Unspoiled woods and waters, abundant game and legendary guides were the cornerstones upon which early tourism was built in Nova Scotia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many entertaining and informative accounts were written by visiting sportsmen of that era; the most widely read and enduring is The Tent Dwellers, penned in 1908 by Albert Bigelow Paine in which the American humorist light-heartedly recounted a camping and fishing expedition through what today constitutes the “Toby” and “Keji.” A more recent work of wide popular appeal was published in 1990 by Mike Parker, who spent four years conducting extensive, groundbreaking research interviewing the last of the old-time woodsmen whose reminiscences and tales formed the basis for Guides of the North Woods, a compilation of oral and written history documenting Nova Scotia’s guiding tradition. Into The Deep Unknown is both a stand-alone book and a companion to The Tent Dwellers and Guides of the North Woods. It continues Mike Parker’s ongoing quest to preserve our historical past and heritage. A richly illustrated sporting journal, it interweaves the first-person account of a 1910 canoe “pilgrimage” through the Land of the Tent Dwellers with more than 424 vintage photographs and text.

Ghost Islands of Nova Scotia, Mike's fourteenth book, completes a trilogy, joining his two most recent best-sellers - Gold Rush Ghost Towns of Nova Scotia and Buried in the Woods: Sawmill Ghost Towns of Nova Scotia (see page 9). Mike has been researching, writing and talking about his native province for more than 25 years, during which time he has earned many accolades including being known as Nova Scotia's storyteller. In addition to offering heritage programs and services through Old Days, Old Ways, Mike is a research associate affiliated with the Gorsebrook Research Institute For Atlantic Canada Studies at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.

Mike Parker's profile page