The World Cup

 If you are planning to attend the World Cup, these figures may be useful and I will get them to you quickly without any comment.

Ticket Prices

Hotel Prices 

From FIFA

Citation Justice

 
Or Knowledge Justice Or Epistemic Justice
   I was searching for a book and encountered this screen, where a reasonable question is asked. It is also a good thing to do some re-thinking from time-to-time. I had a quick look at the Open Resource, which led me to a brief consideration of "Citation Justice" and to reading a bit about it. 
   The basic notion seems to be that we need to pay much more attention to the identity of the person behind the citation, than the quality of it. The evaluation of citations should be identity-based, rather than evidence-based. That summary, coming from a guy who has read a bit, should not satisfy you. I will not consider citation politics further, but there is no reason why you shouldn't re-think your research methods. Here are some suggestions.

The Proselytizers

Start with, "Whose Knowledge Counts?... from the Western Libraries. 
  Other Canadian libraries are clearly on-board. A quick search indicated that "Citation Justice" is "hot topic" among librarians.
UBC - Citation Justice
"Citation justice is the process of being intentional about who you cite in your own work to uplift and center gender-diverse, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, S2LGBTQIA+ folxs."
UVIC - A Critical Look at Citation Practices
"Critical citation or "Citation Justice is the act of citing authors based on identity to uplift marginalized voices with the knowledge that citation is used as a form of power in a patriarchal society based on white supremacy."
McGill - Citation Justice in STEMM
 "Citation justice involves intentionally acknowledging and citing the work of researchers from underrepresented groups. Research indicates that women, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPoC) scholars are cited less frequently than their white, male counterparts (Dworkin et al., 2020; Kozlowski et al, 2022). In science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine, practising citation justice means striving to equalize citation rates between white cis-male authors and those from diverse backgrounds and identities."
University of Toronto - Thinking Critically About Citations
  [This guide from the flagship is the most thorough. If you are only concerned about the justice part see the section - "Considering Your Positionality."]

Some Critics
   It take not take long to determine that some are questioning the emphasis on author identity.

  "The Problem With “Citation Justice”: A Seemingly Noble Ambition Excessively Politicises Scholarship," Freddie Attenborough, The Critic, Aug. 26, 2025

  "America’s Boston University has just introduced a “Citation Justice Pledge”, encouraging students and staff to “commit to intentionally uplifting and centering” the work of “authors who are Black, Indigenous, persons of color, of varied abilities [aren’t we all?], and part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community”. Those who sign the pledge are invited to attend workshops on diversifying reference sources. They also receive branded tote bags and stickers.

   Although presented as voluntary, the pledge has renewed concerns about a shift in higher education towards a form of soft (or not so soft) compulsion. What begins as an effort to do the right thing — in this case, broadening academic reference points — can easily become a de facto political litmus test, displacing genuine scholarship in favour of identity politics."

"When ‘Diverse Citations’ Replace Diverse Ideas," Erin Shaw, Oct. 20,2025, Heterodox Academy

  "Within academia, a new metric of “diversity” may be gaining traction—not in admissions, faculty hiring, or funding, but in the references of research. Nature Reviews Psychology shared their new journal guidelines on “citation diversity statements” in which authors should “draw attention to citation imbalances” among scientists from different demographic backgrounds, and “confirm that they made efforts to cite publications from a diverse group of researchers.” Unfortunately, citation diversity statements reduce scholars to statistics, threaten academic rigor, and add yet another ideologically conformist hoop for academics to jump through."

  It seems to me that there are clearly occasions when the identity of an author matters, but that it is only one variable to be considered. Discernment should be fostered rather than diversity preached.

   I used to work in libraries before they were makerspaces and often noticed the eagerness with which new ideas, resources, etc. were embraced. Also in libraries was the OED, which now may just be provided electronically. In it one will find two words that are useful:

"Neophiliacs"

"Neophiliacs suffer from a collective fantasy which leads them to describe every change as inevitable and an improvement on what preceded it."

Daily Telegraph,1991

"Neophiliacs will want to grok both books."

New York Times 8 October
  According to AI, this is what that sentence means:

"The sentence suggests that people who love novelty (neophiliacs) will want to deeply understand ("grok") the contents of both books, which offer contrasting views on computer jargon."
 [ I suppose determining the identity behind AI will be difficult. In any case "grok" the librarian links and the critical articles, and be sure to vet your citations.]
"Bandwagon"

"We tell the whig leaders, with their four band wagons, their foreign silk flags, and their Giraffes, that the days of humbuggery have gone by."

