Fun on the Farm … True Tales of Farm Life! Compiled and edited by Deana J. Driver Published by DriverWorks Ink Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $17.95 ISBN 978-192757030-2 Even if they’ve never lived on a farm, I’m going to take the bull by the horns and suggest that most readers will get a chuckle (and perhaps a nostalgic lump in the throat) from Fun on the Farm … True Tales of Farm Life!, a light-hearted anthology concerning the trials, tribulations, and tricks (including many practical jokes) inherent in farm living. DriverWorks Ink publisher, editor, and writer, Deana J. Driver asked for submissions of “stories, poems, and memories,” and two dozen folks responded-including published writers Bryce Burnett, Jean F. Fahlman, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Ed Olfert, and Marion Mutala-to recount the good old days back on the farm. Other writers I’m unfamiliar with also made generous contributions: Peter Foster (Craven, SK) has four accounts, Regina’s Keith Foster’s work is found six times, and Laurie Lynn Muirhead, from Shellbrook, appears seven times. Many of the writers shared shenanigans in which they did something foolish, innocently or otherwise. Jean Tiefenbach and her brother thought it a wise idea to tip the outhouse over…

Otto & Daria: A Wartime Journey Through No Man’s Land by Eric Koch Published by University of Regina Press Review by Keith Foster $25.95 ISBN 978-0-88977-443-8 When Otto Koch, a German Jew, suffers an appendicitis attack, he’s rushed to a hospital in the Third Reich reserved for non-Jews. As the anaesthesia starts to take effect, the last words he hears are his surgeon greeting his staff with “Heil Hitler.” In his memoir, entitled Otto & Daria: A Wartime Journey Through No Man’s Land, Koch vividly re-creates his life in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s. He brilliantly captures the tension in the air as the Nazis insidiously gain control. His parents protect him from the encroaching danger and at first he leads an idyllic life, isolated from the terror that is to come. Otto continues his life chronicle, studying at the University of Cambridge in England, when he meets the mysterious Daria Hambourg, a woman at first shy but more than adept at expressing herself through her writing. She’s from a distinguished English family, but with a distinctively bohemian bent. She’s also a Socialist with no qualms about expressing her views. Otto and Daria begin corresponding by…

Government House, Regina, Saskatchewan: An Illustrated History by Edward Willett Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Review by Keith Foster $39.95 ISBN 978-1-927756-76-8 Government House, Regina, Saskatchewan: An Illustrated History by Regina author Edward Willett is a masterful work of art in both narrative and illustration, solid in structure, and powerful in its rendition. It’s actually a revised and enlarged version of Margaret Hryniuk’s A Tower of Attraction, edited by Garth Pugh and published in 1991 for the 100th anniversary of Government House. That book is long out of print, and a lot has happened in the last twenty-five years – time for a new version for the 125th anniversary in 2016. The Government House Historical Society, with its foresight to preserve its past for the future, undertook both book projects. Willett revises A Tower of Attraction, which covers the period up to and including the term of Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Fedoruk, using it as his launch pad and taking off from there. This book is as up to date as it can be – going through to August 2016. In addition to interviewing the staff at Government House and the widow of former lieutenant Governor John E.N “Jack” Wiebe,…

Deadmonton: Crime Stories from Canada’s Murder City by Pamela Roth Published by University of Regina Press Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $21.95 ISBN 9-780889-774261 In 2011 I lived in a notorious Edmonton neighbourhood where I wouldn’t walk the length of a block alone at night. That same year Edmonton was deemed the “Murder Capital of Canada”. Journalist Pamela Roth was also living in the city at that time, and the court and crime reporter has now published a collection of true stories about several of the cops, the criminals, the victims and their families who made headlines in “Deadmonton,” both in 2011 and across the decades. The book’s title, shadowy cover image, and back cover copy all prepare readers for the disturbing content inside. “These stories are not for the faint of heart,” Roth writes in her introduction, and adds that what the murdered and/or missing victims’ families have in common is “the need for closure, no matter how much time has passed.” There’s been no closure for eleven-year-old victim Karen Ewanciw’s friend, Shelley Campbell, who was ten when she and her best friend were exploring the river valley by Edmonton’s McNally High School, and, after finding an upside down…

Reflections of Ukraine: Ukrainian Churches of the Saskatchewan Countryside by Lloyd & Rose Virag Published by Lloyd & Rose Virag Review by Keith Foster $39.95 ISBN 978-0-9950034-0-8 Have you ever wondered about all those little churches that dot the Saskatchewan landscape? Lloyd and Rose Virag have pondered them too, and set out on a motor trek of discovery. Focusing specifically on Ukrainian churches because of Rose’s ethnic background, their results are recorded in Reflections of Ukraine: Ukrainian Churches of the Saskatchewan Countryside, an attractive coffee table book they self-published. Lavishly illustrated with more than 700 colour photos taken at 160 different sites in Saskatchewan, the book showcases 142 country churches. The first seven chapters include Ukrainian Orthodox, Ukrainian Greek Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, and Ukrainian Greek Catholic churches. The next two chapters feature three Russian Orthodox churches and a surprising variety of other denominations with Ukrainian connections. Chapter ten shows a selection of cemeteries where the churches no longer exist. In captions and photos, the Virags have assembled a wide collection of churches, cemeteries, and small chapels, known as kaplychkos. And these are just the ones that still exist. Some of the churches have been replaced more than once as the…

