French en Amérique

December 2016

The world can work in mysterious ways. Earlier today I had a phone call asking if I might do an interview about Louisbourg and some Acadian history when I’m in Alabama. Quoi? Oui, c’est vrai — parler de la région Atlantique du Canada quand je suis dans le sud des États-Unis.

What’s up is a Canadian documentary film to be produced by TFO. The basic idea is to cover some of the less well known aspects of the “French en Amérique”, such as Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans. Greg Waselkov, an archaeologist I have known for years from the French Colonial Historical Society — we once shared a room together in Senegal during one conference — told the producers that I would be in Fairhope, Alabama while they’re filming in Alabama. So … it seems I’ll get to talk about Louisbourg and Acadie while way down south.

C’est in peu bizarre, je trouve, mais pourquoi pas? J’aime toujours parler de ma forteresse préfée, celle qui s’appelle Louisbourg.

NS@150 Exhibit

November 2016

I call it NS@150 but I’m not sure what the Nova Scotia Museum will call it when it becomes an official exhibit for the public in 2017.

It’s a project that aims to highlight the contributions made by three Nova Scotians from each decade that has elapsed since Confederation. That makes for 48 individuals.

I began working on the project in September and it’s been keeping me busy researching and writing about a wide range of women and men from all sectors of Nova Scotian life. T…he decision was made early on to stay away from the very big celebrities (like Ellen Page and Sydney Crosby) about whom everyone already knows a lot. Instead, the focus has been on individuals who have changed and inspired the province in important ways but who perhaps are not well known. Or at least not as well known as they should be.

There is an advisory committee representing different communities that gets to influence the process. Then the general public is to play a role in 2017. You — those of you are interested — will be asked to vote on some of the candidates, week by week. That’s to narrow the selections down the final exhibit.

Watch for that voting process. In fact, I’ll post something here to let you know when it will be starting, sometime early in 2017. The first candidates are from the 1860s, then the next week from the 1870s and so on.

I have learned a lot working on the project. I think others will as well, by participating in the voting process, and eventually visiting the exhibit. It’s a Canada 150 project.

Book Review of Louis R. Comeau

November 2016

My review of Sally Ross’s latest book has just been posted on the Atlantic Books Today website.. Reading my words today, they sound a little lukewarm about the book. They should not be taken that way. I thought Sally did a great job, as she always does with anything she writes. Here is the link to my review.

http://atlanticbookstoday.ca/portrait-of-an-architect-of-the-privatization-of-nova-scotia-power/

Busy Days Necessitate Change

November 2016

It’s been a long time since I said anything about my upcoming time as Writer-in-Residence in Fairhope, Alabama. I recently asked to change that term from three months to two. That’s because I’m so busy writing history at the moment — one project preparing post-1867 biographies of over forty intriguing and inspiring individuals for the Nova Scotia Museum and another project writing texts for a major exhibit at the Halifax Citadel on behalf of Lord Cultural Resources. I expect my involvement in both those projects to be completed by the end of December. However, just in case, I am delaying going to Alabama until February, which gives me January to tie up loose ends if needed.

Here is a link to a listing of all the writers on the Fairhope Center for the Writing Arts line-up from this fall on through all of 2017. I’m proud to be part of such a stellar bunch.

http://www.fairhopecenterforthewritingarts.org/current-news…

East Coast Book Hour?

November 2016

Have you ever listened to the CBC-Radio show called the East Coast Book Hour?

No? Neither have I — because it doesn’t exist. At least not yet. But each time I catch the East Coast Music Hour on a Saturday, I wonder why there isn’t something similar that would introduce Atlantic Canadians to their writers, illustrators, editors and publishers who toil at creating books (and e-books) for people to enjoy. It works with musicians; why not for a sibling artistic sector? Such a show would give Atlantic authors and others in the industry a little profile, which is dearly needed. It’s not easy to sell readers books they have never heard about! In addition to letting more people in the region know about their homegrown culture, it would help a sector of the economy.

So how about it, CBC-Radio? If not a full 60 minutes, could you find 30 minutes somewhere to talk about East Coast Books?

Colchester Historeum on Select List

October 2016

Big news out of Truro. Progress Magazine conducted a vote among its readers regarding “Best in the East” in lots of categories.

In the Museum category, the Colchester Historeum came in fourth, behind only major provincial museums. If you’ve not checked out the Historeum yet, I hope you do.

I’m pretty proud of my part in the project, as part of the Camus Productions team. Here’s the link to the story.

http://www.progressmedia.ca/article/2016/09/best-east-2016