LITMIR.BIZ

A light-hearted and touching memoir of Bill Sherk’s 30-plus-year career as a Toronto high school history teacher with a creative flair and passion for his work. Bill Sherk taught history to Toronto high school students for more than thirty years. With his dynamic, creative, and occasionally unorthodox teaching style, he instilled in his students a passion for history and learning. Sherk was loved by his students and remained in their memories long after graduation. Keep Up If You Can is a light-hearted and touching memoir that will appeal to anyone who’s had a special teacher impact their life. Fun facts: He learned the names of all his students on the first day of school. He assigned ancient names to his ancient history students. They called him Sherkules ( SHERK-yoo-leez ). After reading Webster’s Dictionary cover to cover, he encouraged his students to coin new words, and many of these were published in his three dictionaries. Firmly believing in physical activity, he would leap atop his desk and lead his students in an aerobic «Sherkout» to a rock-and-roll beat.

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Walter Stansell of Straffordville, Dan Sarazin of Golden Lake, and Henry Taylor of Bancroft did what they had to do to preserve some of Canada's rural history. Stansell preserved the age of steam by building working models of machines used during the past century. Master canoe make Dan Sarazin (Chief White Eagle) has given many hours of his time to the preservation of old Native skills. Taylor still builds hand hewn log cabins, splits his own shingles with pioneer tools and carves reminders of early days in the bush. These three extraordinary men have done more than salvage some of Canada's past. Each in his own way actually made history at the Grass Roots level. Through extensive research involving oral history and the uncovering of a wide range of materials, i.e. vintage photographs, diaries, maps and sketchbooks, Barry Lloyd Penhale, journalist and broadcaster, has assembled an outstanding archival collection of Canadiana. In recalling colourful and courageous characters and communities of bygone eras, the publishers hope to partly fill the vacuum so long apparent in the preservation of our distinctive heritage.

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Royal Tours 17862010 is a penetrating look at the tours of 11 royals who were or would be monarchs, viceroys, and commanders-in-chief of Canada. Leaving California in 1983 to tour British Columbia, Queen Elizabeth II said she was going home to Canada. Since its pioneer days, the Royal Family has made the country home through tours of public service, naval and military duty, and residence. Beautifully illustrated, featuring photos from the June/July 2010 tour of the queen, Royal Tours 17862010 is a captivating look at how these tours shaped Canada and the royals themselves, with an eye for the significant, interesting, and humorous. Included are the young naval captain who became King William IV, the long Canadian residences of Queen Victorias father and daughter, those who would be kings and governors general, the triumph of the first reigning monarchs tour, and the current queens six decades of regular presence.

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Dewey Soper first travelled to the Arctic in 1923. During the next seven years he accepted three research postings on Baffin Island, each of which lasted between one and two years. In 1929 he discovered the breeding grounds of the blue goose in the southwest corner of Baffin Island. He also charted the final unknown region of Baffin Island’s coastline. Later in life he worked in the western Arctic. Outside the Far North, Soper studied bison in Wood Buffalo National Park, documented bird life on the Prairies, and made a detailed study of small mammals in Alberta. Soper was the last of the great pioneer naturalists in Canada. He was also a skilled and meticulous explorer. As a naturalist, he was a major contributor to the National Museum of Canada, as well as to the University of Alberta and other museums across the country.

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2013 Speaker’s Book Award – Shortlisted Laura Secord is now famous for her singular feat of bravery during the War of 1812, but did she warn the British and help defeat the American invaders as her legend says? After dragging her injured husband off the battlefield during the War of 1812, Laura Secord (1775-1868) was forced to house American soldiers for financial support while she nursed him back to health. It was during this time that she overheard the American plan to ambush British troops at Beaver Dams. Through an outstanding act of perseverance and courage in 1813, Laura walked an astonishing 30 kilometers from her home to a British outpost to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon. Despite facing rough terrain, the ever-present danger of being caught by American troops, and rather delicate encounters with Native forces, Laura reached FitzGibbon just in time for the British to prepare and execute an ambush on American military nearby, forcing the U.S. general to surrender. Laura lived a very long time, dying at the age of 93. In her lifetime the government never formally recognized her singular feat of bravery, and much controversy still envelopes her legacy.

