RIVERS
BANNER May 6, 2016
ersary v i n Celebrating our 107th An
Gazette-Reporter Serving the Rivers, Rapid City and Oak River areas for 106 years
Volume 108, Issue 42
89¢ + tax
Author to Old Rivers dream now a reality attend library W I
By Sheila Runions Banner Staff
n 1994 Tina Isaak, then of Rivers, self-published a non-fiction176-page book she titled Rosie. Now at 82 years of age, she has penned another story. The Silver Brigade is a five-chapter soft cover children’s book. “It is a read-aloud book for children, probably up to Grade 2. However, I have grown-up friends who have enjoyed it as well. Because the language is not specifically geared for children, I call it read-aloud, but many kids will be able to read it I’m sure.” Although Tina is an octogenarian, she says, “I think like a child very often, perhaps because I taught many years. I always loved reading to my classes.” Tina was one of 10 siblings born to Abram and Aganeta Isaak; she lived on two different farms between Rivers and Oak River from 1943-61. “From 1951 on” she travelled and worked around the world (Alberta, Switzerland, Germany, Togo, Israel) until she returned to Rivers 1993-96. “In 1996 my two sisters [Agnes and Mary] and I decided it was time for a change. We moved to a house in the woods near Onanole. From there we moved to Erickson and then to Shoal Lake in 2007; we have lived here ever since.” The Silver Brigade is described by its jacket as an “exciting story! One enters into the writer’s imagination and begins to see life in the clouds and the people moving between heaven and earth. Not only the children will profit from this lovely wee story,” says a book reviewer from Scotland. A Canadian librarian says it is “a delightful tale of adventure and misadventure. A little bit of everything from mischief to suspense; a great read-aloud.” Tina has her own quotes on the jacket, which explain that in Grade 1 she sang action songs, with one in particular remaining in her memory “all these years. Perhaps that was the spark to this story, which was the result of a flight over Lake Superior when we hit air pockets. I looked out at huge thunderheads and” she wrote in an email for this interview, “imagined inanimate objects thinking and talking like people. Raindrops have adventures.” She will read parts of her book at Prairie Crocus Regional Library in Rivers on Wednesday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m., where she will also offer it for sale. Not only was Tina’s creative side at work for the story, it also flourished as she illustrated all but one of the 25 pages. “Luella [Mikkelsen, formerly of Rivers, 2006-November 2015] is my talented niece. She finished her picture with me sitting beside her telling her what to do!” Following her library visit/sale, the book, which she received in March, will be available to purchase from select businesses in Rivers.
By Sheila Runions Banner Staff hen Eleanor Bertin (daughter of George and Anne Krahn) was 11 years old she thought of writing a book. The idea struck her while at her home on the farm 2.5 miles east of Rivers. Life happened and now, 45 years later, that book has been published; it became available last month. When Eleanor came home for a visit in mid-April, she left some copies with her mother. You may contact Anne (204-328-7529) to purchase one or order from www.eleanorbertinauthor. com, Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, most major Christian bookstores across Canada or as an e-book on Kindle. Lifelines was shortlisted in a 2015 Word Alive Press contest. The 264 page paperback is more than double the length of Eleanor’s childhood dream. A Nov. 13, 2015 post on her blog titled How to Write a Novel in a Gazillion Easy Steps reads, “I’d wanted to write a book since 1971 when I optimistically numbered a stack of pages 1–100. I filled seven of those pages.” She goes on to explain the outline Lifelines as “What if…” That’s the gleam in the eye of a writer when they begin a novel. “What if renowned atheist Richard Dawkins lived next door to my mother?” That was the question that popped into my mind as I read a book the summer of 2009. I wrote a page and a half of what I thought would be a short story and left it. Ideas kept coming, however. “What if the atheist professor had a shameful secret in his past? What kind of influence does one solitary, loving, consistent Christian have in this world? What is the value of human life, especially when that life has some disability? Other story threads began to weave themselves into a plot: a teacher in a crisis pregnancy, a character patterned after my own son with Down Syndrome. “Now here it was in my mind — a novel! All I had to do was write it down. How hard could it be? I’d read books that left me thinking, “I could do better than that.” On my way to publishing this book, I learned a few things: Novels are much harder to write than you think! The book you read in a couple of days, the writer has sweated over for years, composing, revising, dreaming about, rearranging, proofreading, editing. Truth is stranger than fiction; real life people are so interesting and many-faceted that no author could make them up. A patient, encouraging
husband is a wonderful thing. He was the one who heard my wails of despair when the word count seemed too small, and cries of joy when it grew by leaps and bounds.” Word Alive promotes the book this way: Life had been going swimmingly for biologist Dr. Robert Fielding until he was bewildered by a squall that still threatens to shipwreck him. Searching for a way to recover from his past, he believes the quiet isolation of a new neighbourhood will be perfect. However, he’s not expecting his neighbour’s incessant invitations for dinner and her son’s innocent questions that start to erode his beliefs. Try as he might, he’s captivated by Anna’s warm personality and home baking, which begin to give him the comfort he’s been searching for. But how is he supposed to turn down fresh cinnamon buns? Anna’s example of loving integrity keeps him coming back. Or maybe it’s her homemade pies. Others in the neighbourhood, too, are under Anna’s thrall – a teacher facing a crisis pregnancy,º a crusty cat-lady, a cancer-ridden conspiracy theorist, a Cambodian immigrant family. Each is touched by the power of her obscure and ordinary life, lived biblically. The character of Anna’s mentally disabled son is based on Eleanor’s youngest child while Anna’s character was inspired by Eleanor’s own mother. Word Alive endorsement comments from judges, another author and a pastor’s wife include the following: “Eleanor has a head for research and a heart for fiction.” “This is an extremely relevant and highly original novel.” “This is a fresh and well-articulated piece of work.” “The book is well-crafted, with dynamic, real characters who aptly handle controversial subject matter. Superb author voice pulls the reader in.” “A captivating read! Lifelines steps boldly into the unexpected perplexity of real life.” Eleanor worked in agriculture journalism until the birth of her first child. The family grew to include one daughter and six sons whom she home schooled for 25 years. She, her husband and son live in central Alberta. Eleanor left the family farm in 1977 when she moved to Caronport High School to take her Grade 12; Grades 1-11 were in Rivers. While this book is finally finished, she already has plans for two more novels, one about another son who was killed in a hit and run in 2012 at age 18.