| Summary: | The twenty five volumes in this series differ in composition between two diary formats: the first format is that of an unbroken narrative of events in the life of the author, Howard Leopold Morry, or of the history of the community in which he was born and raised, Ferryland, Newfoundland; the second format is that of a conventional daily diary reporting on events of the day, including the weather and sea conditions, the ups and downs in the fishery, births, marriages and deaths of family, friends and neighbours, and newsworthy events at the local, national and international level. None of the 25 volumes are actually all of one format or the other. They all contain a larger or smaller component of each form of diary. The current volume is more of a traditional daily diary. But it also includes some reminiscences of Howard’s earlier life and stories he had told to him by his elders concerning significant historical events and life in Ferryland in the years before his birth. In this Thirteenth volume we see Howard as he turns 70, a milestone he never believed he would reach. The diary covers a relatively brief period between March 12 and November 6 1955. At this time in his life Howard finds himself as a sort of village elder, though not with the degree of respect that such elders commanded in the past. He is no longer in charge of the Morry fish business in Ferryland. Indeed, during the 1954 fishing season reported in Volume 12, he ceased to outfit his own cod trap crew for possibly the first year since he returned from his service in WWI. But he keeps his hand in during the 1955 fishing season by managing his own salmon nets. Howard’s eldest son, Bill, has taken on the lion’s share of responsibility for the Morry fish business, having taken over and improved the fish plant which was begun by his brother Reg just after the war. In addition, he is now taking on the kinds of quasi-governmental perks and duties that Howard himself had previously enjoyed. We see in 1995 Howard subconsciously investing himself in the ...
|
|---|