National Network for Equitable Library Service

Miracles Happen is the story of a tragic event that happened in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 2010. On August 13, Rendell Drover, a respected fisherman in the community, was injured in an industrial accident that nearly claimed his life. In this memoir, Rendell’s wife, Janice, recalls in heartbreaking detail the weeks and months that followed. Throughout his recovery, Rendell underwent a series of dangerous medical procedures . . . and lived. Doctors agreed his survival was nothing short of miraculous.

This memoir covers the eight months Bill Rowe served with Premier Williams during what became widely known as the Atlantic Accord Crisis and a bitter long-lasting feud between Williams and the top brass on Parliament Hill.

Shipwreck. Starvation. Cannibalism. For the first time, celebrated author Gary Collins brings to life the tale of the brigantine Queen of Swansea. Bound for Newfoundland in December 1867, the vessel made her first port of call in St. John’s, only to meet her doom on the rocks of Gull Island, Cape John. The following spring, Captain Mark Rowsell of Leading Tickles chanced upon the fallen ship’s crew on his return voyage from the seal hunt.

In The Call of the Ocean, Jim Wellman profiles some of the most fascinating men and women ever to answer the call of the North Atlantic.

Among the bays, inlets, and communities of the province, author Gary Collins has earned a seat at the head of the table as Newfoundland and Labrador's favourite storyteller. Now, with six books under his belt, the “Story Man” from Hare Bay is ready to tell you a little bit about himself. The tales that make up this volume are pockets of memories taken from diary entries he recorded during the forty years he spent as a woodsman.

In the nineteenth century, the Newfoundland government, under constant pressure from fish merchants, began installing lighthouses in some of the more treacherous places around the island. In the 1950s, Cabot Island boasted a large lighthouse, with a steady, brilliant light and a bellowing foghorn to warn seafarers away from its inviting shoreline. This sentinel of the sea was manned by brothers Alex and Bertram Gill, who hailed from Newtown, a nearby community in Bonavista Bay.

It was a snowy, stormy night, that February 23, 1918, when the sturdy S.S. Florizelsteamed out of St. John's harbour, bound for Halifax and New York. Captain William Martin, a cautious and competent skipper, encountered thick ice and heavy winds as he headed down the treacherous Newfoundland coast. But these circumstances did not account for the ship's slow speed. Just before dawn, over nine hours after leaving port, Captain Martin ran his ship full steam onto the rocks just north of Cape Race. But that was only the beginning of a long and gruelling drama.

Robert C. Parsons, one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s best-known authors, will delight readers with this brand new collection of more than 50 true stories involving one of nature’s treasures: the noble Newfoundland dog. From the deck of the Titanic, to the sandbars of Sable Island, learn about the breed’s intelligence and charisma as you read tales from around the world of rescue by land and sea, heartwarming stories of undying loyalty, and accounts of the Newfoundland dog risking its own life to save others.

Grace Margaret Patten Sparkes (1908–2003) was born in Grand Bank, the youngest of ten children born to Elizabeth Hickman and John B. Patten. A lover of music, curling, and politics, this fierce anti-Confederate made a name for herself in the political arena under the auspices of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Challengers of the Sea brings you face to face with men and women who take on the best and the worst of what the Northwest Atlantic Ocean offers. Read gripping accounts of losing sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, and best friends to the ravages of unforgiving seas. Meet others whose lives have been touched by the sea in a variety of ways. Learn about a woman who pilots a Beechcraft airplane, looking for everything from icebergs and whales to those who contravene Canadian laws affecting waters off the east coast of Canada.