“Because of the scarcity of cod in Conception Bay in the early 1920s, my
father decided to go to the Labrador coast and try his luck as hundreds of
others were doing. He went as a skipper with his own fishing crew. Mother
used to go along to save the expense of a cook so, at an early age I was
taken along with the family. By the time I was married, I had spent sixteen
summers on the coast. Fifteen of those were spent at Batteau and the other
one at Five Islands, a distance of five or six miles to the south.”
This is
Greta Hussey’s account of her early years on Labrador, where Newfoundland
fishermen and their families set up shore fishing rooms to prosecute the
inshore cod fishery. Her account is simple yet compelling as she describes
the trip north on the Kyle, setting up the fishing room, the
Labradorians, the typical day of a fisherman, curing fish in the fall, the
hard life of a young girl cooking for a crew, native skills, folk medicine,
making do with little, and on the lighter side, games and amusements to
break up the long days of work. Come along on a journey to a world of
yaffles and bawns, bakeapples and scruncheons, and in the stage meet
headers, splitters, and cut-throats!
Review Quotes
“If you haven't come across this lovely little memoir, or even if you have, it is well worth the price. It is uplifting without being saccharine or sentimental.”
The Telegram
“Our Life on Lear's Room, Labrador remains indispensible to an understanding of the stationer fishery.”
International Journal of Maritime History
“Greta Hussey’s Our Life on Lear’s Room, Labrador comes from recollections gained from 16 summers spent on Lear’s Room — the first when the author was very small. Hussey’s memories of life in these family establishments for living and working are very clear and she describes them in sharp detail. Her book is well-organized and clearly written, not to mention interesting and informative.”
The Western Star
“She is a good straightforward [writer]. Her book is vivid and easy to read.”
PEI Guardian
Video
A Reading from Our Life on Lear's Room, Labrador, Book Launch, August 4, 2011
http://bit.ly/rV39jy
Interviews
Interview with Mack Furlong, CBC Radio Weekend Arts Magazine, July 24, 2011
http://bit.ly/p86KKS
Interview with Colleen Connors, CBC Radio Labrador Morning, September 28, 2011
http://bit.ly/qi3VSl
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