An epic tale of war and triumph by award-winning author Gary Collins "One of Canada's master storytellers."Miramichi Reader Jake is born at the turn of the twentieth century on a small outport island on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. He is distinguished from everyone else by a full head of red hair. And to single him out further, Jake has a pronounced speech impediment. Scorned, abused physically and mentally by his father for his stuttering tongue and especially for his questionable parentage, Jake endures. Then still a boy, Jake is found alone in a punt upon an empty sea, on the fishing grounds without his father, whose fate is suspect. Jake lies about his age and secures a berth aboard the SS Stephano, captained by the famous Old Man of the seal hunt, where he witnesses the SS Newfoundland disaster of 1914. On the ice, Jake comes face to face with one of the Newfoundland's sealers known as the Culler. He is a mirror image of Jake—complete with red hair. With the...

Inspired by True Events. Long after Demasduit’s skull has been stolen from her grave, and years after Shanawdithit has died, one Beothuk and his family survive. Bursting out of the pages of Newfoundland history appears Kop, the last true Beothuk. When all the other members of his tribe are exterminated by the Europeans, Kop seeks revenge against the Unwanted Ones. Hidden among the Bear Clan of the Mi’kmaq, the Beothuk strikes back. Follow Kop on his trail of defiance against the European marauders upon his Island. See what becomes of a man who has nothing to lose or live for. Stay with him on a hundred trails and sit with him across the smoke of a hundred campfires. You will not only weep for the last Beothuk—you will cheer him on as he pushes back against the Unwanted Ones.

In a small, isolated outport on the northeast coast of Newfoundland toward the end of the nineteenth century—where nothing of note ever seems to happen—a woman is brutally attacked, and a murder-suicide is committed. The age-old rift between young lovers of different religions becomes a challenge, one which is met head-on, and though it is overcome in a physical sense, it carries severe emotional consequences. A woman's successful manipulation leads to an untimely death and a lifetime of hatred. Read about a time long ago, when lamplight bent its glow through single panes of windows upon gravel paths—when men worked hard, and women harder. From the peaceful waters of Newfoundland, sail away with the boys to the war in Suvla Bay—and fight there with the men. Survive on food that you caught, grew, and hunted. Live in a home carried out of the forest on your shoulder and built by your own hand. And learn why, despite the toil, the loneliness, the unchanging...

On the night of November 29, 1929, eleven schooners set sail for home from the comfort and safety of St. John's harbour. They all headed north: directly into the teeth of a deadly hurricane. Here for the first time are the stories of the eleven schooners that were caught in the gale of 1929.

An adventure story from award-winning author Gary Collins: Newfoundland’s Favourite Storyteller! In researching the life and times of Mattie Mitchell, Gary Collins gleaned much insight on his subject from the diary and other personal papers of Marie Sparkes, granddaughter to the remarkable Mi’kmaq woodsman. Now, for the first time, Mattie Mitchell's legendary deeds are revealed in full, comprehensive detail.Gary Collins is Newfoundland and Labrador’s favourite storyteller, and today he is known all over the province as “the Story Man.” His favourite pastimes are reading, writing, and playing guitar at his log cabin. He lives in Hare Bay, Newfoundland, with his wife, the former Rose Gill. Canadian author, Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, history, Mi'kmaq, biography.

"They didn't die like flies, you know, like I've heard some reporters say over the years. Oh no, it wasn't like that a'tall. The men who died didn't just drop like flies. There was nothing quick or easy about it. They had frozen feet, and fingers too numb and cramped with the cold to wipe the tears from their eyes." Cecil Mouland, the last living survivor of the SS Newfoundland sealing disaster, told his story to Gary Collins in the fall of 1971 while travelling to St. John's, where the old ice hunter would live out his final days. This book grew from that encounter and stands alone as the defining tale of the Bonavista Bay men who were left to die on the ice. The historic convergence of ice, seals, and men in late March 1914 marked the end of Newfoundland's innocence. Men both young and old left their homes from all over the province that year to pursue the annual seal hunt.