The Skin of the Earth: A Life Story of Environmental Stewardship

Bruce Grainger is head of the Public Services Department, Macdonald
Library, McGill University.

Pierre Philippe, of French parentage, was born on the island of Jersey
in 1912; there he learned to compost and recycle all manner of organic
matter on his father’s vegetable farm. Philippe expresses pride in his
ambition, hard work, and aptitude for making money. He served in the
French army during World War II and later worked in France before
emigrating to Canada. Since his arrival in Canada, he has grown
vegetables in the Holland Marsh, worked as a salesman, and run a
landscaping business in Windsor, Ontario, where he later began a
business composting garbage and sewage. Philippe appears to have orally
recounted his life story and homespun philosophy of composting,
recycling, and environmentalism to Benner, who edited Philippe’s
remarks and added his own comments and background information.

There is reason to question the accuracy of some parts of this account.
For example, Philippe’s statement that Jersey “islanders ...
resisted the (German) occupation at every step” is questionable, as
there is much evidence to the contrary. In Philippe’s own case, the
examples he gives of his resistance to the occupation are that of
hoarding food for personal use or for profit, and of cheating the
Germans on food shipments to occupied France. It is stated that Philippe
fought in France from 1939 to 1942, and that France capitulated in 1941,
whereas France actually surrendered in 1940. Philippe’s continuing
military service under the pro-Nazi Vichy régime from 1940 to 1942 is
quickly glossed over. Despite these factual errors and self-serving
comments, Philippe’s forceful comments help to make this an
interesting, if unverified, personal memoir.