W. A. Sherwood

On By Sara WalkerIn Non-Fiction, Poet, Writer Local to Kawartha LakesLeave a comment
Wikidata

William Albert Sherwood (1859-1919) was born in Omemee on August 1, 1859. His father, William Sherwood, was born England, settled his family in Omemee, where he worked as a shoemaker. His mother was Eliza from Ireland, and his siblings included five brothers (Henry, Thomas, George, Joseph, Arthur) and three sisters (Ann, Jane, Laura.)

In 1881, The Canadian Post began publishing Sherwood’s poetry, starting with lines dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Jeffers, titled, “Mind and Matters.” At the time, Sherwood was living locally in Kawartha Lakes (then Victoria County.) The editor took a shining to Sherwood’s work and went on to publish many of his poems. Then, in the June 11, 1886 edition, the Post published this brief note about Sherwood, “We notice that Mr. W. A. Sherwood, artist, has taken charge of the department of drawing, painting and perspective at the Toronto business college.”

Even after Sherwood moved to Toronto, the Post continued to publish his poems, but by this time so were the Toronto papers and other papers across Canada and editors of poetry collections. It wasn’t long before Sherwood had his own volume of poetry published. 

LAKE COUCHICHING
Oft have I loitered listening, Couchiching, 
   To the soft lull of distant waving trees
At evening, and the sweet murmuring
   Of waters waken'd with the evening breeze
To one, whilst wandering thy shores along
Unseen, sweet voices hymn their evening song.

Long since the Red Man named thee Couchiching,
   Or built his wigwam rude upon thy shore;
But longer after shall the minstrel sing
   Of him that named thee but knows thee no more.
Unlike with thee had I that minstrel power,
I'd sing thee long, I'd sing thee every hour!

Hallowed that mourn when first we learn to know
   How near to Nature are the hearts we prove;
More hallowed still in even's after-glow,
   How dear to Nature is the one we love.
Thus thy bright waters, joyous Couchiching,
O'er one I love for ever seem to sing. 

From, Songs of the Great Dominion, edited by William Douw Lighthall, Walter Scott, England, 1889.

Sherwood also wrote about Canadian art and gave speeches at events with his speeches being reproduced as essays in the Toronto papers. His most well-known essay was “The National Aspect of Canadian Art” that was included in Canada: and Encyclopaedia of the Country: History of Presbyterianism, edited by John Castell Hopkins, Linscott Publishing Company, 1898.

The want of a broad sympathetic interest in national Art has, however, deterred the progress and, to a large measure, fatally injured this branch of the Art life of our country. The evil has been increased by the taste of men of wealth in Montreal and Toronto, who have covered their walls with foreign pictures largely to the exclusion of native work. The contention that the native work is not equal in artistic treatment is advanced, and that it does not possess names which are world-honoured.

“The National Aspect of Canadian Art” by W.A. Sherwood, 1898.

Sherwood painted his first portrait at age 15 and soon rose to prominence in Canadian art circles. In the 1881 Census, at just 26 years of age, Sherwood’s occupation is listed as ‘Artist.’ The best known of his paintings included, “The Gold Prospector,” which was in the possession of the Ontario Government at the time of Sherwood’s death, “The Canadian Rancher,” “The Canadian Backwoodsman,” “The Entomologist,” and “The Negotiation,” (pictured below) which was purchased by the Dominion Government.

His most controversial portrait was that of Sir George Ross.

In 1901, the Ross Club decided to have a portrait painted of the Premier of Ontario, Sir George Ross, for whom the club was named. They commissioned Sherwood, and the portrait was presented to Ross at a meeting in November that year at St. George’s Hall in Toronto.

Sherwood’s requested fee of $500 went unpaid. He claimed the frame alone cost him $100. He was paid $50.

Turns out, Ross despised the painting. He insisted that after the presentation the picture be “turned to the wall and shoved aside.”

Instead, the painting was shipped to his home. Where his future wife, Mildred Peel, painted over it with a portrait of Laura Secord. The Secord painting was hung in the Provincial Legislature and she was paid a commission. Ross and Peel were married in 1907.

