Just a Minute: Glimpses of Our Great Canadian Heritage

Elizabeth St Jacques is the author of Echoes All Strung Out and
Survivors: The Great Depression, 1929-1939.

This book originates from the television history mini-series “Just a
Minute,” and its companion newspaper column. Written in a simple,
understandable style, the book is divided into seven parts: Origins;
Heroes, Heroines and the Odd Villain; Her Story; Sports; Art and
Artists; Adventure and Discovery; and Transportation and Communication.
Its 71 tales, spanning the years 1000 to 1965, never fail to astound and
inform.

Here you’ll read about “the fate of the great auk of Eastern
Canada,” the bravery of Laura Secord during the War of 1812, the
courage of a young mother of two who rescued eight sailors, the beloved
Newfoundland doctor who left the citizens of an entire town in tears,
and other deeply moving stories. More familiar, but equally arresting,
are reports of 100,000 Irish people migrating to Canada during the
“potato famine,” the underground railroad that led American slaves
to freedom, the Halifax explosion, the first woman Member of Parliament,
and the “singing miner” who helped keep his fellows alive during the
Springhill mine disaster. Then there are the delightfully entertaining
let’s-get-it-straight accounts—you really didn’t believe baseball,
basketball, and Superman originated in the U.S., did you?

Loud applause to Marsha Boulton for a collection that is not only
historically correct, but also a pleasure to read. If only all history
could be presented with as much informality and intrigue! This one
should be on every Canadian’s shelf and in every educational
institution in the country. Highly recommended.