Ohio Democrat (New Philadelphia, Ohio) 15 September

"When I once became sure of one majority they tumbled over each other to get aboard the band wagon."

T. Roosevelt, Letter 28 April (1951) vol. II. 999

"He has blown with every wind; he has bandwagoned with every passing movement." Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard 25 April 6/1

"What about the bandwagoners who are prone to jumping on the latest thing without really thinking it through?"

Xtra! West (Vancouver) 15 September 21/2

Olde Posts Addenda (7)

    Since all of the news is "breaking" these days, here are some more stories which have broken and are related to older news items in MM. 

Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900) Cropsey has been a subject in MM because I appreciate landscape paintings and, more importantly, because a painting of his was once found on the campus of UWO (Western). Forty-five years ago, the selling of Backwoods of America caused quite a controversy, even though $665,000 was received by UWO. For a discussion of the "Cropsey Controversy" see, Jasper Cropsey and McIntosh Gallery in the Winter, where it is discussed again. In a post about The Hudson River School it is noted that Cropsey's "Autumn Landscape With Cattle" sold for $325,000 (US) in 2021. The work pictured below is now offered by Questroyal Fine Art, if you are Christmas shopping. 

Doug Sneyd (R.I.P.) - Art of a Different Kind
   Back in 2017, I discussed three Canadian Cartoonists, Barry Blitt, Bruce McCall and Doug Sneyd. Mr. Sneyd and my mother-in-law attended the same school in Guelph. He died in Orillia in January, 2025. Apart from my brief bit in MM, more is learned in the obituary from Mundell Funeral Home LTD. Douglas "Doug" Mord Sneyd:
   "Doug was a renowned commercial artist, illustrator, and cartoonist. He was born in Guelph Ontario, one of seven siblings. From humble beginnings, as a teenager, Doug sketched silhouettes at the Canadian National Exhibition. After high school, Doug was employed as a commercial and portrait artist in Montreal and Toronto....

Doug became a cartoonist for Playboy magazine in 1964 and was the longest contributor with over 400 full-page colour cartoons. Also in the mid 1960s, Doug became a daily political cartoonist, first with “Doug Sneyd” in the Toronto Star and later with “Scoops” that he syndicated in over 150 North American papers. These features ran for nearly 20-years. Doug followed up with a heartwarming feature, “Wee Whimsy.”

Photos and the War in Vietnam

   You will have seen the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the child who is generally referred to as "Napalm Girl", and I provide one in that post. That girl is now a grown woman, who lives in Ontario. In another post, "Napalm Girl" (Again), I discussed the controversy which has developed around who actually took the photo. I provide photos in those posts and will not do so again.
   The addenda is this: a film about the controversy has just been released and there will be more reviews, like this one: "‘The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo’ Review: Freelancing Woes: Was a Freelance Photographer Intentionally Left out of the Famous Vietnam War Photo of “Napalm Girl”?" Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, Nov. 27, 2025.
   "As far as documentaries go, Bao Nguyen’s “The Stringer” is a relatively straightforward work of investigative reportage. Its objective? To uncover the truth behind “The Terror of War,” a.k.a. “Napalm Girl,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Kim Phuc Phan Thi, a naked Vietnamese girl who is fleeing her village with other children in the aftermath of a 1972 napalm attack."
   There is another review in The Globe and Mail: "I Heard the Rumours About the 'Napalm Girl' Photograph Decades Ago: The Question of Who Took It Reflects the Ambiguity of War," Denise Chong, Dec. 5, 2025.

Menus
   In 2018 I told you about collections of menus in Food History. If you are shopping for someone who likes to cook or dine out, this new book is an option: Tastes and Traditions: A Journey Through Menu History, by Nathalie Cooke. Professor Cooke is in the Department of English at McGill, where this is found: 
Nathalie Cooke's Latest Book: Tastes and Traditions. It is published by Reaktion Books and is found on Amazon or available from Indigo, where more can be learned.
   There is also this review by James Chatto in the October issue of the Literary Review of Canada: 

