From Cathy M:

"This is not a book review by any means. Rather a few personal thoughts that bubbled up as I read your engaging book.

Thank you for writing this book, A Métis Man`s Dream. Gordon Gill`s story has enriched my life as a Canadian. All Canadians young and old as well as all new Canadians would benefit from reading this book. Here are a few thoughts on why and why I enjoyed your book:

1. I was humbled by this story.  Remarkable, how a young Gordon Gill with a mother who was First Nations and a father who was Irish-English working traplines for months and leaving his young family to struggle with isolation, poverty and endless hardships, became one of Canada`s most successful entrepreneurs during the oil and gas exploration boom years in the Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta.

2. Gordon`s core values. You present his many adventures and rise to success as a result of Gordon not only making the most of opportunities that emerged throughout the heydays of the "north of 60" boom, but that he also chose to live out his core beliefs: "where there is a will there is a way"; the "Golden Rule"; "figure things out"; "always help others and share that success".

3. There was hope in this story. For example, what a wonderful surprise and relief to read that Gordon attended the residential high school Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife run by the Canadian Federal Government and not a religious denomination.  You quote Gordon as saying "I really liked going to the residential school in Yellowknife. It taught me discipline. It was one of the best things I ever did."

4. And there were others examples of hope in your story; Canadians lending a hand. How fortunate for Gordon to have others who believed in him and offer him work and a chance to prove himself. i.e. his mentor Lionel Gagnier. And the 40 year work opportunity offered to Gordon`s mother Armande when new management at the Hay River hotel hired her instead of people from the south. It was so heart-warming to read this after she struggled to make ends meet in her early days as a mother. And of course Gordon meeting his wife Treena who believed in him and was key in his business success and of course family life.

5. Gordon embraced life-long learning! He was wise enough to continue his formal education by attending SAIT in Calgary. He was then well positioned with useful credentials and skills and was then in the right place at the right time to succeed . . . and create and make his personal dream come true.

6. And finally, my enjoyment and regard for your book also comes from reflecting on my own education and subsequent work and life experiences that touched briefly our Canadian northland and therefore increased my appreciation for the details of your spectacular story.

For example, in the late 70s, while I was flying into First Nation communities from Thunder Bay to Attawapiskat in the James Bay Arctic lowlands researching natural and man-made methylmercury contamination, my brother a young engineer hired by Dome Petroleum and working for the Jack Gallagher empire, was flying between Calgary and the Beaufort Sea exploration and developments. I now wonder if he came across the equipment that Gordon and his company developed like the submersible platform for drilling? Those were exhilarating times of story-telling and expressing often converging core values among friends, colleagues and at our family gatherings. (Canoeing was our way of decompressing. I remember those wonderful years very well.)

My formal education includes degrees from University of Waterloo in Environmental Studies, and graduate degrees in Education from Queens University & St. Francis Xavier University. After the James Bay Arctic lowlands project, I worked as an education programmer for Ontario Conservation Authorities, Ontario Parks, Alberta Parks and Alberta Culture, consulting with communities along the Alaska Highway for their 50th Anniversary, and many years ago I spent a memorable summer hiking Kluane National Park and Burwash Uplands."

We have now restocked our friends at the Fort McMurray Heritage Museum Shops with more copies of A Métis Man's Dream; From Traplines to Tugboats in Canada's North.

These include the Heritage Village, Heritage Shipyard, and Oil Sands Discovery Centre Shops.

I just found out today that my Métis Man, Gordon Gill, donated the men and equipment and sent them from Edmonton, to help lift and move three NTCL Radium tugboats to their current home at the Heritage Shipyards.  Neither I nor anyone now at the museum knew that!

The latest news - Carri Bell at Talisman Books & Gallery has copies of A MÉTIS MAN'S DREAM; FROM TRAPLINES TO TUGBOATS IN CANADA'S NORTH in her lovely book shop and gallery on Pender Island.  If you are on the Island, please stop in and say hello and check out the amazing selection she has.

Many of you will have heard of The Miner's Cafe in Nordegg.  When you do your fall colours trip out that way, do stop in.  The pie is scrumptious.  Don't forget to check out Beehive Artisan's Market right next door. Celina will be happy to see you.  She has a surprisingly diverse supply of arts, crafts and food, as well as books of local history, geology, nature, and indigenous material.  I have restocked the Market with copies of A Métis Man's Dream in case you need to pick up a copy for a friend. 

Don't forget to check www.NeilGower.ca for information on where you can get A Métis Man's Dream and my soon to be launched Blue Sky, Red Canoe.

Explore the Red Deer River, from the mountains of Banff National Park to the open, prairie lands of the Saskatchewan border. 

In Blue Sky, Red Canoe, his second book of western Canadiana, Neil Gower encounters the rugged Red Deer River physically, historically, and personally from the stern seat of a red canoe. Full of detail, introspection, and reflection on a life fully lived, Gower’s memoir brings the river and its history to vivid life.

Paddle with him through unique landscapes as he searches for adventure, and meaning, telling stories about the river and his experiences on it. Reflect on where we have been and where we are going through the eyes of a descendant of prominent Alberta pioneers, discovering, along the way, much about the call of running water, the natural world, and the intersection of Indigenous and settler history.

I am really pleased that Carri Bell TalismanBooks.ca took copies of A MÉTIS MAN'S DREAM; FROM TRAPLINES TO TUGBOATS IN CANADA'S NORTH for her lovely book shop and gallery on Pender Island. If you are on the Island, please stop in and say hello and check out the amazing selection she has.

Explore the Red Deer River, from the mountains of Banff National Park to the open, prairie lands of the Saskatchewan border. 

In Blue Sky, Red Canoe, his second book of western Canadiana, Neil Gower encounters the rugged Red Deer River Valley physically, historically, and personally from the stern seat of a red canoe. Full of detail, introspection, and reflection on a life fully lived, Gower’s memoir brings the river and its history to vivid life.

Paddle with him through unique landscapes as he searches for adventure, and meaning, telling stories about the river and his experiences on it. Explore the Red Deer River through the eyes of a descendant of prominent Alberta pioneers, discovering, along the way, much about the call of running water, the natural world, and the intersection of Indigenous and settler history.

Neil Gower K.C. is a writer, and retired lawyer. Holding a B.A. in history, and an LL. B. from the University of Alberta, he has long enjoyed the outdoors as a skier, paddler and explorer. Gower’s extensive journeys through the largely unsettled lands of the west carry on a family tradition of exploration first recounted in his great, great Grandfather’s letters from the west starting in 1882.   

Writing for his grandchildren, and the curious everywhere, Gower’s stories and reminiscences seek to instil a sense of that history through fresh eyes, sharing the grandeur of the Canadian northwest, the power and effect of its rivers, and the wisdom of the land.  

Neil Gower is the author of the best-selling biographical history, A Métis Man’s Dream, From Traplines to Tugboats in Canada’s North, a long active volunteer board member for numerous not-for-profits locally and nationally, and the father of four daughters. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

www.NeilGower.ca

Really pleased to let you know that A Métis Man's Dream has been restocked at Audrey's on 107 St and Jasper Ave, Paper Birch Books on 95 St and 108th Ave, West Edmonton Chapters on 99 Ave and 170th St, all in Edmonton, as well as Cafe Books in Canmore, The Viewpoint Books in Lake Louise (Samson Mall), Rocky Museum in Rocky Mountain House, Hay River Visitor Bureau and soon to the Beehive in Nordegg.

The book continues to be available at the other fine stores and shops mentioned in the Where To Get Your Copy section of the website. Audio and eBooks are also available.  Please check the other sections of the website as well!