That poise. The privilege of someone who is well balanced. Then the question of discretion becomes irrelevant, because youre living your life well.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Some of Rockwell Kent’s books inspired this novel, including his autobiography, It’s Me, O Lord; the travel book N by E; some collected essays on art and living, Rockwellkentiana; and his chapbook, After Long Years. Captain Robert A. Bartlett’s autobiography, The Log of Bob Bartlett, was helpful too.
I plundered many books on Newfoundland to supply colour and detail to The Big Why. For instance, the scene of the boys out rabbit-catching and the image of Tom Dobie and his father breaking through river ice were prompted by passages from Little Nord Easter by Victor Butler.
The description of Bob Bartlett projecting the film The Viking on a ship’s sail is borrowed from a documentary by Victoria King.
Curatorial comments from two art catalogues proved very helpful: Rockwell Kent: The Newfoundland Work by Gemey Kelly, and Distant Shores: The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent by Constance Martin.
The idea that a private journal contrasts in tone and intimacy from a published memoir is a point that Ronald Rompkey makes in his books on Eliot Curwen and Wilfred Grenfell. I also stole, from his Labrador Odyssey, the description of the living quarters on board a freighter bound for Turnavik.
A notable source of unpublished material was Mark Ferguson, especially his thesis, “Making Fish” (Folklore Department, Memorial University, St John’s). David O’Meara provided the Sexday anecdote.
I thank Claire Wilkshire, Larry Mathews, and Martha Sharpe for reading and commenting on early versions of this manuscript. I thank Christine Pountney for her wise suggestions and imaginative leaps, which make this novel more interesting to read.
A hearty thank you to my agent, Anne McDermid.
I wrote this book wondering what Lisa Moore would think of it.
I am grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council for funding during the long haul. The Civitella Ranieri Foundation was also very kind to me.
For a full list of acknowledgments and an author’s note on the writing method, please visit the House of Anansi Press web site at www.anansi.ca and click on The Big Why.
I thank you Edgar Saltus.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL WINTER is the author of the novel This All Happened, which won the Winterset Award, and two books of short stories, Creaking in Their Skins and One Last Good Look. He divides his time between Toronto and St. John's.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi’s commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada’s pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, and 2010 Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.”
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