Based on in-depth oral interviews with local residents, and rich archival sources, We Lived A Life and Then Some relates the common person’s struggle to overcome harsh working conditions and government neglect. The unique culture of the hardrock mining town of Cobalt is exposed through the eyes of retired miners, young welfare mothers, and grade-school children. Angus and Griffin reveal why, in spite of great adversity, Cobalt remains a distinctive and cohesive working-class community.

CHARLIE ANGUS is a nationally recognized politician, author, and musician. He has published nine books and is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the Trillium Book Award finalist Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower. Angus has served in the Canadian Parliament for twenty years. He has earned a national reputation as a fierce fighter for social justice and Indigenous rights. Angus was the founding member of Toronto punk band L’etranger. He is the leader of the roots band Grievous Angels; their ninth album is Last Call for Cinderella. Angus lives in Cobalt, Ontario, with his wife, author Brit Griffin. They have three daughters.

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Brit Griffin co-authored a non-fiction history (We Lived A Life And Then Some: the life, death and life of a mining town, Between the Lines, 1996 ) that was listed as a must-read on the 2011 CBC Cross-Country Check-up Summer Reading list. For ten years she ran an independent magazine (Highgrader Magazine )on rural and resource-based communities. She was the recipient of two American Catholic press awards for her writing on family life, and has worked as a free-lancer in print, video and radio. Griffin currently works as a researcher for Timiskaming First Nation, an Algonquin community in northern Quebec. She lives in the town of Cobalt and is the mother of three daughters. The Wintermen is her first novel.

Brit Griffin's profile page

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