Delightful diversity
The December 2021-January 2022 issue of Canada’s History was so good, so eclectic: ranging from articles on often-overlooked women such as Portia White and Grace Lockhart, to an anecdotal story of a fake Scottish nobleman, to an unknown story of a young girl commemorating American soldiers killed in an air crash in Canada. Simply, wow.
A favourite was “Car Nation,” for good reason. Sam McLaughlin’s pioneering REO was created in my hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario, and a gorgeous original has been the centrepiece at the local museum for years.
Unknown to many Canadians, a local reporter, John Nicol, in 1997 recreated another local man’s original 1912 trip across Canada. Jack Haney of St. Catharines acted as a mechanic and driver on that original cross-country trek. Nicol left Halifax in a 1912 REO and arrived in Victoria months later. His 1999 book, The All-Red Route: From Halifax to Victoria in a 1912 REO, was a splendid tale of adventure and derring-do. Like “Car Nation,” it explores how the car has had such an impact worldwide. Well worth the reading trip. Gail Benjafield St. Catharines, Ontario