Book about Gene
Many have ventured down the road of writing a book about Gene MacLellan, but few have followed through. Bob Mersereau is up to the task and after five years of research, he’s hoping to complete the project this year. “I approached Catherine and her family to write this book. At the same time she was interested in learning new things about her father. It made sense to work together.” Both of them began digging into the life and times of Gene MacLellan and finding information that would suit Mersereau’s book and MacLellan’s eventual show. “Her performing these
shows has been quite something. It’s been an amazing discovery for her.” Mersereau had been a fan of the latter MacLellan’s music and aware of his career most of his life.
“Of course, everyone knows ‘Snowbird.’ It was such a huge deal. And I was always intrigued by him. There were all sorts of myths and untruths in the public idea about him. And the more I dug into it, the more fascinating he became,” he explained.
One of the biggest myths was that he lived his last 20 years as a recluse, said Mersereau. “Most of that time he was actually in Burlington, Ont. He was playing in prisons and worked a lot with the prison ministry. He was constantly on television, just not the mainstream people thought of. He also made appearances on ‘100 Huntley Street.’” Another was an elaborate car accident that left him disfigured and with bad vision, which is why he wore an eyepatch.
“A lot of PR went into his career, including that story. He had fine vision, but a little left-over palsy from when he had polio as a child. When really, he was set to play on the ‘Don Messer Show’ and Don didn’t like the look of Gene’s eye, so he made him wear an eye patch.” Mersereau is looking to show people the real Gene MacLellan.
“He was a very private about himself and always steered the conversation to other people. But he was also the nicest and friendliest person you could meet. He wasn’t someone who liked to stay put. He liked to move around.”
It’s also an opportunity to talk about mental health.
“It’s a theme throughout the whole book. And Gene’s struggle with his own mental health. It’s the section I’m working on right now. I’ve talked to several people who have been involved in the mental health field on P.E.I. all the way to the head of the department.”