"À la carte: "According to a delicious art form."An English literature professor at McGill University, Nathalie Cooke is an expert at detecting nuances of meaning and historical resonance in the written word. Having set out her thesis that an old menu can tell “the belated reader” much more than simply what was once for dinner, she organizes her material according to half a dozen themes, each one explored through a generous number of examples. Cooke is a skillful curator, and her carefully chosen, clever juxtapositions prevent her book from being a mere list or catalogue. The first chapter, for instance, considers the design and visual appeal of menus, taking us from handwritten and painted mementoes of elaborate feasts hosted by Louis XV in the 1750s to a modern Bangkok restaurant’s bill of fare composed entirely of emoji. En route, we encounter cards designed by Toulouse-Lautrec and Albert Robida, the gorgeous offerings of luxury ocean liners, and the mixed-media assemblages of the 1960s artist-chef Daniel Spoerri’s “New Realism.”
  If you add her 190 illustrations to the ones found in my post about menu collections, you will have a substantial visual resource related to food. If you need more convincing, see also: "Old Menus Serve up a Glimpse of our Past; McGill Professor Nathalie Cooke Whets Readers' Appetite with a Book on the Evolution of Dining," Susan Schwartz, Montreal Gazette, August, 23, 2025.

U.S. College Football Bowl Games

 Bowling For Dollars
   Someone asked me yesterday about the upcoming bowl games, of which there are more than a few. Two years ago, I offered a "Bowl Games Primer", since one is needed, but this year I am less interested. If you are interested, everything you require is found here: "2025-26 NCAA Football Bowl Games".

Big Stadiums
   To make up for what I didn't offer, here is a list of the biggest football stadiums, which provides another indication that college football is far more popular down there than it is up here. The stadium pictured is close by. The ones listed are over 10 times as large.

10 Largest U.S. College Football Stadiums

1.Michigan Stadium (Ann Arbor, Michigan): 107,601
2.Beaver Stadium (University Park, Pennsylvania): 106,572
3.Ohio Stadium (Columbus, Ohio): 102,780
4.Kyle Field (College Station, Texas): 102,733
5.Tiger Stadium (Baton Rouge, Louisiana): 102,321
6.Neyland Stadium (Knoxville, Tennessee): 101,915
7.Bryant-Denny Stadium (Tuscaloosa, Alabama): 101,821
8.Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Austin, Texas): 100,119
9.Sanford Stadium (Athens, Georgia): 92,746
10. Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California): 91,136

The Bonus:
  Although the professional football stadiums are smaller than the collegiate ones listed, they have the same purposes: 
   "Stadiums are secular megachurches, where believers gather to share communion, to exalt and mourn, and to don the vestments of faith. There’s nothing like the oceanic feeling of celebrating a touchdown or a home run or a classic guitar solo with tens of thousands of people who are having the same fan experience as you. Jonathan Mallie, a managing director of Populous, the largest stadium designer in the country, calls these venues “cathedrals for memories.” (The firm, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is building the Buffalo Bills’ new shrine, New Highmark Stadium, alongside its predecessor; it will open in 2026.) The difference is that in stadiums, unlike in cathedrals, every inch of the space, and every sight line—not only to the field but also to the sponsors’ logos—is monetized. Stadiums may be the most rigorously monetized spaces on earth."
  That is from: "How the Sports Stadium Went Luxe: Is the race to create ever more lavish spectator offerings in America’s largest entertainment venues changing the fan experience?," John Seabrook, The New Yorker, Dec. 1, 2025.
  The list of stadiums is from, USA Today, Nov. 19, 2024.

Louise Penny's Library

   Many of the libraries about which I have written are private ones. To date, they have all been collections of books gathered by men and none of the collectors are Canadian. I am pleased that I learned about Louse Penny who has both written and collected many books, and is Canadian.

  Her house and books are found in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. I was also pleased to learn that her collection is not organized, as a recent interviewer reported:

   "Louise Penny was eager to show me an important book — the one she said is at the core of her wildly successful Armand Gamache mystery series — but she couldn’t find it. The floor-to-ceiling shelves in her bright, fluffy living room are tidy and filled with fascinating works, but they aren’t organized by author, title or certainly color.  
    “And that’s part of the fun,” she explained during a tour this past summer of her spacious and welcoming home, where she lives with her beloved golden retrievers, Charlie and Muggins. “For me part of the joy of not having an order to the shelves is that it’s like going into a used-book shop. You end up finding things you weren’t looking for, that you didn’t even know you wanted.”