The Life & Times of Lighthouse McNeil: An Adventure in the RCMP by George Garrett Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Review by Keith Foster $19.95 ISBN 978-1-927756-65-2 The legendary traditions of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are based on individual members who excelled. In The Life & Times of Lighthouse McNeil: An Adventure in the RCMP, George Garrett chronicles the exploits of one such legendary member – Alexander Stirling McNeil. Born in Winnipeg in 1908, McNeil joined the RCMP in 1931, taking his training at “Depot” Division in Regina. By the time he retired in 1966, he had served in more than thirty detachments across Canada and became a legend in his time. He earned his nickname “Lighthouse McNeil” in 1931 while playing with the Regina Roughriders, forerunner of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Standing at six feet, four inches, he made an easily visible receiver. Returning to the huddle after one particular play in which the quarterback hadn’t thrown to him, he protested, “Why didn’t you throw the ball to me? I’m like a ruddy lighthouse out there!” McNeil was involved in several significant events in Saskatchewan’s history, such as quelling a coal miners’ strike in Estevan in 1933, and…

Art of Immersive Soundscapes Edited by Pauline Minevich and Ellen Waterman Published by University of Regina Press Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $39.95 ISBN 9-780889-772588 Music, laughter, the rustling wind: sound enriches our lives. Of course it can also work the other way, as anyone with belligerent neighbours can attest. Sound is an interesting field of study for scientists and artists. I’d never heard of “immersive soundscapes,” and was curious to learn what they are, why they matter, and who’s creating them. Enter editors Pauline Minevich (associate professor in the Department of Music, University of Regina) and Ellen Waterman (dean of the School of Music and professor of musicologies at Memorial University of Newfoundland), who collected the disparate papers presented at the 2007 international conference “Intersections: Music and Sound, Music and Identity,” held in Regina, and published them and a DVD of the presenters’ audio and video explorations with sound in the book Art of Immersive Soundscapes. Combining science and art, rural and urban, nature and technology, macro and micro, the featured composers in this book show us a fresh and interesting way to experience and understand our social and physical worlds. The interdisciplinary “soundscape movement” began in the 1960s…

The Aboriginal Rock Paintings of the Churchill River by Tim E.H. Jones Published by Saskatchewan Archaeological Society Review by Keith Foster $21.00 ISBN 9780969142065 When Tim Jones saw his first rock paintings on Kipahigan Lake in northern Saskatchewan in 1964, he was both puzzled and fascinated by them. The subject of his Master’s thesis, studying these paintings became his lifelong passion. The Aboriginal Rock Paintings of the Churchill River is the second printing of a book originally published in 1981 based on Jones’s thesis. By the time it went out of print in 2005, it had become a “best seller,” having sold more copies than any other book dealing with Saskatchewan’s archeological past. According to Jeff Baldwin, President of the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society, the book remains “the main published resource on the ancient rock art of Saskatchewan’s north.” In his preface, Jones points out the importance of this study. “Rock art is the most widely spread, diverse and ancient of all human creative endeavours.” In learning about past artists and their worlds, we learn more about our own world and our current culture. These rock paintings depict a variety of subjects, primarily human-like figures, thunderbirds, and snakes. Tobacco pipes, rings,…

The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality by Blair Stonechild Published by University of Regina Press Review by Keith Foster $32.95 ISBN 978-0-88977-417-9 What is your purpose in life? This is one of the questions Blair Stonechild explores in The Knowledge Seeker: Embracing Indigenous Spirituality. In researching this book, Stonechild, a member of the Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation in Saskatchewan, interviewed numerous Aboriginal Elders. Among them is his mentor, Danny Musqua, who achieved the title of Knowledge Keeper, earning the right to pass sacred stories on to the next generation. Stonechild’s exploration of Aboriginal spirituality is both philosophical and practical. According to him, Indigenous spirituality has a place far beyond the classroom, and the importance of this book is self-evident: “Indigenous spirituality holds the key for transforming our future.” He explores the belief that when we die, we actually go home to the spirit world from which we came and reunite with the Creator. He also makes a strong case for reincarnation, citing several examples of children who spoke convincingly of having lived previous lives. In looking at the larger picture of life, Stonechild views all people as one. “Humans are like leaves on a tree,” he says, “all thinking they…

Launch Lead Live by Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Review by Leslie Vermeer $24.95 978-1-927756-47-8 Maybe you’re an employee who’s been accused of resisting organizational change—let’s face it: many of us have been. Or maybe you’re a business executive who believes most employees actively resist organizational change. Whatever your role in your organization, whatever business or service you’re in, in her new book, Launch Lead Live, Dawn-Marie Turner has something to say to you: employee resistance to change is a myth. Change is the one commonplace in business: for most organizations, it’s change or fail. But constant change—to technology, systems, processes, staff roles, even staffers themselves—has a real cost. As Turner observes, “Organizations are struggling to survive under the weight and expense of what feels like overwhelming, but necessary, change.” So a book that can help reduce the costs of change—not just financial, but also human—is very welcome. Turner proposes that leaders demystify change by making it meaningful to the people it affects and motivating them to move through the stages of change. Turner describes such efforts as “Building readiness instead of trying to manage resistance.” Leaders support readiness by developing an organization’s capacity to change….