Posts Tagged ‘Fatal Passage’
Arctic Explorer John Rae nears Westminster Abbey
A recent flurry of newspaper reports made it official. They appeared in The Scotsman, The Orcadian, The Glasgow Sunday Herald, and The Times (Scottish edition). Arctic explorer John Rae is soon to be recognized in Westminster Abbey. David Ross, Highland Correspondent for the Herald, produced a quote from the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverand…
Read MoreCelebrating John Rae at Wilderness Symposium
No, this is not an image taken at the symposium. But I couldn’t resist: I had to show them this slide. Here we have Jenna Andersen doing the only handstand that has ever been done at the site where John Rae discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage. A bunch of us got to…
Read MoreGive this man a microphone, a podium, and an audience . . .
You have been wanting to catch Our Hero in person. You know you have. . . Friday, Jan. 31: The Burns Supper at Hart House. Toast to The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns. Saturday, Feb. 8: Canoe & Wilderness Symposium. 2 p.m. Fatal Passage: Return to Rae Strait. Tuesday, Feb. 18. McGill University Community for…
Read MoreThe Art of Fact, toasting Robert Burns, and Revisiting Rae Strait
Our Hero disappeared from this space over the holidays. Fortunately, nobody noticed. And here he is, back on Day Two of the New Year, with comings and goings to proclaim. First up: I spent the morning working on an online course I teach through the University of Toronto. The title says it all: The Art…
Read MoreRocky Mountain High: Yo, Alberta!
Nothing beats a hike from Lake Louise to the Plain of Six Glaciers. See the above photo, shot today by Sheena Fraser McGoogan. But the whole six-day visit was splendiferous. Led by the Clan MacRae, a couple of hundred people turned out to see Our Hero give a slideshow presentation called Return to Rae Strait.…
Read MoreJohn Rae festivities set for Canada, Orkney
John Rae has legs. His contemporaries knew that. They hailed him as the greatest snowshoe traveler of the Victorian era. Here in the 21st century, the peerless Arctic explorer has been carrying Fatal Passage overland for more than a decade. He has turned it into my all-time bestselling book, and for that I am grateful.…
Read MoreThe Scots Are Marching to Calgary
The Calgary Highland Games were good enough for Rick Mercer. He turned up, tossed the caber (admittedly shortened), and generally had a grand old time. You can see for yourself right here. This year, 2013, marks the 100th anniversary of these Scottish games. As luck would have it, this year also marks the 200th anniversary…
Read MoreJohn Rae lives!
As you can see from this poster, an international conference on Arctic explorer John Rae is happening in Orkney this September. Rae solved the riddle of the lost 1845 expedition of Sir John Franklin, and also discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage. Yes, I will be in Stromness during the conference, serving as…
Read MoreThe Collected McGoogan: 10 titles, 13 books!
Limited edition. Our Hero has put together two complete sets. The Collected McGoogan comprises ten titles, thirteen books, all signed by the author (to you if you wish). Each set includes one copy of How the Scots Invented Canada, Fatal Passage, Ancient Mariner, Lady Franklin’s Revenge, Race to the Polar Sea, Calypso Warrior, Chasing Safiya,…
Read MoreWe’re looking for Arctic history in the wrong places
The June issue of the Literary Review of Canada finds Yours Truly responding to an LRC article published last month under the headline What Does Franklin Really Mean? This August, sailing with Adventure Canada, I am hoping to return to the site that marks John Rae’s discovery. Adriana Craciun is right to question the wisdom…
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