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Our Hero sacrifices modesty to preserve insightful review in Cyberspace
Dead Reckoning offers lively account of Inuit contributions to discovery of Northwest Passage Review by Charlie Smith (Georgia Strait, Oct. 22, 2017) Charles Dickens is deservedly seen as the greatest novelist in Victorian England. The author of such masterpieces as David Copperfield and Great Expectations was also an influential social activist, campaigning for various reforms,…
Read MoreSailing the St. Roch through the Northwest Passage
Here I am in the St. Roch, steering the ship through the Northwest Passage. OK, OK, so I am hard at work in the St. Roch Wheelhouse Experience, which is nearly the same thing, right? This is at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, where tonight I gave a talk called Breaking the Ice: Dead Reckoning in…
Read MoreDead Reckoning hailed as transformative masterpiece
By Dave Obee Victoria Times-Colonist Oct. 15, 2017 Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage By Ken McGoogan HarperCollins, 438 pp., $33.99 The Arctic is not the place it used to be; climate change is taking care of that. It is still a challenging part of Canada, but warmer weather and the relative…
Read MoreFearless Girl and Charging Bull point way to third option in statues debate
Amid the widening debate about the removal of the names and statues of controversial, colonial-era figures from public places, The Canadian Encyclopedia asked three writers to offer their opinions on the subject. In this article, author and historian Ken McGoogan argues against both replacement and the status quo, and suggests a third option. . .…
Read MoreDead Reckoning inspires first-ever book launch at Beechey Island
First came the book launch at Beechey Island. We were sailing through the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada when, thanks to a myriad of volunteers, the party just erupted. OK, we didn’t party ON the island, site of the graves of the first three men to die on the 1845 Franklin expedition. That would have…
Read MoreHere’s why we’re excited to visit the site of Franklin’s found Erebus
Parks Canada divers will resume exploring Erebus a few days from now, around the time we reach the site with Adventure Canada. That’s the word on the street. Thanks to Parks Canada, we will have a live feed that will enable us to witness discoveries as they happen. Why is this exciting? Well, I offer…
Read MoreDead Reckoning takes us into the secret life of maps
This glorious map turns up as endpapers in Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage. It was drawn by Dawn Huck, one of the principals at Heartland Associates in Winnipeg. I love the way it captures the discovery of the original Northwest Passage in three essential expeditions. The first, led by John Franklin,…
Read MoreA younger male writer crosses swords with Margaret Atwood
Over on Twitter, I find myself arguing with Margaret Atwood. When I mentioned that I am proud to be part of The Atwood Generation, she objected: “Now Ken. You are WAY younger than me!” Yes, I am younger. But future scholars will talk of The Atwood Generation of Canadian writers as comprising those born 15 or 20 years before or after the warrior…
Read MoreSailing Out of the Northwest Passage launches Dead Reckoning
More Dead Reckoning events are in the works. But at this point, Our Hero is sailing with Adventure Canada Out of the Northwest Passage from Sept. 7 to 23. After that, the confirmed schedule looks like this: Sept. 27: Toronto: Ben McNally Oct. 1: Stratford Writers’ Festival Oct. 14, 15: Calgary Wordfest Oct. 17: Victoria:…
Read MoreLog church at Loch Broom commemorates arrival of Scottish immigrants
The little log church at Loch Broom, Nova Scotia, is open seven days a week . . . except on Mondays. Sheena took this shot through a window at the side and I was quite pleased with the result. A memorial cairn out front indicates that this was the site of Pictou Country’s first church,…
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