   Although I worked in libraries and write about them, the books in my own are randomly arranged, but I can't say that was planned.  Again, I am pleased that she also cannot quickly locate the book she is looking for. 
   Her name was recognized by me, but I confess to having none of her books since I don't read many mystery novels. The public libraries close by have many titles by Penny and most of them are on loan.
   The Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which is on the Canadian/American border not too far from Knowlton, Quebec where Penny lives also has many of her books. Given the recent regime changes to the south, access to the Haskell became problematic and Penny donated a considerable number of Canadian dollars to build a new entrance. She also cancelled her U.S. book tour. 
   

That Penny is successful and has written many books is proven when one takes the underground tunnel from the house to her writing studio and sees the framed covers lining the wall.  
Sources:
   The pictures and the quotation are from: "Louise Penny Gives Us a Tour of Her Book Collection," Nora Krug, Washington Post, Nov. 15, 2025.
    If you are unfamiliar with her books, but interested in them see: "I’ve Read Every One of Louise Penny’s Gamache Novels. Here’s What to Read, and What to Skip," Sarah Zlotnick, Country Life, Oct. 29, 2024. 
    About the border hassles at the Haskell see: "U.S. Limits Canadian Access to Iconic Stanstead, Que., Border-straddling Library," Benjamin Shingler, CBC News, Mar. 21, 2025.
   About Penny's involvement see: "Dismay as Cross-border Library Caught in US-Canada Feud: ‘We Just Want to Stay Open’," Leyland Cecco, The Guardian, April 13, 2025.

   "The tour for Penny’s forthcoming book Black Wolf, which coincidentally imagines plans to force Canada into becoming the 51st state was due to start at the Kennedy Center in Washington. But a recent decision by Trump to fire the previous board of the Kennedy Center for its support of “woke” programming, and to install himself as board chair, has prompted widespread artistic backlash.

   That move and a broader call for Canadians to boycott travel to the United States amid annexation threats and tariffs from the president, led Penny to scrap all of her American tour dates. She plans to conclude her book tour at the Haskell.

   Penny made headlines in recent weeks after donating C$50,000 (US$36,000) to help fund a new entrance to the library, an “elegant” solution to the diplomatic snafu created in wake of new restrictions."

   If, like Penny, you do not plan to travel to the U.S., Knowlton and the Townships are an option. These are some suggestions for book lovers: Brome Lake Books and the Café Three Pines.
The Bonus - For Women Book Collectors:
  The bookstore Honey & Wax, sponsors a contest for women collectors: Women and Books. 

Hulbert Footner: A Research Update

     In this post I will offer an update about research relating to the author, Hulbert Footner. It should be of some use to Footner fans and those in Southern Maryland, particularly at the Calvert County Historical Society, where his works have been collected, and space dedicated to honour him. As well, those interested in the exploration of northwestern Canada during the early part of the last century, will find beneficial, a new book based on Footner's account of his travels on the "new rivers" in the area, in 1911. 

What's New?
  A few years ago, I published a book about Hulbert Footner, who wrote, New Rivers of the North: The Yarn About Two Amateur Explorers of the Headquarters of the Fraser, the Peace River, the Hay River, Alexandra Falls. He was also the author of many other works of non-fiction, but is best known for his detective novels. In my book, which is largely bibliographical, I gathered and annotated every reference I could find about Footner and his work. I will now add to those references, but will warn aficionados of his detective fiction, that most of what follows relates to Footner's travels in the Canadian north. To keep this short, I will resort to points and spare you my prose, of which there is always too much. 

