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Literary Criticism Poetry

A Stone for Andrew Dunphy

Narrative Obituary Verse and Song in Northern Cape Breton

by (author) Ronald David Caplan

Publisher
Breton Books
Initial publish date
Dec 2018
Category
Poetry, Folklore & Mythology
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781926908601
    Publish Date
    Dec 2018
    List Price
    $11.99

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Description

Ronald Caplan’s account of his search for song and obituary poetry and the tools for community survival in northern Cape Breton, as he learned about the in-home singing tradition and the community’s extraordinary devotion to the poet Andrew Dunphy—a person who might in other places have been an outcast. A hundred years before, Dunphy roamed northern Cape Breton, sharing the news, nursing the sick, often caring for small children. And he wrote magnificent obituary poems that, with great respect, his neighbours turned into popular song. Told in the words of those who knew Andrew Dunphy,—in A Stone for Andrew Dunphy Caplan preserves the robust life that flourished in the Aspy Bay region as the 20th century dawned.

About the author

Ronald Caplan earned the Order of Canada as a protector of Cape Breton’s history and culture. serving as the interviewer, photographer and editor of Cape Breton’s Magazine [1972-1999] and, since 1986, as publisher of Breton Books. He lives in Wreck Cove, NS.

Ronald David Caplan's profile page