purcell

Be they to-do, to-see, bucket, top-ten or otherwise, we love our lists. Oikle’s collection, a combination of his own lists and those of experts from across the province, is geared to Bluenosers and anyone looking to get to know Nova Scotia better. Here you’ll find out where see the best waterfalls, eat the best pizza, drink the best wine, find the best sea-glass…

Sports

Brad Marchand: The Unlikely Star
Philip Croucher
Nimbus Publishing

Hammonds Plains’ Brad Marchand is widely considered one of the 20 best male hockey players alive. He’s also the single most annoying hockey player to non-Bruins fans. Whatever your perceptions of Marchand, there’s no denying the 5’9” forward, drafted 71st overall, has defied expectations, becoming an elite scorer, Stanley Cup winner and World Cup hero. Croucher’s account features personal interviews and 40+ photos.

Hockey Card Stories 2
Ken Reid
ECW

Pictou native Ken Reid is back with “59 more true tales from your favourite players,” the follow up to his highly readable national bestseller of 2014. Reid’s a TV sportscaster but other than the sports angle these books have relatively little to do with his day job. It’s his childhood passion for collecting that drives his quest for the stories behind quirky cards featuring mullets, broken noses and, in one case, a rhinoceros and Hall of Famer together.

Filed Under: # 88 Winter 2018, Editions, Features, Fiction, History, Nonfiction Tagged With: Album Rock, Anabelle Kienle Ponka, biography, Boulder Publications, Brad Marchand, Breakwater Books, Breton Books, Cape Breton Christmas, Christine LeGrow, Christmas in Atlantic Canada, Crossing Troubled Waters, David Goss, ECW Press, Eric Davison, fiction, Formac Publishing, Frank Macdonald, Geoff D'Eon, Goose Lane Editions, Graham Reynolds, Halifax Harbour 1918, Hell's Flames to Heaven's Gate, Her Life and Times, history, HMS Bounty, hockey, Hockey Card Stories 2, Holiday Gifts, Island Studies Press, Jack Fitzgerald, Janet Kitz, Ken Reid, Knitting, Lisa Hrabluk, MacIntyre Purcell, Marjorie Coady, Marylyn Elliott, Matthew HOllett, memoir, Michael Hawkins, My Journey from Darkness to Light, New Brunswick Underwater, Nimbus Publishing, Personal Accounts, Politics & Society, Pottersfield Press, Ronald Caplan, Roseway Publishing, Saltwater Mittens, Shirley Scott, sports, Steve Hunt, Susan MacDonald, The Blind Mechanic, The Nova Scotia Book of Lists, The Other Side of the Sun, The Smeltdog Man, The Unlikely Star, Thien Tang, Treason's Edge, United Steelworkers Union, Vernon Oikle, Vernon Therriault, Viola Desmond, Wanda Robson, Westray

August 9, 2016 by Carmel Vivier

Blank bookcover with clipping path

What do Cape Breton Island and storytelling have in common? Why, everything, of course!

If you like stories that appeal to a wide audience of readers, then look no further than editor Ronald Caplan’s latest compilation, Local Hero. It offers up stories of everyday living on Cape Breton Island and away, celebrating life, sharing love, and the sorrow of death, with all the funny twists and turns that make up people’s lives.

Written by 20 very talented Canadian writers, both newly minted and seasoned authors, this collection delivers a blend of humorous and tug-at-your-heartstrings stories. While many of the stories focus on the people and places that make up Cape Breton Island, others offer a more ‘universal’ setting. These stories are sure to entertain and may even invoke a ‘déjà vu’ feeling or a memory from your past.

 

Local Hero – 20 New Short Stories from Cape Breton Island
Edited by Ronald Caplan
$18.95, paperback, 178 pp.
Breton Books, 2015

Filed Under: Non-fiction, Reviews Tagged With: Breton Books, Cape Breton, Local Hero – 20 New Short Stories from Cape Breton Island, Ronald Caplan, short stories

December 17, 2015 by Lauren d'Entremont

Chair and Christmas Tree

Just seven days remain in the lead-up to Christmas! If you’re looking for gift ideas or something to read while snuggled next to the tree, here are seven books to help you count down to the big day.

