No comments about Upper St John Valley The, ME (Images of America) (Images of America).

No comments about Heart So Hungry: A Woman's Extraordinary Journey into the Labrador Wilderness.

No comments about D is for Daring: The Women behind the Films of Studio D (Women's Issues Publishing Program).

No comments about Raymond U. Lemieux: Explorations with Sugar: How Sweet It Was (Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams).

5 comments about Family Secrets: The Dionne Quintuplets' Autobiography.

1. I think a lot of this book is more than just about the Dionne quints and their lives. How many other poor defenseless young children are brought into this world only to be treated as though they had no right to have been born. The poor souls. They were made to feel guily for having survivied and dividing their family through no fault of their own. I found the most inspiring part of this book to be the introduction by Cecile Dionne who says that after many hard years she has learned that being born and survivng was not her fault and that she should no longer bear any guilt for it. That is a lesson a lot of other people need to learn as well unfortunately. How sad that anyone especially her family members would make her feel that way. A human life is a miracle and a blessing. And the Dionne quints were 5 little blessings. How sad that the joy and innocence and trust of young children is always stripped away,and in the case of the Dionne sisters, in a particularly cruel and unfair way.



2. I read this book during the past year. I found it to be much more revealing than their 1960s account of their lives, written with James Brough. In "We Were Five", the four remaining Quintuplets used the real names of their siblings, but neglected to come foreward with the charges of sexual abuse leveled at their father in this newer account.
   The church officials who could have helped them turned their backs on them, telling them to "submit", and deciding that as long as their father gave monetary support to the Church, he was being a good Catholic. At a time when there was little if any separation of Church and State where the French Canadian government was concerned, there were many other children who experienced the same indignities. It is good that the Dionnes have spoken out on their behalf.
   I'm glad that shortly after this account was published, that Yvonne, Annette, and Cecile were finally given $2.8 million dollars in compensation by the Ontario Government. But if there is any real justice, Ontario should be paying them annuity. After all, they didn't ask to become the saviors of Ontario during the Depression, and they only ended up as such by accident of being born Quintuplets and subsequent government manipulation.The Ontario Government made $500 million off of "Quintland" during the thirties. Caged and exploited for the first years of their lives, and tended to by Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, they were eventually reunited with their parents and siblings after lengthy and strenuous custody battles. But while Oliva Dionne may have won the physical custody of his daughters, the loyalties of the three surviving sisters ultimately lie firmly with the Doctor who treated them with more dignity than their parents.
   While it is well that these sisters, whose lives I have followed since I was a kid myself, have been compensated, I hope their siblings can make peace with them, although they shouldn't be entitled to their sisters' reward money after the way they treated them. Due to the times in which they were born, they aroused more public interest than they might have in a time of more affluence, and were led on a nightmarish odyssey that included experimentation, exploitation, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, failed marriages, and the early deaths of the two youngest Quintuplets, Emilie, and Marie in 1954 and 1970 respectively.
   Their parents will have to answer for their sins in another lifetime, since they are both deceased. But when the three surviving Quintuplets sent a word of warning to the parents of the McCaughey Septuplets about not letting their children suffer the indignities that they did, my respect for them was renewed.
   I wish these three remarkable ladies all the best in their remaining years. Their story, so far, as had as fair an outcome as could have been expected. As their mother once said to an American auidience years ago during a vaudeville act, "Dieu Beniesse".--God bless you, Yvonne, Annette, and Cecile.



3. It was only on the 68th anniversary of the Dionne Quints' births that I learned of the passing of the alleged oldest Quint, Yvonne, a cancer victim, on June 23, 2001. While a bit baffled over how such an event could have escaped my notice for nearly a year, I still stand by most of what I said in my previous review, although I realize that monetary compensation may not mean as much to the sisters now.
   In earlier times, the death of one of these sisters might have been front page news. But perhaps the fact that Yvonne's passing was apparently an obscure news item, at least in the town where I live, is a sign that the sisters have finally acheived the level of privacy that they have so long desired.



4. Here are five girls raised as royalty for most of their lives. Every want was met, they had the latest clothes, latest toys, etc. They were catered to and waited on.

   Now, they go to live with their family who are poor farmers. They are expected to be just as the other children. They suddenly have chores. They suddenly aren't looked on as princesses but equals. They don't have a pristine environment.

   Poor, poor princesses....Now they are just ordinary. It had to be a shock.

   But, to take it out on their parents who fought desparately to regain their custody. They didn't even know anything about the world outside their hospital home. Their parents showed them the real world.

   Now, they accuse their father of abusing them, their mother of cruelty. Okay, so they did it after the parents died so that they couldn't defend themselves. Isn't that interesting?

   Poor, poor princesses. They're expected to be ordinary, so they resent it and lash out. False memory syndrome, I'll bet.

   When does one take responsibility for their own lives despite what happened in the past?




5. After seeing the CBS telepic about the Dionne Quints, I read this book with much interest. "Family Secrets" is very different from the movie. In fact, it is the antithesis of the TV movie.
   
   This book was published about 13 or 14 years ago in Canada and then reprinted in the US in English. It is supposedly the Dionne's "autobiography" however they've sold the rights to various journalists so it's hard to decipher which is the definitive book by them, since there appears to be a slew; all written around the same time-frame.
   
   This book was interesting. It detailed their abusive childhood and how they were the victims of abuse by their parents. What I didn't like about the book was the sloppy way it was written. I suppose that happens with just about any low-budget book that's copied into a variety of second languages (including English.)
   
   Currently, there's only 2 of the Dionne Sisters still alive. On of them passed away within the past few years. I hope they can find some happiness and peace.

No comments about Bora Laskin: Bringing Law to Life (Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History).

1 comments about Champlain: The Birth of French America.

1. This book is simply stunning, and a bargain at this price. It is a large coffee-table sized volume that combines beautiful production values with scholarly articles on various aspects of Champlain's eventful life. Many perspectives are included, from historians, archaeologists, art historians, archivists, museum curators from around the world. For the professional historian or just the lover of history, this book is a real treat. Original maps and illustrations, photos and images of all kinds delight the eye. It makes Champlain - a true Renaissance man - and his world really "come alive", as well it should, for modern audiences. Dive in and read sections as your interest leads you. The only downside is that because of it's size, you'll have to read it on your lap.

1 comments about My 26 Stanley Cups: Memories of a Hockey Life.

1. An enjoyable trip amongst the stars and events of the past as told by one who was there. Dick Irvin is a kind, gentlemanly figure who avoids any attempt at contraversy in his writings. This book is on one hand a refreshing escape from the "tell all" books that aim to rip the halo from its heroes; on the other hand, it is a santitized look at the past which skirts a number of harsh issues and unsavoury incidents. As one who remembers as a lad watching the Rocket on tv, it is like sitting down with a friend as he reminisces about your youth and the people you knew. If you didn't know better, you would assume that you and Dick had grown up together, knowing as many of the same people as you do. A lightweight book that is a good summer afternoon retreat!

No comments about Kids Book of Great Canadians, The (Kids Books of ...).

1 comments about Pioneering on the Yukon 1892-1917.

1. This is one of the greatest women's adventures of all time, and for sure, one of the greatest womens memoirs of the gold rush era. Anna de Graf is a favorite of all our readers of Gold Rush Women.