The CAA–Birks Family Foundation Award for Biography The 2000 Ottawa-Carlton Book Award The (U.S.) Rutstrum Award for Best Wilderness Book
In 1929, at the age of twenty-two, Duncan MacGregor, the son of a lumberman, great-grandson of a voyageur, and an avid reader and baseball fan, headed off into the largest tract of preserved bush in the world: Ontario’s Algonquin Park. When he got there, he was home for the rest of his life.
From the true nature of fishing to the harsh realities of raising a family in the woods, from the role of fear in the bush to the small nuances of family relationships, A Life in the Bush is painted on a canvas both vast and richly detailed. A story that captures the tough physical demands, the rich life of the senses, and the unselfconscious freedom that comes from living apart from town and city.
In this beautifully crafted memoir of his father, Roy MacGregor paints an intimate portrait of an unusual man and spins a spellbinding tale of a boy’s complex relationship with his father. He also evokes, perhaps for the first time in Canadian literature, the bush the way bush people see it, an insider's view of life in the totemic Canadian wilderness.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE CAA-BIRKS FAMILY FOUNDATION AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY WINNER OF THE OTTAWA-CARLTON BOOK AWARD WINNER OF THE RUTSTRUM AWARD FOR BEST WILDERNESS BOOK
“A portrait of a true original.” —The Hamilton Spectator
“A Life in the Bushis the kind of book most sons would wish to write about their fathers. It’s the kind of book I wish I could write about my dad—a man who was sometimes hard to live with, but is much harder to live without.” —Kitchener-Waterloo Record
“MacGregor interweaves Duncan MacGregor’s life as a logger in Algonquin Park, their father-son relationship, family history, the park and logging industry’s history, with a discourse on Canadian literature and an acute appreciation of the bush. Many threads to pull together, but the master weaver does it magnificently.” —Regina Sun
“No ordinary man, Dunc MacGregor will live on much longer by grace of this vivid, extraordinary book.” —Maclean’s
“[A Life in the Bush] is my favourite book by a Canadian this year.” —Edmonton Journal
“MacGregor has done a marvelous job of telling his story and in the wider tale of Algonquin Park has written a pivotal Canadian story. It is delicious reading, the kind of book that makes you want to find Roy MacGregor and shake his hand and thank him for getting it down on paper.” —The Gazette
Roy MacGregor is the acclaimed and bestselling author of Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey (shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award); A Life in the Bush (winner of the U.S. Rutstrum Award for Best Wilderness Book and the CAA Award for Biography); and Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People, as well as two novels, Canoe Lake and The Last Season, and the popular Screech Owls mystery series for young readers. A regular columnist at The Globe and Mail since 2002, MacGregor's journalism has garnered four National Magazine Awards and eight National Newspaper Award nominations. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was described in the citation as one of Canada's "most gifted storytellers." He grew up in Huntsville, Ontario, and has kept returning to the Tom Thomson mystery all his writing life. He lives in Kanata.
View titles by Roy MacGregor
The CAA–Birks Family Foundation Award for Biography The 2000 Ottawa-Carlton Book Award The (U.S.) Rutstrum Award for Best Wilderness Book
In 1929, at the age of twenty-two, Duncan MacGregor, the son of a lumberman, great-grandson of a voyageur, and an avid reader and baseball fan, headed off into the largest tract of preserved bush in the world: Ontario’s Algonquin Park. When he got there, he was home for the rest of his life.
From the true nature of fishing to the harsh realities of raising a family in the woods, from the role of fear in the bush to the small nuances of family relationships, A Life in the Bush is painted on a canvas both vast and richly detailed. A story that captures the tough physical demands, the rich life of the senses, and the unselfconscious freedom that comes from living apart from town and city.
In this beautifully crafted memoir of his father, Roy MacGregor paints an intimate portrait of an unusual man and spins a spellbinding tale of a boy’s complex relationship with his father. He also evokes, perhaps for the first time in Canadian literature, the bush the way bush people see it, an insider's view of life in the totemic Canadian wilderness.
Praise
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE CAA-BIRKS FAMILY FOUNDATION AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY WINNER OF THE OTTAWA-CARLTON BOOK AWARD WINNER OF THE RUTSTRUM AWARD FOR BEST WILDERNESS BOOK
“A portrait of a true original.” —The Hamilton Spectator
“A Life in the Bushis the kind of book most sons would wish to write about their fathers. It’s the kind of book I wish I could write about my dad—a man who was sometimes hard to live with, but is much harder to live without.” —Kitchener-Waterloo Record
“MacGregor interweaves Duncan MacGregor’s life as a logger in Algonquin Park, their father-son relationship, family history, the park and logging industry’s history, with a discourse on Canadian literature and an acute appreciation of the bush. Many threads to pull together, but the master weaver does it magnificently.” —Regina Sun
“No ordinary man, Dunc MacGregor will live on much longer by grace of this vivid, extraordinary book.” —Maclean’s
“[A Life in the Bush] is my favourite book by a Canadian this year.” —Edmonton Journal
“MacGregor has done a marvelous job of telling his story and in the wider tale of Algonquin Park has written a pivotal Canadian story. It is delicious reading, the kind of book that makes you want to find Roy MacGregor and shake his hand and thank him for getting it down on paper.” —The Gazette
Roy MacGregor is the acclaimed and bestselling author of Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey (shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award); A Life in the Bush (winner of the U.S. Rutstrum Award for Best Wilderness Book and the CAA Award for Biography); and Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People, as well as two novels, Canoe Lake and The Last Season, and the popular Screech Owls mystery series for young readers. A regular columnist at The Globe and Mail since 2002, MacGregor's journalism has garnered four National Magazine Awards and eight National Newspaper Award nominations. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was described in the citation as one of Canada's "most gifted storytellers." He grew up in Huntsville, Ontario, and has kept returning to the Tom Thomson mystery all his writing life. He lives in Kanata.
View titles by Roy MacGregor