The New Book: 
   The title is: New Rivers of the North Revisited, by Hulbert Footner.  It is pictured above, to the left of my book about Footner. The authors of it, both highly qualified, are David W. Leonard and Brock Silversides and it was produced with the assistance of a grant from the Alberta Ministry of Culture. 
A Condensed Version
   It is not a reprint of Footner's original New Rivers, all 340 pages which are freely accessible on the Internet Archive and elsewhere. The professionally produced Revisit consists of around 100 pp., the authors having decided to leave out some of the repetitive descriptive scenes.
Good Early Photos of the North and the Natives
   A large number of photographs are included, some of which appeared in the original, and they have been restored by Mr. Silversides and new ones added. Most of them are found in the University of Alberta Archives, having been donated by Geoffrey Footner, the son of Hulbert (see.p.xxvi, in Revisted and p.33 in my HF.) The photographs are of special interest to those studying the Indigenous and the authors note that, "For posterity, the most important accomplishment of the journey of Hulbert Footner and Auville Eager in 1911 was the photographs they took" (p.xxv).
Helpful Background About the Canadian Northwest
   The background information about the 1911 trip and several maps will be of interest to readers of the complete account and to those trying to sort out in which direction the 'new rivers' are flowing and where the explorers are heading.
   Two brief essays offer observations from descendants of the original inhabitants: "A Cree Perspective," by Joanne Gontar and "A Métis  Perspective," by Beverly Whalen.
Footner's Description of the Indigenous
   New Rivers Revisited  is also shorter because the new authors decided to leave out passages that portray the Indigenous in unflattering terms: "Footner's depiction of the Native people (both Aboriginal and Métis ) was far from accurate and, at times, excessively derogatory" (p.xxii). I disagree and think "excessively derogatory" is excessive. The issue of Footner's "racist" views in his outdoor novels has been raised before, and I also thought then that he was being unfairly judged by the standards existing in our more sensitive times (see pp. 51-54 in HF).
Any New Sources?
   The new New Rivers of the North Revisited, is presented by two authors who have written books about the area and they offer some good suggestions about other works related to Alberta in the early 1900s. 
   I found no references about Footner, however, that are not included in my Hulbert Footner. Unfortunately the authors were unaware of my book, which would have saved them a lot of research time. 
   For Footner, they chiefly rely on the Wikipedia entry for him, unaware that most of the information in it was provided by Geoffrey Footner, Hulbert's son:
"For an account of Footner's life and writings see, the submissions to Wikipedia, to be taken, of course, with a grain of salt. There is apparently a lengthier biography being written by one Jerry Mulcahy, but as of this writing, it is not available." (n.1, p.XV).

   Those interested in Footner and the remote areas of Alberta and British Columbia should read both this book and the original. Although I did not uncover any new sources about Footner, there is one quotation about Footner, of which I was unaware. It comes from the forward of the second printing of Footner's, Maryland, Main and the Eastern Shore. Written by Hamilton Owen, it proves, once again, that Footner is worth our consideration:

       
   Bill Footner was a sensitive man, as conscious of ugliness as of beauty. When what he saw was unpleasing, he commented on it, and always with a special kind of tolerance. But often, when others saw only the commonplace, he found under the surface as it were, a kind of beauty -- the kind of beauty untrained men of simple honesty usually bestow upon their makings. The pretentiousness of those whose chief desire was to attract attention, he found more humorous than irritating....There was not much self-righteousness in this man (p.XV).

There Is More: New Rivers Previewed in the Journal - Alberta History. 
   To announce the publication of New Rivers of the North Revisited, Leonard produced an extract in the journal, Alberta History, pictured above to the right of my book. The article contains some of the maps and photos and the proper citation is as follows: "The Euro-American Discovery of the Hay River," by David W. Leonard, Alberta History, Spring 2024, Vol. 72, No.2, pp. 2-12.

In Addition: A Review of Hulbert Footner...Also Found in the Same Issue.

   Readers of that article  will likely find it curious that the issue begins with a piece  about Footner's book and ends with a review of my book about Footner. The curious part is that no connection is made, and there is no mention in the front of the journal about what comes at the back. The simple explanation for this is likely that this slim issue was produced during a time of editorial change and the connection went unnoticed, or that there was not time to make a comment about it before publication. In any case, readers should know that Leonard and I were like two canoes passing in the dark on the Hay River; the paddlers in them, unaware of one another. I am sorry to report that I never did have the opportunity to connect with Dr. Leonard, who recently passed away. 

The Review of Hulbert Footner....

  A picture of the page containing the review is provided and the entire review, written by Graham MacDonald, is included below.

