The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-10-02, Page 7Ludmow Sentinel, Wednesday, October 2, 1985—Page 7
Hog Mild humorist.
By James Friel
Gisele Ireland has a large following throughout the rural
community. Her humorous column in the Rural Voice and
the Ontario Farmer and her two books, a study called The
Farmer Takes a Wife and her first collection of columns,
Bumps in Your Coveralls, have recently been joined by
Hog Wild, her second book of selected columns. All three
of the books have been illustrated by Kristina Maus.
Her attention during the interview was primarily,
focused orrthe moratorium imposed by the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture, a moratorium since made
official by Federal Minister of Agricilture, John Wise. In
fact, the last hour of the hour and a half interview was
primarily taken up with the crisis of farming.
Farmers aren't doing especiallywell at this point and
Gisele looks at her column and her books as a way of
lightening the load so many presently bear. The columns
and the books compiled from them have a rural flavor but
the themes are broad enough to elicit chuckles from
urbanites as well.
The dark haired native of Germany offered a beer and
explained that she first became a writer to supplement the
farm income. She never had "any burning desire to
become a writer" when she was younger, the hard facts of .
the bottom line got her into the line .of work.
"The last child was at school and 4 was sick of the barn,
so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really like people, but you
have tobe in this," she said of her rationale.
Her perspectiye changed a bit .after some time of
covering the gloom and doom of the farm scene for a while.
"After sitting through 50 or 60 meetings, I thought there's
gotta be more than this. so I started to write about the up
side."
• That also solved another problem. Whenever she was at
meetings, . she struggled between her outspoken activist
nature and attempting the journalist's goal of being as
objective •as possible:
Although she found herself more comfortable as a
columnist rather than as a newspaper writer, she counts
the journalists, as well as her fellow columnists, as some of
the best writers she reads:
Although• "The Western Producer and the Western
Ontario Farmer -it's the .Ontario Farmer now, isn't it 1 get
some fantastic writers," when asked about her favourite
writer she'immediately responded with H. Gordon Green.
She admires his depth, attributing it to a longer time spent
in the area and a longer lifetime. "I'm working on that,
though;" she joked.
Gisele is also a fan of Margaret Lawrence and is an
acquaintance of Alice Munro who she finds a complete
opposite in writing.
"Alice Munro. Always goes into the most awful aspect of
human nature, where I'm actually completely different."
She's .never been a science fiction or mystery fan but
candidly reveals: "I love bodice rippers. I'm' a romance
fanatic, most women are whether they admit it or not."
Though she sold her publisher and editor on the idea of
• a humour column based on farm experiences and received
support from;fonner Blyth Standard. editor, Blyth Festival
co-founder, playwright and fellow, Rural Voice columnist
Keith Roulston, fellow writer Adrian Vos wasn't as -
enthusiastic. One of his columns in the Rural Voice would
be sacrificed for Gisele's..
The idea that farmers needed a good laugh bore fruit but
many can relate to a line in Hog W lid's introduction: "The
incidents portrayed in this book are humourous, but the
events leading up to that particular chuckle were not
necessarily a belly laugh.
She hopes a little perspective can be gained from her
.work. "The banker called but it also has a funny side .to.
its" she said. "I want people to, have a laugh to themselves
or with others."
Getting books published also carries the weight :of
marketing the product. This has, to her surprise, made
Gisele into a public speaker.
"I never intended to be a public speaker, but it helps'
tremendously in promoting my work. Farmer Takes A
Wife broke the ground for marketing."
Before that study, published by Concerned Farm
Women and based on an extensive survey taken in Grey
and Bruce Counties, she didn't have a clue as to how to
publicize her work. Now she finds the best way to sell the
book is to do it herself, along with illustrator Kristina
Maus.
Her popularity as a public speaker has resulted in the
honour of opening the National Farmwomen's Conference
of Canada, held this year in Prince Edward Island. "I don't
think it will be the women taking on the world," but she
sees these Conferences and possible outcomes as a method
to educate various marketing boards and commodity coun-
cils, as well as the general populace and particularily that
percentage on the farm; that women are as involved Nvith
the -work and rewards of farming as are their husbands.
Gisele notes that publicationsor farm women "seem to
fall by the wayside" and sugge is that's because farming
concerns for both men- and women are the same. Women
are as involved in choosing machinery, breeds, seeds,
pesticides, herbicides and the myriad other decisions that
have to be made to produce a quality product - and keep
financial institutions fromthe door - as their husbands,
starting with simple discussions with their spouses and.
continuing through to research on products they need:
She hopes to have two projects completed soon:
'One I'm working on is totally different from anything
else I've done and I have no idea how it will work out. It's a
children's book with rural morals and values in it," a book
she hopes to complete before • the end of the year.
While not quite everything in her books has happened to
her family, she doesn't go into fiction, though that could
one day be a possibility. One of the stories, a piece about
her daughter learning to drive, resulted in a lot of ribbing
from peers at high school. .The teasing was one of those
things which revealed the broad cross section of readers
the collections of columns appeal to. -
One reviewer said Hog Wild isn't as funny asBurrips in'
Your Coveralls, but. there seems a , very human quality
about the book'which goes beyond being a superficial knee
slapper. There are definitely some funny stories but the
tales of life in Culross Township and area and stories of the
people there also have a human quality to them. They are
easy for anyone to enjoy and a certain warmth is evident,
• With these qualities in the midst of some of the cynical
offerings tailored for vacuous market, it's a pleasure to
recommend the book. It's, a fun contact with reality some,
times difficult to:find these days. .
Gisele Ireland
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Eisele Irelar
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