Diligently researched and carefully crafted, J. Clinton Morrison’s latest book, Strange Tales and True Stories, East Coast Chronicles From Yesterday’s Newspapers (2006, Crescent Isle Publishers, Summerside, Canada, 192 pages) vividly revives the past.
Morrison relies on news reports, dating from 1829 to 1942, to tell 66 “stories” from Atlantic Canada’s past. These first-hand accounts about condemned prisoners, doomed ships, murders, mishaps, lost treasures, strange creatures and even ghost sightings, hold an immediacy and vibrancy that most history books lack.
In 1869, George Dowey, a sailor convicted of murder, faced the gallows. While waiting, he wrote a short autobiography: “A prison, even to the least guilty, is not a place for pleasant memories. But to me – a murderer – everything looked black and full of despair. Nothing but gloomy walls around me, and the ghost of a murdered man continually looming.”
Prejudices echo through time. Consider a 1901 newspaper story: “The man who gives or sells a drink of liquor to an Indian is 1,000 times more despicable than any Indian can be, and he is not fit for an Indian to associate with.”
Hard times regain poignancy. In a letter mailed in 1938 during the Great Depression, a Western Canadian wrote: “Conditions in Saskatchewan are far from encouraging as parts of this province have had no crop for the last five or six years….. In this district, about 85 per cent of the people are on relief, which is just a bare existence, but they have to stay as there is no place else to go.”
Morrison, a retired teacher, wrote five earlier books, including: Hell Upon Earth, A Personal Account of Prince Edward Island Soldiers in the Great War, 1914-18; and Chasing a Dream, Prince Edward Islanders in the Klondike. Yes, he favors wordy titles.
“Strange Tales and True Stories is a spin-off from more than 30 years of historical research,” he said. “Many years ago, after days of frustration searching in vain for particular people and events, I adopted the philosophy that never again would I walk away from hours of newspaper research with nothing to show for my efforts.
“I resolved to record references pertaining to anything of interest, whether bizarre or real, which I encountered during research on other historical topics, in the hope that someday they might interest readers. That decision became the basis for this book.”
Undoubtedly strange, the tales fascinate. Finishing the last one brings regret. Perhaps the book should have been longer.
But Morrison’s thirst for knowledge, his dedication to research and his passion for sharing the results should prompt more good work. Most readers would say: “The sooner, the better.”
Approval rating: 79 per cent
(September 25, 2007)
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