“Laura Secord” by Mildred Peel, 1904. At the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. (https://www.ola.org/en/photo/laura-secord)
Detail of “Laura Secord” (left) and a 1936 x-ray of the same painting revealing the George Ross portrait beneath (right)

Among others, portrait subjects included Rev. Dr. Scadding, S.P. May, Lieut.-Col. A. E. Belcher, Alexander McLauchlan, the poet Sir Aemilius Irving, and Miss Pauline Johnson.

Sherwood exhibited in Canada, Great Britain and the United States. He was one of the founders of the Central School of Art and Design of Toronto and the Anglo-Saxon Union. He served as president of the Progress Club of Toronto in 1898 and also of the Victoria County Old Boys’ Association. He was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists, an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy, and life member of the Canadian Institute.

“The Negotiation” by W.A. Sherwood, oil on canvas, 1893. At the National Gallery of Canada (https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artwork/the-negotiation).
“Mary Patterson” by W. A. Sherwood, oil on canvas, 1896. At the Art Gallery of Ontario (http://art.ago.ca/objects/77622/mary-patterson).

In 1899, his painting, “St. Bernard,” was one of several selected by the Provincial Education Department and purchased by the Provincial Government. (Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario, 1899. Ontario Sessional Papers, 1900, No. 12-14.)

Sherwood died December 5, 1919 in Toronto and was buried at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery. He was unmarried with no children.

Works:

Sherwood, W. A., Lays, Lyrics and Legends, Hunter-Rose, 1914.

“Temperance soldiers: song and chorus,” lyrics by W.A. Sherwood, music by J.F. Johnstone. 1887.

“A National Spirit in Art,” The Canadian Magazine, volume 3, no. 6 (Oct. 1894.) https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06251_20/8

References:

“THE ROSS CLUB MEETING.” The Globe (1844-1936) Nov 12 1901.

“W. A. SHERWOOD, LOCAL ARTIST, PASSES AWAY: NOTED AS PAINTER OF PORTRAITS AND CANADIAN SCENE PICTURES END COMES SUDDENLY.” The Globe (1844-1936) Dec 06 1919.

“Funeral of W. A. Sherwood to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.” The Globe (1844-1936) Dec 09 1919.

“TORY PAINTED ROSS PORTRAIT, LATER HEROINIE: PRESENTATION OF “LAURA SECORD” OIL 30 YEARS AGO RECALLED.” The Globe (1844-1936) Feb 26 1936.

Songs of the Great Dominion: voices from the forests and waters, the settlements and cities of Canada, Lighthall, W. D. (William Douw), 1857-1954. Walter Scott, London, 1889. https://archive.org/details/songsofgreatdomi00lighiala/songsofgreatdomi00lighiala

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/1812/big/big_117_secord_xray.aspx

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/1812/big/big_116_secord_portrait.aspx

An Afternoon with Hollay Ghadery: Rebellion Box

On By Sara WalkerIn Book Signings, Events, Poet, Writer Local to Kawartha LakesLeave a comment
Hollay Ghadery. Image from author’s facebook profile.

On the afternoon of Saturday, April 22, 2023, Hollay Ghadery launched her poetry collection, Rebellion Box, at the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives.

The occasion was a drop-in event, allowing guests to arrive anytime between 1pm and 4pm to visit with the author, buy her books, and enjoy the refreshments she brought.

My visit with the author was brief, but included chatting about women’s issues and the ghosts that haunt the old jail that houses the museum.

The museum is an excellent location for the launch since the title poem, “Rebellion Box,” was inspired by small wooden boxes made at Fort Henry by prisoners from the Rebellion of 1837.

The collection includes 63 poems of various types, and presents a portrait of the author as she pushes against the limitations of gender roles, race, bodies and minds.

That portrait is at times intimate, as in “Postcard, Santa Maria,” where the author writes, 

I'm  not that girl
anymore. I
have the 
conviction
of dust and

the cervix
of a fifteen-year-old,
my doctor says.
Not bad
for four kids

so I believe
in anything
so I can
belive
at all.