God’s Country: 17 Cape Breton Stories, Classic and Rare
Edited by Ronald Caplan
From the heart of a storytelling island, an essential collection of stories from some of Cape Breton’s finest writers.

six@sixty-isolatedsix@sixty
To mark the publisher’s 60th anniversary, the editors at Goose Lane Editions selected six tiny perfect stories for this anthology. Authored by some of the Canada’s finest writers, they come from the sweep of Goose Lane’s publishing history.

Born! A Foal, Five Kittens & Confederation
by Deirdre Kessler
Travel back in time to the streets of Charlottetownwith this children’s picture book for an insider’s peek at the meetings that led to Confederation and other exciting events, illustrated by award-winning illustrator Brenda Jones.

Quartet for the End of Time
by Johanna Skribsrud
Inspired by and structured around the chamber piece of the same title by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time is a mesmerizing story of four lives irrevocably linked in a single act of betrayal.

Thrice Burned
by Angela Misri
In the second book in the Portia Adams Adventures series, Portia is still reeling from finding out that her guardian, Mrs. Jones, is actually the infamous Irene Adler and her grandmother and Sherlock Holmes is her grandfather. As a diversion, Portia throws herself into work and continues to consult with Scotland Yard on their hard-to-crack cases.

Rock Recipes 2Rock Recipes 2: More Great Food From My Newfoundland Kitchen
by Barry Parsons
Rock Recipes 2: More Great Food From My Newfoundland Kitchen ignores the trends and fads to serve up real food perfected in a real home kitchen.

Someone Somewhere
by Dana Mills
In his debut story collection, Dana Mills writes with unsentimental clarity of contemporary rural life, of the roughneck world of back shifts and manual work, of dissolving prospects and of the overwhelming circumstances which one sometimes seems simply born to.

Filed Under: Lists, Web exclusives Tagged With: Angela Misri, Barry Parsons, Born! A Foal Five Kittens and Confederation, Breakwater Books, Breton Books, Classic and Rare, Dana Mills, Deirdre Kessler, Fierce Ink Press, Gaspereau Press, God's Country: 17 Cape Breton Stories, Goose Lane Editions, Johanna Skibsrud, Quartet for the End of Time, Rock Recipes 2: More Great Food From My Newfoundland Kitchen, Ronald Caplan, six@sixty, Someone Somewhere, The Acorn Press, Thrice Burned, W.W. Norton

April 9, 2015 by Sandra Phinney

Ron Caplan

Ron Caplan speaks of heartbreaking and delicate memories of Cape Bretoners in the First World War

Ronald Caplan –publisher, writer, folk-historian, and Member of the Order of Canada– has a deep and abiding love for Cape Breton in general, and her people in particular. Caplan’s most recent book, Cape Bretoners in the First World War (Breton Books) features 53 voices and over 100 photographs in a moving collection of conversations, letters, diaries and photographs that depict what life was like for the soldiers and nurses from Cape Breton who served in that war.

Caplan notes on the back of his book, “The passion and compassion of these voices remind us of what was dared, what was accomplished, and the gratitude we owe. One hundred years after the start of the First World War, this book is a Cape Breton gift to all of Canada.”

Atlantic Books Today had the pleasure of posing some questions to Ronald Caplan.

When and how was the book conceived?  

Cape Bretoners in the First World War was really born over 30 years ago when I was interviewing Cape Breton veterans, nurses and war brides for an issue of Cape Breton’s Magazine. I never forgot those people and when I realized that the 100th anniversary of that war was coming up, I saw an opportunity for building a book around those interviews. They had always stayed with me and finding an opportunity to introduce another generation to those stories really inspired the search.

Wild Bill quoteOnce the idea of doing the book gelled, then what? How did you proceed?

