EPISODE 878 WE ALL FAIL NOW AND THEN….”YOUR HOME ON NATIVE LAND” WAS ONE OF MY FAILURES (book for adolescent readers)
alan skeoch
september 14, 2023
WE ALL FAIL NOW ND THEN…FAILURE HURTS…BUT IT ALSO TEACHES.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions’ is s sentence worth remembering if you plan to be an author.
When I wrote ‘Your Home on Native Land” I believed there was a need for a deeper understanding of
our naive peoples. That was my good intention.
So I created an imaginary native person of Mississauga New Credit ancestry. A young boy who did not know
much about the history of his people but he had one valuable characteristic. He was curious.
Sort of like Candide. Very much like Voltaire’s Candide for that matter. The young boy’s Native name was ‘Born
With Eyes Wide Open’. He was fascinated by the history of his people that was gradually released to him
by his elders, particularly his grand mother. The history was not a happy history.
In the end the boy concluded much the same that Candide concluded. “If this is the best of all possible worlds, whet
then of the others.”
The book had a short and unhappy life. My publisher, Jackfruit Press, did everything possible to make the book
as success not least of which was hiring a wonderful illustrator.. Four colour separations… A powerful cover
which compressed all my intentions into a single image of a giant snapping turtle who saved the world.
But we failed. Jackfruit Press went bankrupt the moment the book hit the market. All that remain today are
10 or 15 copies on my bookshelf and a few on the internet. Why did the book die? Aside from the limited
market for such A book there was another failure. Enough to make me weep to this day.
A copy of the book was sent to a member of the aboriginal community who did not like the book at all.
Why? I am Not sure but I think here was resentment because I had appropriated native voice. My hero
was a figment of my imagination. I was not aboriiginal. Nor was I a recognized authority on First Nations history.
Sadly the book died. My failure. We all fail now and then.
Today September 14, 2023 I came across this review of the book…A newscippping yellow with age.