Giants Angus McAskill and Anna Swan

Susan Patrick is a librarian at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.

Probably not many young Canadians know that Nova Scotia was the home of
two of Canada’s most famous giants—Angus McAskill and Anna Swan.
Both lived in the nineteenth century (although they never met) and their
giantism was caused by a malfunction of the pituitary gland. Both giants
gained international fame and fortune by touring with circus companies,
were presented to Queen Victoria, and are fondly remembered as Nova
Scotia folk heroes. Giants is one of the titles in the Famous Maritimers
series, which aims to increase awareness of Maritime heritage by
introducing young people to historical figures from that area. (Others
whose biographies appear in the series include Alexander Graham Bell,
L.M. Montgomery, and Samuel Cunard.) The biographies are brief,
interesting, and simply written, and include a bibliography for further
reading, making a good introduction for children to some lesser-known
facets of Maritime folk history.