Other poems like “Search History” and “Fight like a Girl” feel universal and vast. The collection conveys many relatable experiences.

What follows is my interview with Hollay Ghadery about Rebellion Box.

KLW: What made you first take up writing poetry?

HG: I started writing poetry because it seemed the most fitting way to process my understanding of the world. I live with OCD and anxiety and from the time I was a young child, I needed someway to make sense of the way I experienced life, which I recognized was at odds with what most people experienced. Poetry—this small, exacting form—gave me a manageable way to try to make sense of the enormity of what I was feeling, as I was feeling it, without having to have the vocabulary to analyze it—which I didn’t have as a kid. 

Poetry is, for me, a way to take control of something, but also, to let it go—very important when living with OCD.

KLW: As someone who also lives with high anxiety, I very much understand the need to find something that can be controlled or managed. How do you keep anxiety and OCD from turning into paralyzing perfectionism or otherwise preventing you from publishing and sharing your work? 

HG: My OCD and anxiety centre around existential dread that I may not have time to do and say everything I want to, so I definitely don’t have an issue sending my work out there into the world. 

KLW: Some of your poems feel like they come from a deeply personal place, while others have a clearly separate voice to them. Do you write all of your poetry from your own self, or do you adopt a point of view or persona when you write? 

HG: Everything I write is from my own experience; my own self. Even if I am writing through another persona, it’s because I’ve seen something in that individual that resonates with me; I’ve found a connection. Usually, a connection that makes me feel less alone in something I struggle with. For instance, I wrote a poem for Thomas Foster–the former mayor of Toronto and a businessman. On the surface, we have little in common but Foster also created (or had created), The Foster Memorial: a Byzantine-inspired mausoleum located outside Uxbridge,  Ontario. It was erected1936 in honour of his daughter, Ruby, who died just before her tenth birthday of pneumonia, and his wife, Elizabeth, who died a few years later of an undocumented cause.  Living with existential OCD, I understand the very existential impulse to create art as a means to immortality.

KLW: One last question: what advice do you have for someone just starting to write poetry?

HG: Great question! I’d say to read poetry and read it widely. There are so many different types and styles and I find many people new to writing it have a relatively narrow understanding of the scope, and as a result, can really stunt their own development. Also, read interviews with poets. Read reviews of books of poetry. Really immerse yourself on the more technical side of the art. It’s not glamorous but I think it’s necessary to write well. 

KLW: Thank you, Hollay!

The Bobcaygeon Boys vs. L.M. Montgomery

On By Sara WalkerIn Writer Local to Kawartha LakesLeave a comment

In the 1920s in Bobcaygeon, there arose a constellation of writers, including some of Canada’s most decorated poets and influential newspaper editors. At the heart of this constellation was a group of men who cottaged together and were at the forefront of defining Canadian culture. And they seemed to have a hate on for Lucy Maud Montgomery.

It all started with Arthur L. Phelps, who came to Bobcaygeon as a youth, again as a minister, and finally bought a cottage in 1919. He invited the friends he’d made at Victoria College in Toronto to visit him during the summers. They fell in love with the area on the banks of the Sturgeon Lake, and some bought cottages of their own, while others became regular visitors.

[Arthur L. Phelps] was part of a group of men who spent their summers in cottages at Bobcaygeon, Ontario, where their families socialized and the men themselves talked over their ideas about the state of Canadian literature, world literature, and politics. This group included other academics, journalists (like [William Arthur] Deacon), and writers invited to join them (like Frederick Philip Grove).”

Lucy Maud Montgomery: the gift of wings. Mary Henley Rubio. 2008.

The next to snap up a cottage was E.J. Pratt, the three-time winner of the Governor General’s Award for Literature for his poetry. After visiting Phelps, Pratt fell in love with the place. Pratt had a grand old time in Bobcaygeon. He established a garden, built a writer’s shed on the shore where he composed most of his poetry for the time while he owned the cottage, and hosted many guests.