 Hulbert Footner, Author of Adventure Novels, Detective Novels and Historical Nonfiction: A Bibliographic Account of His Life and Work

by Jerry Mulcahy

Amazon: Bolton, ON, 2021. 300 pp. $22.00

In 1912, the Outing Publishing Company of New York brought out New Rivers of the North: The Yarn of Two Amateur Explorers, by Hulbert Footner. This was a substantial book, richly illustrated with photographs, detailing an audacious canoe trip down the Peace River and almost to Great Slave Lake via the Hay River. Such adventure literature was popular with the reading public, now and then, producing classics of natural history such as those by Warburton Pike, David T. Hanbury, or Stewart Edward White. But just who was Hulbert Footner? Jerry Mulcahy retired Emeritus Librarian at the C.B. "Bud" Johnston Library, Western University, determined to find out. It was not his purpose to write a full biography, although the first third of his study provides a review of the main details of Footner's life and achievements. The remaining sections provide a thorough listing of his works, their various editions, and annotated commentaries on those works. As the author implies, his book is all spadework for anyone seeking to prepare a full biography. (51-74) His commentaries reveal the possibilities provided by the tools now available to researchers in our new age of the computer.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, William Hulbert Footner (1879-1944) was a prolific and well-published writer of fiction, drama, and non-fiction, with his books numbering over 70 titles. More than 150 stories and reviews appeared in at least 36 reputable magazines. Today, he has become a rather obscure figure, although new editions of his works have been appearing in recent years. The family had significant connections in Montreal but moved to New York City around 1889. Footner attended school and gradually involved himself in theatre and journalism. In 1901 his first fiction appeared in Argosy. Memories of Canada lingered, however. He became adept at canoeing in the harbours of New York City. Seeking adventure in 1902, he and a friend paddled up the Hudson River and headed into Canada. An account of the trip was published in Forest and Stream in 1903. The year 1906 found him north again in the new province of Alberta, testing out journalism with the Albertan and Bob Edwards of the Calgary Eye-Opener. (27-30) From Edmonton, he made a canoe trip to the Peace River country but no record of it has been found. By 1908. Footner had relocated from New York to Maryland, taking up residence on Solomon's Island at the mouth of the Patuxent River. Auville Eager, a local friend, became his travelling companion on the 1911 trip into the Peace River Country, the event behind New Rivers of the North. Well received, in 1922, Federal Surveyors found the book useful as a source of landscape information. In the High Level area, they named Footner Lake, and years later, a large surrounding tract was established as Footner Lake Forest. (32-34)

The author had already made use of the trip in other directions, for it inspired the first of his adventure novels, Two on the Trail (1911). His early engagements with journalism and the theatre had, meanwhile, been giving way to the writing of short stories brought out by leading publishers. Over fifty pieces appeared in American magazines by 1912. (109-113) Several historical adventure novels were inspired by the northern trips, such as Jack Chanty (1914) and The Fur Bringers (1916), set in the Lake Athabasca country. His mounting popularity is reflected in the pre-1929 years of silent movies, with several of his novels made into films, including Jack Chanty. (98-106)

Encouraged by an editor to try detective fiction, The Fugitive Sleuth appeared in 1916 in All-Story Weekly, republished as a novel in 1918. Set in New York City, this tale marked his shift to the American scene as a setting. President Woodrow Wilson became one of his many readers. As favored by many fiction publishers today, Footner developed a series approach. The first, based around Madame Rosika Storey, was introduced in 1922, with the last, The Casual Murderer, appearing in 1937. The heroine of this series did not remain in New York City but went on tour to Japan, China, and other places visited by Footner and his wife. A second series, centred around a more Sherlockian figure, Amos Lee Mappin, commenced in 1930 with The Mystery of the Folded Paper. That series concluded with the posthumous Orchids to Murder (1945). Mappin, as a personality, reflected what Mulcahy calls Footner's 'clubbable' side, as revealed by the author's regular sociable restaurant meetings in Baltimore with writers such as H.L. Mencken. (51, 66-67)

Going in search of Hulbert Footner, Mulcahy did not, as mentioned, set out to write a full biography. It was the character of the author as much as his achievements that fed his curiosity. In early 1911, a New York journalist asked Footner why he was going back to the Peace River country. Footner stated that he was not going to Alberta for a long time but 'for a good time' (243). In the pleasing sketch of his life provided, Mulcahy finds this to be an important key to his personality. Mulcahy gives us glimpses of not just a compulsive and successful writer, but of one who saw life as a dare and a gift to be enjoyed. These traits are well revealed in his fiction and the later non-fiction works which detail the rivers of Maryland and the history of his colonial home on Solomon's Island, Charles' Gift: Salute to a Maryland House of 1650. Mulcahy's study will be a fundamental reference for any prospective biographer of Footner or for anyone who wants to explore the works of this many-sided writer.

