Hard-Headed and Big-Hearted: Writing Newfoundland

R. Gordon Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta. He is co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, author of The Salvation Army and
the Public, and editor of “Improved by Cult

For those who may not know, Stuart Pierson was a much-loved professor of
history at Memorial University of Newfoundland for more than 30 years. A
graduate of Yale University, he came to Newfoundland in 1969 and
endeared himself to his students and the community by immersing himself
in the Newfoundland culture. Pierson died in 2001.

The essays in this book (all by Pierson) are a memorial to his
deep-felt respect for the province’s culture and reflect, as the
foreword puts it, Stuart’s eclectic interaction with St. John’s,
with Newfoundland, and with their various interlocking worlds. Indeed,
he penetrated his adopted society, small, close, and tribal as it seems
sometimes, more deeply than many immigrants. The essays (very long
review articles) range over such diverse topics as “Two Views of J.R.
Smallwood,” “Ray Guy’s Journalism,” “The Shipping News: Misky
Portrayal of Newfoundland,” and “The Prints of Christopher Pratt”
among the more than 20 selected for this book. They are incisive and
witty, brilliantly blending classical erudition and folksy metaphor.
Whether he is writing about the perverse history of Wayne Johnston or
the moral dilemma of Kevin Major, Pierson digs below the surface,
revealing layers of meaning most people never contemplated, and brings
to his reading an astonishing knowledge of Newfoundland history and
classical literature to elucidate his arguments. They are a pleasure to
read, and adding to that pleasure are a selection of beautiful
photographs, a thoughtful foreword by James Hiller, and a brilliant
essay on Pierson by Stan Dragland. All in all, a book to cherish.