Elizabeth was helping her father George Theriault who established an air base at Chapleau in 1954 after retiring from the Royal Canadian Air Force with his book. She shared her article 'Sharing My Father's Vision' which appeared in Iowa (Fairfield Source) with me after learning that I had used an excerpt from it in my column at the end of 2018.
In her article which she gave me permission to use, Elizabeth made the "sound' of her father's story come alive as she worked with him on the book.
Elizabeth wrote that "Fathers share their career with their sons because it's practical -- farmers' sons are more likely to become farmers than policemen My father shared the most important aspects of his life - flying. fishing and hunting with his sons. It was no wonder that my three brothers became commercial pilots.
However, when Mr. Theriault decided to write a book: "When my father sent me a 35-page manuscript that began the story of his life, I wondered why I was the chosen one. Why not one of my brothers? They knew more about flying, fishing and hunting than I did.
"The manuscript was a series of run-on sentences with no punctuation. Yet I read it with the passion I have for my favourite novels. Two months later we outlined the rest of the book. It took another year to flesh it out".
The father had aroused the sound of his story in his daughter!
Elizabeth adnitted that the hardest part of editing the book was the subject matter especially the hunting and fishing part of it. "Having grown up with sportsmen and trappers I am not shocked by a dead animal on display. But others find this lifestyle offensive. How could I reconcile the opposing views?"
She had to take this issue to her father, "not the way daughters usually listen to their fathers -- I had to listen to his heart. His experience in nature are far richer than we could ever imagine. Throughout the book he displays a reverence for the land."
She shared an example as her father described the country north of Chisaibi along the coast of James and Hudson Bay.
"When you land on any of the lakes or rivers, you immediately feel the silence of a country that has not been developed, not even intruded upon when you breathe the pure air. You find that land is your home. This is when you start to remember that you are inseparable from all other life. If you take time to listen, you can hear the earth breathe.
"Then you realize that you are one breath in the same rhythm. As you peer up at the night sky, filled with stars and galaxies and stretched by the endless shifting cloud formations you can imagine all of life must be connected, like each strand of a spider's web".
Elizabeth also noted that her father's vision of nature was strongly influenced by his close association with native people.
"The old native people had visions about the land. They never claim to own it. No one can own the land. They said that they the caretakers. They were responsible to protect the land for future generations."
She points out that the title of the book 'Trespassing in God's Country' refers to our status as human beings on this earth.
"That's the most amazing thing; life just goes on - with us or without us. None of us are permanent fixtures on this land -- we are all trespassers in God's country."
I first became acquainted with 'Trespassing in God's Country' some years ago now, when John Theriault, Elizabeth's brother kindly sent me a copy. I am delighted that Elizabeth got in touch and sent me a copy of her article sharing some of the highlights of working with her father on the book including some excerpts. Thank you. It is a great read.
The book is still available for retail sale at the Bush Plane Museum in Sault Ste. Marie ON and Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Her brother George Jr (Harvey) and his son Joel sell the book at their airbase Air Ivanhoe on Ivanhoe Lake near Foleyet ON and her brother John still has some copies at his house in Sault Ste, Marie. Elizabeth also has copies for sales in the USA. My email is mj.morris@live.ca
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