Book Reviews by J. Patrick Boyer

Muskoka in Winter

Escape –Roy MacGregor
The Last Season –Roy MacGregor

Muskoka in winter, though not as popular a subject for books as the district's summer season, are the months that really makes us who we are – a time of testing, a time of unique beauty.

Roy MacGregor writes about winter in a number of his national best-selling books, continually drawing on his coming-of-age experiences in Huntsville as he does so.

In Escape , MacGregor searches for "the national soul of Canada" in terms of how we strive to "get away from it all" – a major component of our local economy thanks to those craving to escape for a vacation in Muskoka.

Muskoka Resorts

Muskoka’s Grand Hotels –Barbaranne Boyer
Explore Muskoka Lakes –Susan Pryke
Muskoka Resorts: Then and Now –Andrew Hind, Maria Da Silva

Muskoka resorts anchor the district's economy, shape our unique culture, and illustrate the evolution of North American vacationing practices over fourteen decades.

Muskoka Scenery, Artifacts & Writing

Muskoka Traditions –Andrew Wagner-Chazalon, Bev McMullen
Spirit of Place: Muskoka Then & Now –John McQuarrie
Summertimes –Muskoka Lakes Association

Muskoka's diverse story is robustly captured by stunning scenery, historic artifacts, and informed writing in three similar books: Summertimes, Muskoka Traditions, and Spirit of Place.

Muskoka Schooling & Education

Treasure Chest of Muskoka Memories –Lloyd Dennis
Going to School in Macaulay –Gary Denniss
The Educational Heritage of Muskoka –Gary Denniss

Despite their many differences, Muskokans share in common experience of the classroom, but even this shared phenomenon, as several books illustrate, covers a dazzling range of encounters depending on locale and era.

Muskoka Serves Up Cookbooks

One unsolved Muskoka mystery is how many cookbooks have been published in the district over the years. But one thing is sure: Muskoka's uncountable cookbooks reveal a close connection between food and community.

Over the past four decades, for instance, as fame of Canada's largest cranberry growing operation around Bala in west Muskoka spread, the compilers of Muskoka cookbooks began including more recipes that feature the cranberry's distinctive flavour, colour, and tartness.

Muskoka Trees

A History of Walker's Point and Barlochan, Muskoka – 1870 to 1970

Joyce I. Schell

A new Barlochan resident asked recently, after I'd addressed Gravenhurst Probus on the development of Muskoka books, if I knew anything about a work on his small Muskoka community's history.

The out-of-print book in question is The Years Gone By: A History of Walker's Point and Barlochan, Muskoka – 1870 to 1970, by Joyce I. Schell, descendent of a pioneer Barlochan family and first woman elected to the combined Medora-Wood council. My father Robert J. Boyer, keen to preserve and promote early Muskoka history, happily published Joyce's captivating account 40 years ago.

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