Northern Lights: Lighthouses of Canada

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is also the
author of The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek, and
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Hom

This unusual work is the first book to tell the stories of Canada’s
lighthouses from East to West Coast. Featuring 300 fine photographs
(many of them in full-page color layouts), the book affords a unique
visual and historical record of a feature of the country that has fallen
into neglect.

The author was born in Fredericton and spent part of his childhood in
China with his missionary parents. His background is in public
education, popular science, and museum technology. Baird’s lifelong
fascination with lighthouses has led him to photograph them across
Canada and in scores of other countries. The photos in Northern Lights
are truly exceptional.

In a prefatory section, Baird writes that in the past 25 years,
Canada’s lighthouses have been forever changed by automation. His
research extends over 50 years, and many of his photos were taken in the
“heyday” of the lighthouses; many are, unfortunately, liable to
change soon. Baird’s impressive book testifies to the importance of
these lonely sentinels.