The Rural Voice, 2001-05, Page 50Reviewed by Deborah Quaile
The deliciously witty writing style
of Marsha Boulton is available again
in a new omnibus of her popular Just
A Minute series. The selection of
tales take only about a minute each to
read. and are intriguing glimpses into
the delightful Canadian history we
have ignored until the last few years.
Canadians everywhere can celebrate
their spicy past as The Just A Minute
Omnibus freewheels through 150
stories that surprise and inform. From
Vikings in Newfoundland to camels
on Gold Rush trails, or a hospital
kitchen where doctors concocted
Pablum, the collection includes
adventurers, artists, inventors, heroes,
and the odd scoundrel that propelled
our nation to greatness.
Did you know, for example, that a
Canadian nurse named Florence
Nightengale Graham transformed
herself into cosmetics queen
Elizabeth Arden? A Newfoundland
dog saved Napoleon Bonapart's life?
Book Review
Marsha Boultort's back
Laura Secord never had a cow? The
first woman doctor to practise
medicine in our country disguised
herself as a man? And that "truth.
justice, and the American way" was a
Canadian
invention?
"The history
of Canada,"
Boulton
comments. "has
been written on
river rapids,
mountain crags
and flatland
prairies. Destiny
was shaped in
fertile valleys,
culled from the
bounty of two oceans and washed
with winter's snow. Native peoples
blended with their environment. New
immigrants confronted it. It is a story
rife with adventure, adversity,
triumph, and turmoil.
"The glimpses of our great
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46 THE RURAL VOICE
Canadian heritage captured in this
volume reveal characters and events
that provide an insight into our
national personality . .. Some of
these stories even foretell ... As one
of my personal heroes, suffragette,
author, politician and 'hyena in petti-
coats' Nellie McClung observed,
People must know the past to
understand the present and face the
future'."
Readers may recognize some
stories in part from the exposure
received on television as "Heritage
Minutes." Boulton was able to work
on the development and scripting of
some of the 60 -second Canadian
"advertisements." Much of her work
is used in classrooms across the
nation to shed light on the past, often
with a sly wit and dry humour to
entertain the reader. These vignettes,
however, are not just about settlers
and explorers. Canadians have a
wealth of interesting tales upon
which our history is built, and
Boulton has researched a number of
highly unusual episodes.
The thick volume is highly
readable, factually correct and
thoroughly entertaining. In bite -sized
form, Boulton delivers up each story
with a clear, concise ease that will
leave readers desiring more.
Marsha Boulton is the fourth
Canadian woman to have received
the Stephen Leacock Medal for
Humour. She is also the author of the
bestselling Letters from the Country
series. Marsha raises sheep at Lamb's
Quarters Farm in southwestern
Ontario with fellow bestselling
author Stephen Williams. Boulton
has toured across Canada for the
Canadian Club, and is featured on
CBC Radio's Fresh Air. She is
presently working on a historical
novel.0
The Just a Minute Omnibus:
Glimpses of our Great Canadian
Heritage; Marsha Boulton, Published
by McArthur & Company Publishing
Limited, 2000, ISBN 1-55278-151-8
579 pgs. H/C, $245150