Edge of the Wilderness: Growing Up in the North

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

Lee Updike’s early career was as a freelance illustrator. He shelved
this art career to devote 25 years to Christian ministry. The ministry
afforded him the opportunity to polish his storytelling skills and with
encouragement from family and friends he assembled a collection of
stories about his early years of living and working in the wilderness of
northern Saskatchewan.

Twenty-three short stories, sparsely illustrated with photographs and
sketches, paint an engaging picture of the homesteading life. Updike
grew up in Whitefox, Saskatchewan, and regularly walked two miles to
school. He shared this journey with his sister and a friend named
Reggie. In a bizarre turn of events, Reggie turned on him one day and
beat the daylights out of him. The incident was the catalyst for a
boxing career. Endless training sessions in the barn proved to be the
key to Updike’s early success as a boxer. Only when he realized that
his trainer, Fred, was too sick to ever join him in the busy rings of
Winnipeg and Toronto did he give it up and attend night school in order
to finish his high-school education. These short and engaging stories
are anchored to the nuts and bolts of everyday living: farm chores,
hunting and trapping, animal friends, summer jobs, visits to
grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. The growing-up stories are the
focus of the book.

Edge of the Wilderness is a wonderful resource for young students who
are interested in learning about the bush life. For those of us who are
familiar with labouring on the land, the book will rekindle personal
memories about events that build character and a lifelong penchant for
working in the outdoors.