In a Sea of Wind: Images of the Prairies

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

This rather unusual work blends the traditions of oral history,
human-interest news reporting, and coffee-table book publishing.

Text and photos receive approximately equal weight and contribute
equally to building an incremental portrait of life on Canada’s
Prairies. The portrait is assembled from tidbits of information,
snippets of interviews and recollections, and photographic illustrations
and insights. Bit by bit, layer by layer, the composition takes shape
until the reader starts to see through the details to the big picture of
Prairie life.

The full-color photos that pepper the book are all professional-quality
and meet the highest technical standards. Perhaps because most are small
and fail to dominate the oversize pages, only a few make a strong
impression. Taken together, they make the book colorful and attractive,
each contributing to the overall impression of the Prairie experience
rather than making individual artistic statements.

The text is pure folk art. Farmers, housewives, engineers, biologists,
artists—people from many occupations and numerous cultural backgrounds
(Native, Hutterite, etc.) have contributed copy. Sometimes this is a
brief paragraph, sometimes a short essay. Each speaks—for this is an
oral work—of memories, impressions, or struggles. Some speak of the
Dust Bowl days, some of experiences with animals or with Prairie
“characters.” They talk about the land and their efforts to survive
on it.

The portrait that emerges is one of ongoing struggle and hardship, but
not without pause for a few smiles.