The next to buy a cottage was William Arthur Deacon, who became Canada’s first full-time book reviewer, fulfilling one of his life’s ambitions, as editor of Saturday Night magazine and the Globe and Mail.

“ln 1925, for $400 in easy instalments, they also acquired a piece of land at Bobcaygeon, in the Kawartha Lakes district near Peterborough, a part of the summer colony that included the Pratts and the Phelps.” (“William Arthur Deacon: A Canadian Literary Life.” Clara Thomas and John Lennox. 1982)

Guests to the cottage included:

  • Flos Jewell Williams
  • Edgar Pelham
  • Frederick Philip Grove
  • Watson Kirkconnell
  • E. K. Brown and wife, Margaret Deaver Brown

In those days, writers and poets alike joined the Canadian Authors’ Association (CAA), where membership afforded connections to other writers, along with workshops and other learning options, to say nothing of publishing opportunities in the organization’s anthologies and magazines.

For many, writing is a solitary profession, and organizations such as CAA are a lifeline, giving writers the chance to get out and commiserate and network with other people who can immediately empathize, no explanation needed.

Where a chapter of the CAA did not exist, many writers opted to create one, as Deacon did when he lived in Winnipeg.

At the same time, the sources of literature and radio in Canada were primarily Britain and America, and there arose a need to produce and promote Canadian content. This became a highly debated topic, as no definition of “Canadian” had been made, but in very short order, a plethora of Canadian literature was produced and the CBC was created.

In addition to his professorship duties, Phelps became host to a number of CBC programs that debated and defined Canadian culture, broadcasting throughout his career, even from his deathbed in 1970.

Deacon, in his editorial positions, decided which books got reviews and which were passed over. And Deacon was instrumental in the creation of the Governor General’s Award for Literature, and which Pratt won three times. Other visitors to the cottages also won this prestigious prize and cash award.

When it came to Lucy Maud Montgomery, this crew from Bobcaygeon did not feel her work was worthy of inclusion as part of the nation’s culture, nor as being worthy of winning a prize.

They excluded Montgomery’s work because it was written for children and well-loved by girls and women all around the world. They were jealous of her sales numbers– which none of them had achieved more than a fraction in comparison.

Their jealousy and misogyny frustrated Montgomery. When she ran for president of the Toronto branch of the Canadian Authors Association and learned she was up against Deacon, she withdrew because she knew of his connection to the Bobcaygeon crew and how vast this network extended.

It does not matter in the least to me that I am not on the executive. Deacon has always pursued me with malice and I am glad I will have no longer to work with him. He is exceedingly petty and vindictive and seems to be detested by everybody who knows him.

L.M. Montgomery (Rubio, 2008)

On the occasion of Canada’s National Book Week in September 1935, the Toronto branch of the CAA hosted an event to celebrate those who had received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) that year; advertising stated the occasion would honour “three knights and two OBEs”: Sir Ernest MacMillan, Sir Wyly Grier, Sir Charles G. D. Roberts, L.M. Montgomery, OBE, and Dr. E. A. Hardy, OBE. It was a hugely important event for Canada’s literary scene.

One of the organizers was Pelham Edgar, a professor, and at that time, president of the national level of the CAA. Pelham was a good friend of Pratt and the other Bobcaygeon boys, had been invited to the cottage, and was no friend to Montgomery. Pelham proposed a toast to each of the five honourees. He spent considerable time delving into the accomplishments of the first three, and then finished with “The other two who are included in this toast are Dr. Hardy and Mrs. Macdonald.”

Montgomery’s biographer, Mary Rubino, supposes Maud could have been overly sensitive since a knighthood is a higher award than an OBE, but Montgomery was certain that it was a snub and that if Edgar had stopped to sing the praises for Hardy, he would have had to admit that she was of literary merit. She believed Edgar “would have died any death you could mention rather than admit I represented Canadian literature.”

A write up in the Globe corroborates Montgomery’s version of the event. After being toasted, each of the five made replies, but the write up by Deacon in the The Mail and Empire omits any mention of Hardy’s and Montgomery’s replies. It’s as though the Bobcaygeon boys had decided Montgomery simply didn’t exist.