With those early interviews as the solid core of Cape Bretoners in the First World War, I dove into wide-ranging research for letters, diaries, news accounts of battles that Cape Bretoners had seen. I had tremendous help in the Beaton Institute Archives at Cape Breton University, and those rare little museums and archives around Cape Breton, such as the Cape Breton Highlanders collection at Victoria Park in Sydney, the Chestico Museum in Port Hood and the very substantial museum in the basement of the Canadian Legion in Cheticamp, which are all great examples of community devotion.

And I did a combination of online searches and phone calls across Canada, contacting people operating cemeteries in Belgium and France, and reaching out to people devoted to remembering Cape Breton Canadians buried so far from home.

 

Is there a story or two that have really burned an imprint in your mind and heart?

Sometimes it was just a single photograph, such as Tom Langley who, 50 years later, had not gotten over his experience of that war. Another example is the fierce photograph of Harrison Livingston holding framed portraits of his brother, Daniel, who died, and his cousin, Wild Bill, who came home. You can see all those years later that Harrison was still angry about the loss, the waste. Wild Bill Livingston left behind the most extraordinary batch of letters. He was one of those who loved the life of a soldier and yet grieved at the loss of buildings and towns, civilization, and the cemeteries full of Canada’s youth and its future.

What were the challenges you faced while creating this book?   

What to leave in and what to leave out—that’s always the fundamental problem. You fall in love with these people, you recognize your responsibility to share what they had to say, to try and not distort their story. And yet you don’t want to overwhelm a reader. You simply want them to feel touched as you were touched. It’s also a challenge to edit the book while keeping a profound respect for what those veterans went through. You realize that this was the event of their generation and most of them did not want to miss it.

What were the greatest satisfactions/rewards?

I’ve learned that you don’t have to be a Cape Bretoner for this book to make sense, or to become informed and touched by their stories. And the book itself has begun to get people to think of their own fragile family mementos of the First World War. Many have brought forward letters, postcards and photographs that might otherwise have been lost. This 100th anniversary helps us to focus on such things. It gives us one more chance to save them and to learn from them.

As the book came together, I realized there was also the story of the effect of the war on daily Cape Breton life. Mothers wrote letters telling about the lambs in spring and how it hard it was to keep the farm going with so many young men called away. One mother started her letter letting the wounded son in hospital know that she hoped he would not lose the arm, and then remembers that it is his birthday, because the birds were singing when he was born.

Cover of Cape Bretoners in the First World WarWhat have you learned about yourself and others while doing this book?

It is surprising how the book contradicts the often heard theory that those who were there would not talk about the First World War. They talked to me, and in often painful and self-exposing detail. Harrison Livingstone told me, “The only thing I ever did in my life that I’m thoroughly ashamed of was going away to war and leaving my mother alone on the farm at Big Bras d’Or.”

I recorded the tender and heartbreaking memories of John Angus MacNeil of Inverness, who described watching a young soldier die, and telling me that he was never lonely for his home and parents, that God was doing something for him to give him strength, and of coming home, marrying “a very happy woman”—and then losing his son in the Second World War. They talked.

I wonder whether it’s not so much a matter of the veterans’ reticence as one of our not having the time or the courage to ask the questions—to dare to open the doors, perhaps frightened of what we might learn. There is pride and patriotism in what those veterans had to say, but there is also a reminder that there might have been an alternative to the terrible losses of that war.

Was it difficult to get them to share their stories?

No, it was not difficult getting them to share their stories. I think I was helped by their respect for Cape Breton’s Magazine. I think they knew I would treat what they told me with respect. Cape Bretoners in the First World War shares the pain, the questioning and the determination of those soldiers who fought to win and also of the nurses who fought for an opportunity to relieve their suffering.

Final thoughts?  

I hope the book makes it clear that I have nothing but gratitude for having had the opportunity to talk with Cape Bretoners who served in that war. Those conversations could not be had today, opening doors to real lives that most of us can barely imagine.

Filed Under: Features, Q&A Tagged With: Breton Books, Cape Breton, Cape Bretoners in the First World War, First World War, history, Ronald Caplan

December 4, 2014 by Pam Estabrook

Atlantic Canada has an abundance of Christmas traditions to share and stories to tell

The holidays are the perfect time to treat yourself to a new book from Atlantic Canada, whether it’s a tale for children, a collection of recipes, a short story anthology or a historical account of a fascinating holiday tradition.