Graham A. MacDonald has worked as a teacher, librarian, historian for the Ontario Parks Branch and Parks Canada, and as a heritage consultant. His books include: Where the Mountains Meet the Prairies: A History of Waterton Country (2000) and The Beaver Hills Country: A History of Land and Life (2009). ---------------------------------------- Notes:

New Rivers of the North Revisited was launched at the Grand Prairie Museum in late September, 2024. Information about the launch is available on the Facebook Page of the Museum. There are some related articles, for example: "New Book to Showcase Unseen Photos of the Peace Region Before Large Number of Settlers Arrived," CTV News Edmonton, Sept. 20, 2024. "Local historian David W. Leonard is releasing a book that gives a glimpse of the Peace Country through many unpublished photos just before a large scale of settlers arrived in the area. New Rivers of the North Revisited includes excerpts from the original 1912 book New Rivers of the North by Hulbert Footner, who documented his journey through the region in 1911. “As a historian, I'm very interested in this period of time in the Peace River country, right when large-scale settlement was about to take place but hadn't yet occurred, and how the natives lived right on the eve of large-scale settlement, and no one had any idea that there'd be such widespread settlement over the next few years, and so capturing these people right on at that point in time was especially meaningful for me,” said Leonard. “The reason we wanted to reprint it is that we have discovered in the University of Alberta (U of A) archives the entirety of Footner’s photos that he took on his trip of 1911 throughout the Peace Country and up to all the way to Fort Vermillion, Hay River and Alexandra Falls,” said Leonard." The book is available for purchasing online and here is one description from a vendor:

New Rivers of the North Revisited

David Leonard, Brock Silversides

Oct 16, 2024

$29.95

Online pricing. Prices and offers may vary in store.

Paperback

$29.95

   In the summer of 1911, two young adventurers named Hulbert Footner and Auville Eager undertook a precarious and sometimes dangerous excursion in a collapsible canvas canoe from Tete Jaune Cache BC through the Peace River Country and on to the Hay River and its Alexandra Falls. Along the way, the men took over 120 photographs of people and places they encountered which offer rare insight into what living was like in the region at the time, especially in Native communities. Footner recounted his journey in a book called New Rivers of the North, and included some of his photographs. In this book, New Rivers of the North Revisited, some of these and other Footner photos, along with maps, other images, and historical commentary, are combined with excerpts from Footner’s text to offer an even more detailed perspective of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Publisher: Peace Heritage Press

Shipping dimensions: 10" H x 7" W x 1" L

ISBN: 9781999055332

The Author: Dr. David William Leonard (R.I.P.)

  An obituary is found on the website of the Edmonton Crematorium & Funeral Home Ltd. An obituary is also found in The Edmonton Journal, July 9, 2025.

The Bonus: Watch the "Hulbert Footner Slideshow" on the website of the Calvert County Historical Society (7:48)

Other Footner-Related Posts in Mulcahy's Miscellany
"Kathleen "Kit" Coleman" July 5, 2023 
(The famous Canadian journalist. It was announced that Footner was to marry her daughter, but it never happened.)
"Surely You Joust"  July 11, 2023
(An account of the "Ring Tournaments" held in southern Maryland, drawn from Footner's, Maryland Main and the Eastern Shore.)

"Footner Down Under" July 17, 2023
(Footner was very popular in Australia and New Zealand.)
"Canoeing on the Hudson" June 23, 2024
(The complete account of Footner's canoe trip up the Hudson to Canada, based on his article in Forest and Stream in 1903.)
"Armed Services Editions  July 11, 2024
(One of Footner's books was included among the "Books For The Troops".)

Periodical Ramblings (17)

    I write periodically about periodicals and this is a post about an annual publication, which is also considered to be a periodical. Even publications published once a year are having trouble and I am sorry to report that another one is disappearing.

The Farmers' Almanac
   That is the periodical that is ceasing publication. It was the newer almanac for farmers, which has only been around since 1818. It was a family-owned publication, issuing out of Lewiston, Maine.

The Old Farmer's Almanac
   This almanac is indeed older, having been around since 1792 and it is still being produced by Yankee Publishing in Dublin, New Hampshire. The publisher's of it, want you to know that, "The OLD Farmer's Almanac isn't going anywhere." 

