Biographies and autobiographies
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Abstract
Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau examines the complex identities assigned to Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau. Was he an uneducated artist plagued by alcoholism and homelessness? Was Morrisseau a shaman artist who tapped a deep spiritual force? Or was he simply one of Canada’s most significant artists? Carmen L. Robertson charts both the colonial attitudes and the stereotypes directed at Morrisseau and other Indigenous artists in Canada’s national press. Robertson also examines Morrisseau’s own shaping of his image.
Publisher (Source)
Winnipeg, MB, University of Manitoba Press
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Abstract
Before she became a psychiatric nurse at "The Mental" in the 1950s, Kay Parley was a patient there, as were the father she barely remembered and the grandfather she'd never met. Part memoir, part history, and beautifully written, Inside The Mental offers an episodic journey into the stigma, horror, and redemption that she found within the institution's walls. Now in her nineties, Parley looks back at the emerging use of group therapy, the advent of patients' rights, evolving ethics in psychiatry, and the amazing cast of characters she met there.
Publisher (Source)
Regina, SK, Canada, University of Regina Press
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Abstract
A Brush Full of Colour is the story of a boy whose passion for learning would save him from a life in the coalmines. The books by the American writer Jack London and Canadian poet Robert Service fired his imagination with scenes of the wilderness and the Klondike Gold Rush. He trained as an artist, and a stint in the British Intelligence Service allowed him to travel. But Ted never stopped dreaming of the North, and when he saw an advertisement for teachers in Northern Alberta, he jumped at the chance to emigrate to Canada, where the biggest adventure of his life would begin.
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Abstract
Covers the highlights of 26 years in the career of Judge Glen McDonald, who was the colorful and often controversial Vancouver Coroner from 1954 to 1980 and supervisory coroner for the province of British Columbia from 1969 to 1980.
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Abstract
Three cowhands with a dream of owning a cattle ranch make a heroic pioneer trek across uncharted mountain ranges to open up the frontier grasslands in northern British Columbia during the early 1930s.
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Abstract
At the heart of Waiting for First Light is a no-holds-barred self-portrait of a top political and military figure whose nights are invaded by despair, but who at first light faces the day with the renewed desire to make a difference in the world. Roméo Dallaire, traumatized by witnessing genocide on an imponderable scale in Rwanda, reflects in these pages on the nature of PTSD and the impact of that deep wound on his life since 1994, and on how he motivates himself and others to humanitarian work despite his constant struggle.
Publisher (Source)
Toronto, Random House Canada
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Abstract
"Confessions of a Mountie is the dramatic memoir of retired RCMP Officer Frank Pitts from Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. His story begins with a terrifying standoff between him and a machete-wielding suspect. As his life flashes before his eyes, Frank Pitts recalls his enlistment, training, and cases both solved and unsolved that have led to this moment.
Publisher (Source)
St. John's, Flanker Press Limited
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Abstract
These are twenty-two personal stories, told by women from practically all backgrounds and persuasions--devout and not-so devout, professionals and housewives, westernized and traditional, wearing jeans, hijab, or niqab, and originally from Africa to North America to Pakistan to the Middle East--revealing in their own ways what it means to them to be a Muslim woman (a "Muslimah"). What we get is a complex of stories, all united by two simple ideas--faith and nationality (Canadian).
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Abstract
Max Braithwaite has the unique capacity to be both tender and caustic – both nostalgic and uncompromisingly honest. He is also one of Canada’s few original humorists. All these qualities are present in his latest bittersweet recollections of life on the Prairies during the early Thirties. It was a time of depression and drought; but for Max, a young schoolteacher, it was also a time for courtship and marriage, for those hilarious episodes in Wannego, Saskatchewan, which did much to belie the grimness of the era.
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Abstract
"The story of Wolfe and Montcalm and the Plains of Abraham. In September 1759, a small band of British troops led by James Wolfe scaled the tall cliff overlooking a farmer's field owned by Abraham Martin and overpowered the French garrison that protected the area, allowing the bulk of the British army to ascend the cliff behind and attack the French who, led by Louis-Joseph Montcalm, were largely unaware of Wolfe's tactics. The battle that ensued on what would become known as the Plains of Abraham would forever shape the geography and politics of Canada.
Publisher (Source)
Toronto : HarperCollins Canada, 2014