The Grand River: Dundalk to Lake Erie

Front Cover
The Porcupine's Quill, Apr 30, 2015 - Art - 148 pages
The Grand River, winding for nearly 300 kilometres through southwestern Ontario, is a Heritage River, its watershed rich in prehistoric, historical and contemporary features. It is important in the history of First Peoples, and the story of European settlement along its banks is a microcosm of that in Canada as a whole. The watershed contains many treasures, such as part of the Carolinian Forest, some of the best farmland in Canada, the spectacular Elora Gorge and a wealth of historic architecture.


Far more than that, the Grand is both uniquely itself and also typical of many of the planet’s rivers in the challenges it faces: issues of water management, farmland versus urban development, exploitation of natural resources and restoration of a polluted environment. Each of us lives in a watershed, and this is the story of our world.



In the images and words of two artists, The Grand River explores the river’s history, beginning with its formation after the end of the last Ice Age. The book gives insight into the private life of a river—the dialogue of land and water—as well as the ways in which a river interacts with humans, vegetation, wildlife, weather and the planet. It takes the reader on an imaginary journey from the Grand’s first drop of moving water at the source to the point where it flows into Lake Erie.

 

 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
5
Section 2
7
Section 3
9
Section 4
12
Section 5
17
Section 6
30
Section 7
32
Section 8
45
Section 10
105
Section 11
121
Section 12
125
Section 13
135
Section 14
141
Section 15
145
Section 16
146
Section 17
147

Section 9
57

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About the author (2015)

 A member of the Wood Engravers’ Network, Gerard Brender à Brandis has produced hundreds of drawings, wood engravings and watercolours of plants, landscape, buildings and musical instruments. These images have appeared in books, including Wood, Ink and Paper, At Water’s Edge and Portraits of Flowers (all published by The Porcupine’s Quill) as well as in his own handmade editions. His work is represented in the collections of the Royal Botanical Gardens (Hamilton, Ontario), the Missouri Botanic Garden, the Arnold Arboretum and the Hunt Botanical Library. His garden and his studio are located in Stratford, Ontario.

Marianne Brandis was born in the Netherlands in 1938 and came to Canada in 1947. After earning her BA and MA from McMaster University, she worked in radio and taught at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now University) before becoming a full-time writer. Most of her work has a historical element. She is the author of award-winning historical fiction and has also written biography and memoirs. Pursuing her interest in the relations between people and their surroundings, she has researched and written about Toronto’s ravines, environmental and social issues in Malawi, and urban design and planning projects in her current hometown of Stratford, Ontario.

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