By this time, Montgomery had shifted to writing books for adults, including A Tangled Web and The Blue Castle, sales had slowed, and her work was called “provincial” at a time when books were prized for being “cosmopolitan” and favoured for having “universal” themes. For a while, The Blue Castle was banned.

This was the beginning of Montgomery’s descent from publishing. She was a victim of the Bobcaygeon boys’ bullying that became cultural programming that ascribed “literary” works as better than “commercial” works.

Had any of them even read her work?

No.

At least not while she was alive.

When Phelps wrote his book, Canadian Writers (1951), he included a chapter about Montgomery, but proceeded to call her work “naïve” and “easy reading” that “lacks realism and penetration.” In fact for most of the chapter, he didn’t mention her work much at all, but wrote about other writers: Robert W. Service, who had his own chapter, and Mazo de la Roche. He said Montgomery’s readers were “nostalgic” and “sentimental” and only for “the uncultured and unsophisticated.” Finally, the last two pages of the chapter covered Montgomery and her work. He checked out her books from the library, where he was told not to keep them too long as they were in high demand. He finally read the Anne novels, and decided “there may still be a place for the stories of L.M. Montgomery.” He ended the chapter with “get a copy of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and read it.” Unfortunately, Montgomery had passed away in 1942, wanting to believe she had a place in Canadian literature, but never actually achieving it until after the deaths of the Bobcaygeon boys.

But even today, the idea that “literary” fiction is superior to “commercial” fiction lingers. The literary community still has much work to do to detangle this particular net cast by the Bobcaygeon boys and their constellation of friends.

Further Reading:

Phelps, Arthur L. Canadian Writers. McClelland and Stewart Limited. 1951.

Rubio, Mary Henley. L.M. Montgomery: The Gift of Wings. Doubleday Canada. 2008.

Arthur L. Phelps
Edwin John Pratt
William Arthur Deacon
Edwin Austin Hardy
The Real Sam McGee is from Kawartha Lakes
Flos Jewell Williams

Pearl Hart

On By Sara WalkerIn Poet, Writer Local to Kawartha LakesLeave a comment

Lindsay native turned stagecoach robber, Pearl Hart (1871-1935), was also a poet.

On April 19, 1871, Lillie Naomi Davey was born in Lindsay, Ontario to parents, Albert Davey and Anna Duval. (Anna was also born in Lindsay in 1846.) She had eight siblings. Her father was a drunken lout who sexually assaulted a young girl. He was many times sentenced to jail in Lindsay for drunk and disorderly conduct, but after attempting to rape the young girl at knife point and being sentenced to a year in prison along with twelve strokes of the cat-o-nine-tails, he moved the family to Belleville, then to Orillia. It’s speculated that he sexually abused his eldest daughters, including Lillie and her sister Katy.

In her teen years, she called herself Lillie de la Valle, meaning Lillie of the Valley, and would eventually become Pearl Hart. Her upbringing was traumatic and violent. The family lived in poverty and frequently moved.

When she was 13, she and her younger sister, Katy, 11, cut their hair, dressed in their brother’s clothes, and stowed away aboard a lake steamer. They ended up in Buffalo, New York, where they found jobs in a local factory. It was two months before their mother found them.

After the family moved to Rochester, the Notorious Davey girls, Lillie and Katy, continued their charade as boys and thieved their way across the American mid-west, making headlines and telling their stories to reporters. They were arrested many times, and eventually Lillie was placed at Mercer Reformatory in Toronto.

After completing her term at Mercer, she rejoined Katy in Buffalo. By this time Katy had been working for a brothel and adopted the name, Minnie Hart. The brothel’s owner was named Pearl Hart, her common-law husband was Joe Hart. After she’d earned enough for Joe to open a saloon, Pearl closed her brothel. And Katy, as Minnie Hart, opened one of her own. She was only sixteen. Her sister joined her and they both worked as prostitutes.

