Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson (Untold Lives Series)

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I remember first hearing about Radisson and Groseilliers in about Grade 5, when I think they were called “explorers” or “fur traders.” I also recall my mother calling them Radishes and Gooseberries. Imagine my surprise to find that Groseilliers actually does mean gooseberries! Mont d’Or’ has flattened succulent pods of soft yellow. They are delicious cooked and served cold with vinaigrette dressing. These yellow beans are often called wax beans.

Mark Bourrie’s “Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson” is a delightful biography of not only the man at the centre of the book, but also of the unromantic forces that shaped early European colonial exploitation of what is now Canada. It is at its best when the charismatic rogue is himself in the spotlight, fading only slightly as larger political forces sideline Radisson. But there used to be these giant magazines that were in weekend newspapers, and Saturday night city magazines, Toronto Life. And that part of the media has withered along with other print media like newspapers.Like explorer John Franklin 150 years later on his disastrous first overland expedition, the starving Huron “boiled leather intended for clothes and shoes” and ate it. They boiled their leather tents. They boiled and ate the beaver pelts that, for Radisson, were the reason he was here. Finally, “they boiled the skins that mothers used as diapers.” When two half-starved Sioux stumbled into camp, Radisson tried to buy their skinny dog. They refused so he waited until they slept. Then he lured the dog away, stabbed it to death, and had it “broiled like a pig, cut in pieces, guts and all, so every one of the family had his share.” The beans I sowed in biodegradable pots are now tall, starting to climb and badly in need of planting out? Likewise the tomato plants are rather tall and spindly from too long in the conservatory. They too need planting out and a better nutrient supply to grow. I intend to try a couple of these in pots in the conservatory with Vegtrug tomato towers. Bourrie has written several books about history. His other books include The Killing Game, a book about ISIS, Fighting Words, about Canadian war reporting, and The Fog of War, about media censorship during the Second World War. Taylor created the prize in memory of her husband, Charles Taylor, a journalist and author of the books Six Journeys and Radical Tories. He died in 1997. The book follows the life of Pierre Radisson, Who at the age of 15 was kidnapped by Mohawk warriors from his home near the small settlement of Trois-Rivières in New France. He was later adopted into the tribe. A cultural practise I have heard mentioned off hand in other Native peoples history refereeing to the great lakes region's people but have never been able to find more in depth explanation until now. This story provides quite a bit of interesting insight and information about the life and culture of the native tribes of the great lakes/St. Lawrence valley region in the 1600's that only someone womb spoke their language lived among them would be able to relay.

Layover" takes some patience in the middle, but it's a classic testament to premature midlife crisis and, well, testosterone that leads men into the darndest of situations.A good read, especially about Radisson's engagements with the First Nation communities in Canada in the 17th century. Kidnapped by Mohawk warriors at the age of fifteen, Radisson was eventually adopted by a leading family, only to escape after almost a year and ending up on a Dutch sailing ship to Holland. The early chapters portray the many survival challenges faced by a young person at that time and give insight into how Radisson's experiences with the Mohawks and other indigenous peoples shaped the rest of his life. These are along the same lines as VegTrellis: robust wire cages that you simply join together to make a tube which you drop over the plant to allow it to grow up through the middle. Supporting tomato plants is always a headache. Anchoring canes is a problem: in containers there is never sufficient soil depth. The spikes on the bottom of the tomato tower anchor the support and act as legs supporting from all sides. However the Radisson story isn’t all long canoe trips and adventures in the North American wilderness. Bourrie chronicles his extended stays in France and England and the kind of shysters and schemers he connected with. The two men would have only had 10-12 weeks to “gather supplies, paddle to the north shore of Lake Superior, head up to Nipigon or one of the other rivers flowing from the north, cross the height of land and travel hundreds of miles down the huge rivers of the Hudson Bay basin, which were frozen well into May, then do the whole trip in reverse.” When you combine this impossible voyage with the fact he “skips over all the details of this supposed trip in his writing, probably because he didn’t know anything about the geography,” it makes you think twice. Radisson’s human experience on the frontlines and in the forests breathes life into this period, but it also intersects with the major events, cultures, and players of the era like few others.