| Summary: | The first four volumes in this series together constituted a serialised version of Howard’s life story in four parts. The current volume is more similar to volumes 5 to 8. The diaries those volumes transcribed were more of a traditional daily diary, with day by day observations on current events, the weather, the fishery, births, marriages and deaths, and normal and unusual occurrences. But they also included some reminiscences of Howard’s earlier life. In view of the timing of those diaries, they also covered the momentous days of WWII and the period of economic hardship immediately following the war. Needless to say much of the information conveyed pertained to the progress of the war from the perspective of a Newfoundlander with two sons overseas, one in the Royal Navy and the other in the Royal Artillery. It goes without saying, therefore, that those accounts were not given from an unbiased perspective. Now in the ninth volume we see Howard following the same methodology in his diary writing, but his subject matter is now quite different. The diary covers a relatively brief period between January 21 1948 and May 15 1949, yet during this time Howard’s life was turned upside down. Tragedy had struck initially when his life partner, Fredris, sustained a stroke or heart attack for the first time on April 1, 1947 (the tumultuous events surrounding which were recounted in Volume 8). But then a second and final attack occurred on February 12, 1948, leading to her death three days later. The departure of his son, Reg, to follow his wife and their first child back to England in November 1947 (also detailed in Volume 8), had destroyed Howard’s plans for a transfer of responsibilities for his fishing and farming ventures to allow he and his wife, Fredris, some comfort and leisure in their twilight years. But that was not to be. Instead we learn in this volume that Howard’s eldest son Bill has taken on this responsibility, though how this came about frustratingly remains a mystery because the planning for this took ...
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