Lillie hooked up with a young man and went west; the relationship didn’t last. While in Phoenix, Arizona, she worked as a prostitute using the name Pearl Hart. She scandalously wore men’s clothing, chain-smoked cigarettes, which she laced with opium, and became addicted to morphine. Her addicted, abusive husband found her Phoenix, she took him back, and through their tumultuous relationship, they conceived two children, a boy and a girl, which she sent to be raised by her family. When he resumed his abusive ways, she left him again. In 1898, opium use was legal, but prostitution was not, and Arizona began to crack down on its brothels, prompting Pearl to look for new work.

In 1899, she headed for a small mining settlement, set up her own tents for prostitution and learned how to shoot guns, but felt she could make more money in a larger town, so she relocated to Globe. Her abusive husband found her again, and took all her money before she kicked him out. Then Pearl received word that her mother was sick and wanted to see her before she died. Pearl said the news made her temporarily insane. She had no money to make the trip.

At that time, stagecoach robbery was becoming fashionable for criminals near Globe. So, to get enough money for a trip home, Pearl and her companion, Joe Boot, conceived the idea to rob a stagecoach.

On May 2, 1899, Pearl, dressed in a man’s clothing, and Joe robbed their first stagecoach. They made out with more than $300 and a pair of pistols, but gave back a silver dollar to each of the passengers. No one was hurt, but as soon as the coach arrived in Globe, the manhunt began.

They were captured on June 2. The woman stagecoach robber made national headlines. Reporters came from all over, and Pearl happily told her story to all of them, and even posed for photos. The sheriff let her wear men’s clothing and pose with unloaded guns.

Pearl was locked up in Tucson, where she struggled with her morphine addiction and was allowed visitors, which were frequent and included the pair of journalists who interviewed her for Cosmopolitan.

On October 11 and with the help of another prisoner, Pearl escaped, making headlines again, and this time her recently adopted feminist views were included in the stories; feminism was fast becoming fashionable at the time. Pearl’s significance as an icon was debated in the papers across the nation.

I shall never submit to be tried under the law that neither I nor my sex had a voice in making.

Pearl Hart

Nine days later, the pair were captured in New Mexico. Pearl and Joe faced trial in November, and were found guilty. He was sentenced to thirty years, while she was sentenced to five at Yuma prison.

While at Yuma, Pearl fought off her morphine addiction. She discovered she wouldn’t be able to escape this prison, but found a well-stocked library, and took up both reading and sewing.

This was also where she wrote poetry.

On June 2, 1900, the Arizona Star printed a news brief about Pearl kicking the morphine habit and taking up poetry writing, “unwinding it by the yard.” The brief said she wrote about being a girl bandit and her childhood. Two of her poems were mentioned: “The Girl Bandit” and “When She Was Young and Knew No Sin Before the Tempter Entered In.” The brief said that after the title, what followed was “a lot of doggerel of the rapid decent.”

Sounds like they weren’t fans of her poetry.

The following poem was the only one that survived. It was printed in the 31 July 1903 edition of Yuma’s Sun. 

(to the tune of "The Fatal Wedding," a popular song at that time)

The sun was shining brightly on a pleasant afternoon.
My partner speaking lightly, said, "The stage will be here soon."
We saw it coming round the bend and called to them to halt. 
Then to their pockets we did attend, if they got hurt, 'twas their own fault.

While the birds were sweetly singing, while the men stood up in line, 
And the silver softly ringing as it touched this palm of mine.
There we took away their money, but left them enough to eat. 
And the men they looked so funny as they vaulted in their seat. 

Then up the road we galloped quickly, then through the canyon we did pass.
Over the mountains we went swiftly, trying tin find our horses grass.
Past the station we boldly went, then along the river side.
And our horses now being spent, of course we had to hide. 

Now for five long nights we travel, in the day time we would rest.
Now we would throw ourselves on the gravel, and to sleep we try our best. 
Around us now our horses stamping, looking for some hay or grain.
On the road the posse tramping, looking for us all in vain.

One more day they would not get us, but my horse got sour and thin,
And my partner was a mean cuss, so Bill Truman roped us in.
Thirty years my partner got, and I was given five. 
He seems contented with his lot, and I am still alive.

