Let there be no doubt. If you were on a tug on the North Basin, in the heavy seas of a ripping Norwester, with a motor in trouble, you’d want Dori Benjaminson with you. Dori spent most of his time in his mechanic shop beside the small store on...
Like the presence of the rink and the inspiration it created, music was part of everyone’s life. Nothing better epitomized the “mustang” spirit just below the surface in the community than the remarkable New Year’s Eve dance.
This is an extract from Vikings on a Prairie Ocean published in 2014 It is reproduced here on the occasion of his 90th birthday, April 22, 2020
Hidden treasures found at the cottage this morning…. 45 years since Afi Malli (Brynjolfson) died I found his beloved pipes, which were his companions over his life. And beside them the roll- your -own cigarette papers which he filled with...
“Sigurdson Island “ at the mouth of the Berens River, was a magical place for a young boy. As a little guy in the early 50’s each summer we would “Go North” to join Dad at the station for summer fishing. Sigurdson Fisheries had a long association...
Now we are on an expedition. We are going to go from black bear to rabbit point. It is about 4 miles. If there is any hint of a wind coming up I am reluctant to take our small boat across the lake.
As a boy when I heard that Afi Malli and Uncle Grimsi were “freezing out “it always sounded to my young ears as a mysterious adventure. I would soon learn that they were one of the lonely breeds of fishermen who would stay North in their camps...
Life day to day on Lake Winnipeg in my life – but a world that few know of then, or today, but even less so in a history that reaches back into the 1880s. The emergence of a commercial fishery in 1882 and following was the cornerstone of...
Few Christmas traditions are as culturally sacred to Canada’s ethnic Icelanders – nor as touchy, for that matter – as the baking of a 150-year-old fruitcake. Vinarterta is a hefty, layered torte customarily served in rectangular slices, usually...
“What could lost Vikings possibly have to do with your career?” This question quickly arises in the discussion around what this book is about. And it appears to be a question that resonates with many people called upon to define...
In May 2014 Vikings on a Prairie Ocean was launched at the iconic McNally Robinson bookstore in Winnipeg. Completing this labor of love – lots of both – for over a decade was punctuated with 13 weeks on the nonfiction bestseller list...
Dear friends, I write to thank all of you who have shared with me your reflections after having read the book, by email, letter and in conversations. Let me share some “behind the scenes” activity that has been underway. I also write to ask...
Glenn Sigurdson © 2020. All rights reserved.
