Alastair MacLeod was born in Saskatchewan (my home province), grew up in Cape Breton near Dunvegan and graduated twice from St. Francis Xavier University. His short stories and novels described the life, landscape and resilient people of Cape Breton. He received many accolades for his writing and numerous literary awards and honours. He was mourned on campus as an alum and the recipient of an honourary doctorate degree.
Farley Mowat was born in Ontario and lived in Saskatoon as a youth. He and his wife spent summers on Cape Breton island for many years. He wrote about nature and was a strong advocate for environmentalism and donated land to the Nature Conservancy. The movie Never Cry Wolf was based on his book (same title) about his time living in a tent in the far north. This was my second encounter with Mowat's work. The first was a book prize received in high school -- A Whale for the Killing -- a book that is haunting in its description of the fate of a trapped whale. As an adult, I purchased Virunga, a biographical work on the life of Dian Fossey, one of three female 'primatologists' trained by Louis Leakey. It too was shattering in its graphic descriptions. This writing style conveyed the horror, but it truly reflected his anger at the actions of fellow human beings when it came to fellow species -- fauna and flora. I guess this may have been part of my education in the environmental movements of the many past decades. It always made sense to me, but to see that Mowat could use words and stories to explain the truths and dispel the myths about animals and nature was inspiring. I'll always remember seeing him in his kilt with his long beard -- a true non-conformist.
The bright spot in these losses is that wealth of rich reading material left by these two men.The selection today is a folk tune that many Canadians know, not just people living in the maritimes. I chose this video for its use of local scenery. While I am a prairie person in my soul, I can't deny the rugged beauty of this province. Enjoy!
Farewell to Nova Scotia -- singer unknown for this video
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