I would like to thank my husband, Ian Warren, for his abiding interest in history and his love of collectibles. I had already drifted unawares past the dusty box of Elinor Glyn writing books in a Prince Edward Island antiques store, but Ian noticed them at once. When the sales clerk revealed the lid of the box in which the books were nestled, complete with mailing label — Noble Mattinson, Great Village, N.S., Canada — I sensed a story beginning.
Two events in Mr. Mattinson’s early life intrigued me. His brother, Lawson, died at Vimy Ridge. And while Noble signed up during the Great War, for undisclosed medical reasons, he never served. The rest is fiction. The noble and lawson Matheson of The Wind Seller are products of my imagination.
For her assistance in answering endless questions on the geography and history of Economy, for arranging the fishing trip to James Webb’s brush weir, and for risking being stranded by the tide walking with me over to Moose Island, I cannot thank Anita Mcclellan of economy, Nova Scotia, enough.
Thank you to the many other people who helped with my research, among them: Conrad Byers, Paul Sosek, Jeff and Meredith Layton, Katherine Lemmon, Mike Mines, Ted White, and the staff at Dalhousie University Archives and Special collections, particularly Dianne landry. I found the whale story in Will Byrd’s This is Nova Scotia. For input on early drafts I am grateful to Judi Mcleod, as well as Lynda Simmons and the other members of the Burlington Writers Group.
A profound debt of gratitude to my editor, Laurel Boone, whose deft guidance has helped me make this a better book. And to my agent, Hilary McMahon, for steering me clear of the shallows.
The Ontario Arts council provided funding for this project, for which I am grateful.