Posts by Ken McGoogan
St. Kilda evokes Flight of the Highlanders
The December issue of Celtic Life International features a gorgeous 3-page spread on a visit to the Scottish island of St. Kilda. We turned up in the vicinity while sailing with Adventure Canada earlier this year. A version of the article, which begins as below, will appear in a 2019 book to be published by Patrick Crean…
Read MoreMichael Palin’s Erebus and Dead Reckoning look alike because they belong together
“What the publishing industry hath joined together let no bookseller put asunder.” That’s the way I see it. Faithful readers have been nudging me: “Have you seen the cover of Erebus? Michael Palin’s new book? Doesn’t it remind you of the cover of Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage?” Well, now that…
Read MoreBeautiful quest narrative finds Dude Quixote hauling a surfboard along Atlantic Coast
Say hello to my friend Ryan (R.C.) Shaw. And his surfboard, Old Yeller. Ryan is launching his first book tonight in Toronto. It’s called Louisbourg or Bust. And it’s one of 19 books (and counting) produced by graduates of that unique MFA program in Creative Nonfiction offered at University of King’s College in Halifax. That’s the…
Read MoreFrozen Dreams bring Dead Reckoning to T.O.
OK, so the photo is from Back in the Day. August 1999, to be precise. That would be me on King William Island as taken by the late Louie Kamookak. We were atop Mount Matheson on King William Island. Behind me: Rae Strait. I’ll probably mention this adventure when I give an illustrated talk called FROZEN…
Read MoreDetective hunts psychopathic killer in Sixties San Francisco
Hands up if you remember when the Haight-Ashbury was THE place to be. Well, it was a magical time, let me tell you — before it went bad. Peter Moreira’s detective novel, set shortly after the Summer of Love, finds detective Jimmy Spracklin trying to solve a series of brutal murders in The Haight. Spracklin…
Read MoreMYSTERY SOLVED!!! Polar Bears explain Fate Of the Franklin Expedition
Polar Bears Explain the Fate of the Franklin Expedition What happened to the Franklin Expedition? Researchers have been debating that since 1847, two years after Sir John Franklin disappeared into the Arctic with 128 men. From the note later found at Victory Point on King William Island, most people believe that in April 1848, 105…
Read MoreLovely paperback edition lists under $20
The paperback is here! A single author’s copy anyway, with countless others flowing into bookstores next week. Hats off to the folks at HarperCollins Canada! What a lovely package! This edition is slightly smaller than the hardcover . . . the perfect size!And it contains new and improved maps! And here on the back cover, a reviewer…
Read MoreVoyage around Scotland inspires Celtic Life spread on the Highland Clearances
The October issue of Celtic Life International features a gorgeous 3-page spread on the 1853 Highland Clearances at Knoydart. The writer — that would be moi — turned up in the vicinity by great good fortune while sailing with Adventure Canada earlier this year. A version of the article, which begins roughly as below, will…
Read MoreGrounding of expeditionary ship in the Arctic evokes memories but no worries
Sorry to hear that the Akademik Ioffe ran aground in the Arctic. But the expeditionary cruise ship, on which I have sailed, has already been refloated. The last time something like this happened, with the Clipper Adventurer back in 2010, we were on the ship, Sheena and I. It wasn’t fun, obviously, but we were…
Read MoreRock band Rhonda and the Cries for Help sing John Rae at the Hall of Clestrain
The trouble began when Fran Flett Hollinrake, aka the Queen of St. Magnus Cathedral, asked in all innocence, “When’s the new album coming out?” We could see what she meant. Tom Muir, Rhonda Muir, Sheena Fraser McGoogan and I had not yet settled on a name for our emerging rock band. But the Beach Boys…
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