Christmas traditions

Any Mummers ‘Lowed In? by Dale Jarvis (Flanker Press) is about mummering, a time-tested Newfoundland and Labrador tradition. Mummers dressed in disguise make surprise visits during the holidays spreading cheer and mischief while trying to keep their identities secret. The author uses archival records, personal accounts and historical photographs to tell the story of the fascinating practice.

The Man with the White BeardThe Man With The White Beard (Creative Book Publishing) is the follow-up to Bruce Templeton’s 2012 bestseller, The Man In The Red Suit. The author shares more heartwarming and at times heartbreaking tales of spreading cheer as Santa Claus in St. John’s, NL. Templeton emphasizes the importance of spending time with loved ones during the holidays, and shares the message that it’s your “presence” and not “presents” that counts at Christmastime.

Festive Flavours by Lars Willum (Boularderie Island Press) is a collection of more than 50 delicious holiday recipes gathered from around the world.

Christmas tales

In Nimbus Publishing’s new Christmas anthology, The Finest Tree And Other Christmas Stories From Atlantic Canada, Dan Soucoup collects more than 20 holiday tales from the region’s past and present. Included are short stories from some of Atlantic Canada’s finest authors, such as LM Montgomery, Kevin Major and Ernest Buckler.

Blank white book w/pathIn Sleigh Tracks In The Snow (Pottersfield Press), Wayne Curtis recounts the traditions that made Christmas special for his family and community. This story collection will remind readers of a more innocent time from the 1950s through the early 20th century in rural New Brunswick.

In Bette MacDonald’s new book, Mary Morrison’s Cape Breton Christmas (Nimbus Publishing), the author shares holiday tips and recipes from her beloved Cape Breton character.

Cape Breton’s Christmas: A Treasury of Stories & Memories (Breton Books) is a collection of stories and memories compiled by Ronald Caplan by well-known Cape Bretoners such as Beatrice MacNeil, Hugh MacLennan and Rita Joe.

Christmas stories for young readers

The True Meaning of Crumbfest by David Weale (Acorn Press, 1999) has been reprinted just in time for Christmas. It tells the tale of Ekhart the mouse and his quest to learn more about Crumbfest, the winter day when crumbs are plentiful in the PEI farmhouse he calls home.

The Littlest Christmas KettleIn The Littlest Christmas Kettle (Pennywell Books), Deborah Cranford tells the story of Sallie, a Salvation Army kettle, and her quest to bring joy to the less fortunate at Christmas.

Lisa Dalrymple’s new book for children, A Moose Goes A-Mummering (Tuckamore Books) tells the story of Chris the moose. He grows frustrated when everyone he knows still recognizes him, despite his increasingly adorable efforts to disguise himself while mummering and spreading cheer during the 12 days of Christmas in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Filed Under: #77 Holiday/History, Columns, Regional Reads Tagged With: A Moose Goes a-Mummering, Any Mummers ‘Lowed In?: Christmas Mummering Traditions in Newfoundland and Labrador, Beatrice MacNeil, Bette MacDonald, Boularderie Island Press, Breton Books, Bruce Templeton, Cape Breton, Cape Breton’s Christmas: A Treasury of Stories & Memories, Creative Book Publishing, Dale Jarvis, Dan Soucoup, David Weale, Deborah Cranford, Ernest Buckler, Festive Flavours, Hugh MacLennan, Kevin Major, Lars Willum, LM Montgomery, Mary Morrison’s Cape Breton Christmas, New Brunswick, Nimbus Publishing, Pennywell Books, Pottersfield Press, Rita Joe, Ronald Caplan, Sleigh Tracks In The Snow, St. John's, The Acorn Press, The Finest Tree And Other Christmas Stories From Atlantic Canada, The Littlest Christmas Kettle, The Man With The White Beard, The True Meaning of Crumbfest, Tuckamore Books, Wayne Curtis

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