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Zahava Hanan 's struggle to save her ranch in Alberta from the threat of industrial pollution makes Heading for Home a modern tale on an epic scale. For twenty years she fought for her rights in Western Canada. Heading for Home gives a very warm account of her companions throughout those years from cowhands to lovable animals; from concerned neighbours to the formality of the company man, some of whom too, eventually became firm friends. Aided at times in her struggle by her friend the author and tracker Andy Russell, Heading for Home tells the tale of how one woman's strength and willpower contributed to our heightened sense of mutual awareness. In the course of her long struggle to save everything she held most dear, Zahava Hanan stood squarely up to a «David and Goliath» confrontation with the corporations. During that time, however, she came to understand that by daring to care for our environment we inherit a common ground, goal and home. This book is also the story of that spiritual quest and challenge. And it is in this sense that Zahava Hanan has been «heading for home,» and helping others get there, ever since. This is a masterpiece of its kind, and truly original, since nobody of her sensibility has written on the subject at all. There are countless travel books about wild places and countless cozy books about life in the town. This happens to be unique both in the handling of her environment and in her ability to feel and write about it.

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A number of years ago, R.D. Lawrence acquired a patch of Ontario wilderness, soon known as «The Place.» Here Lawrence and his wife built a cabin and became immersed in studying the ways of the wild. «The Place» was home to a variety of wildlife, from black bears, wolves, beavers and raccoons through to hawks, snapping turtles and singing mice. Lawrence's desire to learn, fuelled by his keen observation, led to his writing about and photographing life within his small corner of the forest – the result being a warm, witty account of change and survival in the natural world.

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The working life of the distinguished surveyor Guy Blanchet reflects the story of northern Canada in the first half of the twentieth century. Beginning his career in the boreal forests of Alberta and Saskatchewan, using pack horses and dog teams, Blanchet went north to map large areas of the Barrens by canoe, and soon became caught up in pioneer northern aviation. His story encompasses the Great Depression and the Second World War, which in turn led to his work finding the routes for oil pipelines. His life was rich in contacts with First Nations people, and his friendships included most of the well-known northern travellers of the time. While Blanchet did not seek adventure, adventure often found him and he had many narrow escapes. While Blanchet published a number of articles about his experiences, this is the first time his fascinating life story has been told in book form.

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The northern community known as Peawanuck (Cree for Flint) is located approximately 32 kilometres up river from the former village of Winisk on the shore of Hudson Bay. There, prior to a devastating flood on May 16, 1986, the First Nations residents of Winisk had carried on with a traditional lifestyle built largely around hunting and trapping seasons. The late Mildred Young Hubbert of Markdale, Ontario, first visited Winisk in the 1960s as a classroom consultant with the then Department of Indian Affairs. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine the scenario some three years later that found her experiencing an odd sort of honeymoon at Winisk and ultimately her first three years of marriage to the wonderful and highly unorthodox teacher, George Hubbert, all six foot six of him. Together the two teachers came to be a vital part of the village during the mid-1970s, a story lovingly and engagingly told by Millie Hubbert in a manuscript completed just prior to her passing. Winisk: On the Shore of Hudson Bay is charmingly told in the same anecdotal writing style that delighted readers of several previous books by the same author. This is vintage Millie Hubbert!

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The memoirs of John T. MacKenzie reveal a truly remarkable man: a highly respected authority on highland piping with a commitment to tradition and excellence in performance. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, John T. was a student of piping at age nine. Enlisted in the Scots Guards, he saw active service in the war zones of North Africa, participated in the Liberation of Norway and was later posted to active duty in the Malaysian jungle. John T. MacKenzie bears personal witness to the horrors and valour of warfare. Throughout, his devotion to highland piping remained, and remains, in the forefront of his life. Appointed personal piper to the Royal Household in 1946, John T. MacKenzie has piped at numerous ceremonial events in Europe and North America. His recruitment as a Pipe Major to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1952 brought him to Canada, and ultimately to Glengarry County, where his contributions to piping are legendary.

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