A Letter from Maxine Trottier

Dear Readers,

As well as being an author, I am a re-enactor. That means my idea of a good time is dressing up in 18th century clothing — corset, long skirt, cap and buckled shoes — to demonstrate what life was like in Canada long ago. Most people can't understand why I do such a thing, but when they ask I tell them the truth. It is because re-enacting is as close as I can get to travelling back in time. So is writing.

When I wrote Dear Canada: Alone in an Untamed Land, I was able to step into the life of a fille du roi. It took hard work — all writing is very hard work — but through endless, patient research I was able to discover what existence would have been like for Hélène St. Onge. I am in the process of writing another Dear Canada, by the way, and so I am having the delicious experience of dipping into 18th century New France.

I have also written six Scholastic Canada biographies and am working on a seventh. Uh huh. You got it. Time travel again. Through my writing, I have stood by the side of Alexander Graham Bell when he made his first telephone call; I have struggled up the Niagara Escarpment with Laura Secord; I have marched into battle with John Crysler. Believe me, when the writing is going well and you are tucked right inside a story, it does seem real.

Canada is an amazing country with a moving and fascinating past. What other nation can lay claim to David Thompson, possibly the world's greatest land geographer? Canada is The Group of Seven; it's World War I pilot and hero Billy Bishop; it's the devotion to duty of Jeanne Mance, Canada's first lay nurse; it is the style and vision of Pierre Trudeau. We can be filled with pride by James Naismith, who invented basketball; by Susanna Moodie, that brave pioneer; and by Sir John A. Macdonald, our first Prime Minister.

Canada's story is the tale of its many people. When I tell those stories, when I step back in time through my writing and try to bring them to life for you, it is a wonderful experience.

Enjoy them, dear readers. They are a gift from one proud Canadian to many, many others. All of you.

— Max

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