MacDonald to perform “Trapper Boy” on Davis Day
We note that Hugh R. MacDonald, the author of our novel Trapper Boy, will perform his song of the same name during Davis Day observances in Florence on June 11. An original composition, “Trapper Boy” (the song) actually predated Hugh’s very popular novel for young people and last year it was incorporated into the Men of the Deeps coal miners chorus repertoire. It was also included on their latest CD – the 50th anniversary collection.
We have a music video of Hugh performing the song on our YouTube channel, along with a series of interviews about the novel: http://tinyurl.com/hyprwtx
MacDonald is a long-time member of the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia and a participant in their writers-in-the-schools program. And, he’ll be taking part in Cabot Trail Writers’ Festival workshops this fall.
Hugh had some very nice comments about Trapper Boy recently from award-winning novelist Sheldon Currie, who writes: “What a wonderful piece of storytelling. It’s not only a good story, it’s a history of coal mining in Cape Breton and not just a factual history but it’s what’s missing in most factual accounts, a heartbreaking and emotional account about what poor people had to put up with at the hands of soulless and business organizations and their mindless CEOs. It’s the kind of book that should be used for history classes in high school and universities. Trapper Boy would be a powerful play … ripe for the stage. For a movie too.”
CBU Press has provided a free teacher resource to accompany the novel, which is available from our website. We are very pleased to be working with Hugh on a sequel to Trapper Boy, titled Us and Them, due for an October release.
Davis Day, June 11, is a holiday in former mining communities on Cape Breton Island. Named for William Davis, a coal miner who was killed by police gunfire during the tumultuous miners’ strike of 1925, Davis Day now commemorates the lives of all miners killed on the job.
Hugh will perform along with other local musicians. The Florence ceremony is scheduled for St. Stephen’s Cemetery Miners’ Memorial Monument at 11 a.m.