   

The Old Farmer's Almanac: Canadian Edition
   Like many, I suppose, I didn't realize there were two almanacs for farmers and am glad that one has survived. There is even a Canadian edition of it and I recently purchased a copy from the Home Hardware close by. The black circle in the upper left corner is actually a hole, so the book can be hung from a nail for handy reading.
  The 2026 edition "Being the 2nd after Leap Year and (until July 1) 158th year of Canadian Confederation --- Fitted for Ottawa, With Special Corrections and Calculations to Answer For All the Canadian Provinces. Containing, besides the large number of Astronomical Calculations and the Farmer's Calendar for every month in the year, a variety of New, Useful, & Entertaining Matter."

   Beneath that description there is a picture of a wood engraving and then this bit of verse by the Canadian writer, Marjorie Pickthall, "Look up to outer vastness unafraid And see the stars which sang when Earth was made."

   

  The Old Farmer's Almanac will again be a stocking stuffer for a grandson who says he enjoys it, or is at least polite enough to say so. Like you, he is not a farmer, but there is a lot in it that is not agricultural. Along with the "astronomical calculations", there are also many astrological ones, which I hope he is not interested in, and there are many pages devoted to weather matters, a subject which is of interest to everyone. The OFA people say that "the bedrock of this humble publication is our long-range weather predictions -- correct, or close to it, much of the time." 
   I am writing this on the last day of November, on a cold and snowy one and we have already had others. So far, the OFA is correct. Under the "Regional Forecast" for Southern Ontario, there is this summary:
"Winter will be colder and drier than normal in the east with below-normal snowfall, while it will be warmer than normal in the west with above-normal precipitation and snowfall. The coldest periods will be in mid- and late December, early and late January, and early February, with the snowiest periods in late November and early and mid February." 
   As the above indicates, there is Canadian content, appropriately enough, in a "Canadian" edition, but there may not be enough French for some. It should be mentioned, however, that "Secrets of the Sugar Bush" does include the Indigenous.
   The invention of the Internet may be one of the reasons why the other almanac is ceasing to publish, and the arrival of AI may cause problems for this one. The answers to some things are easily provided by the Internet, and AI questions appropriately framed will likely yield reasonable answers to such queries as "When is the proper age for the first mating of my cat?" (See the "Gestation and Mating Tables,"- 12 months, p.229).
  Still there is something to be said for "serendipity" and stumbling across articles about "Pingos" and "Skirrets", two new things you will now google. 
  Plus, the OFA does include ads., such as this one for, "The Amish 'Secret' to Prostate Woes?" and another ---"STOP EVIL: Sprinkling Salts & Yard Dressing to move out all evil enemies and jinx [sic] on you and your home..." But, I am happy to note that there are often disclaimers at the bottom, such as the one below these ads."  "We make no supernatural claims. All items sold as curios only."

   We hope our grandson reads the small print and pays attention to such suggestions as: "Plant peas when forsythias bloom."

Sources:
   Perhaps it is worth documenting the disappearance of things such as these. There are articles noting the demise of The Farmers' Almanac found in early November of this year. For example:

"Farmers' Almanac Editor-in-chief Explains Why it's Ending After 200 Years:

An Announcement by the Farmers' Almanac that it will cease publication has sparked an outpouring from readers and confusion with another almanac," NBC News, NOV.7, 2025.

"The Cute Yellow Old Farmer’s Almanac Isn’t the One Shutting Down

“There are TWO. This is not The OLD Farmer’s Almanac that has been around since 1792. Everything is fine. Just chill guys”

By Laura Hazard Owen, Nieman Lab,  Nov. 7, 2025
   The publishers of the Farmers' Almanac indicate that their website will be gone soon, so we will have to rely on the Internet Archive for that.
   The Old Farmer's Almanac is found here: 

By the way, The Old Farmer's Almanac is more popular than you might think. On the Toronto Star's bestseller list for Nov. 15, it is ranked Number 5, one spot ahead of Guinness World Records in the "Non-Fiction" category.  At the end of November, it is the Number 1 "Nonfiction" title listed in the Washington Post. 

Bonus:
   Many years ago when Montgomery Ward disappeared, I was the Director of a Business Library and thought it would be a good idea to grab their website, since I assumed it would also go. We did, and for a while some perplexed reference librarians were wondering why the University was getting queries about Montgomery Ward. I just looked and was pleased to find that the material grabbed from the now defunct Montgomery Ward website and our commentary, can still be viewed on the Wayback Machine/Internet Archive - Montgomery Ward: 1872-2000.