The last line is a reference to Pearl’s decision to kill herself before going to jail, something she vowed at the times of her two captures.

Joe Boot managed to escape the Yuma prison in 1901, and when Pearl was interviewed, she told reporters that she planned to write “a poem extolling the virtues of Boot and his gallant escape.”

Due to a smallpox outbreak, Pearl was granted early parole and released from the prison in December 1902. She headed straight to Kansas City to live with her mother and sister Katy, and where she opened a cigar shop.

John Boessenecker’s book, Wildcat, is the most truthful and comprehensive account of Pearl Hart’s life. The level of research is remarkable. He has fact-checked Pearl’s outlandish tales told to reporters, and still presents Pearl honestly, as both victim and criminal. Over 300 pages long, the book leaves nothing out. Boessenecker also includes the fascinating stories and fates of Pearl’s family members and the lawmen that captured her, and of course, the story of her wild and traumatic childhood in Ontario and here, in Kawartha Lakes.

Further Reading:

Boessenecker, John. Wildcat: the untold story of the Canadian woman who became the West’s most notorious bandit. Hanover Square Press. 2021.

https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/local-kawartha-lakes/news/2021/11/16/untold-story-of-lindsay-s-infamous-female-stagecoach-robber-pearl-hart-subject-of-new-book.html

post updated: April 25, 2023.

Katherine Vanderzwet

On By Sara WalkerIn Non-Fiction, Writer Local to Kawartha LakesLeave a comment
Photo from back of author’s book

Originally from Bobcaygeon, Vanderzwet is a writer living in Omemee.

A certified lifestyle and wellness coach and personal trainer, she published her first book in 2012, Be Well: unlock the health and wellness that you deserve. 

Books: 

Be Well: unlock the health and wellness that you deserve (2012)

Sources: 

http://www.mykawartha.com/community-story/3705199-lifestyle-coach-turns-author-by-sharing-expertise-in-first-book/

http://omemeeon.blogspot.ca/2012/06/be-well-katherine-vanderzwet-book-helps.html#axzz4Jzod3tmv

Charles Cooper

On By Sara WalkerIn Local History, Non-Fiction, Writer Local to Kawartha LakesLeave a comment
Charles Cooper at Beeton, ON end-of-steel 1999. Photo: Andrea Percy from author’s website.

Charles Louis Cooper (1933-2023) was born on 2 July 1933 in Berlin to a German father and English mother. His family hid in the Germany countryside during the Second World War. After the war, Cooper moved to England and studied at Cambridge. He moved to Canada in 1957.

He got his love for trains when lived in Europe and always wanted to work on the railway. He ended up working in insurance and trains became his pastime. He was an honorary member of the Lindsay & District Model Railroaders and had a large model train set-up in his basement.

Cooper also spent his time researching railroad history and writing books. Rails to the Lake was published by Boston Mills Press in 1980. Hamilton’s Other Railway expanded on the first book and was published in 2001.

Narrow Gauge for Us recounts the history of the Toronto-Nippissing line that partly ran through Kawartha Lakes. It was published in 1982.

After Omer Lavalleee passed away, leaving his manuscript incomplete, Cooper took on the role of seeing the book to completion, and Canadian Pacific to the East – the International of Maine Division was published in 2007. That year the book won the Canadian Railroad Historical Association’s book award.

Cooper also kept a lively website at Charles Cooper’s Railway Pages.

Cooper passed away on 13 February 2023 at the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay.

Books:

Rails to the Lake (1980)

Narrow Gauge for Us (1982)

Hamilton’s Other Railway (2001)

Canadian Pacific to the East – the International of Main Division (2007)

Sources:

Charles Cooper’s Railway Pages.

Nolan, Daniel. “Obituary: Historian Charles Cooper was fascinated by Hamilton railways”. Toronto Star. 13 March 2023.

“Honorary L&DMR member and renowned author Charles Cooper“. Lindsay & District Model Railroaders. 14 February 2023.