Newfoundland History: Now and Then, Here and There
Well-known to many of us for their media presence and all-around creativity, Heather Barrett and Karl Wells bring us their fascinating books on Newfoundland’s past and the people who lived it. Barrett’s Mill Girls takes us from the island’s shores to Ontario’s textile mill jungles, introducing us to the adventurous women who made the trek before us. A household name in the province for decades, Karl Wells, a former CBC personality, shares light and dark moments from his life and career as an openly gay man in Openly Karl. In the hands of interviewer and accomplished literary person-about-town Ramona Dearing, the conversation will be wild and deep.
HEATHER BARRETT is an author, international award-winning broadcaster and retired journalist from St. John’s, where she hosted the popular CBC Weekend AM radio program. Her interests in history, fibre crafts, and sharing a good story led her to this recent project examining the lives of young, single Newfoundland and Labrador women in the 1940s who took industrial jobs and settled in southern Ontario’s Cambridge area. A proud Newfoundlander, runner, and community volunteer, Heather spends her free time knitting and enjoying her province’s beautiful outdoors. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Master of Arts in Journalism from Western University.
KARL WELLS has been a broadcaster in Newfoundland and Labrador media since he first spoke into a live microphone on VOWR at age 16. His professional career began in 1974 at the CBC, where for 32 years he perfected his skills in hosting, performing, newscasting, and interviewing. He appeared on multiple radio and TV programs including the flagship news program, Here and Now, during which his dynamic on-location weather and community broadcasts made him a much-loved personality throughout the province. Since leaving the CBC Karl has pursued writing, with a 14-year stint as a weekly restaurant and food columnist, for which he received the Canadian Culinary Federation Sandy Sanderson Award.
RAMONA DEARING’s short fiction collection, So Beautiful, was shortlisted for the BMO Winterset Award and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Her work has been included in several editions of Best Canadian Stories. She is an award-winning former CBC journalist, host, and producer. For many years, her midday radio show, CrossTalk – now called The Signal – held a popular province-wide book club.
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