Miramichi author celebrates farm life in rural New Brunswick

Luke Beirne · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 11, 2025 9:11 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 11

Growing up successful the Blackville, N.B., country successful the 1940s and '50s, writer Wayne Curtis started penning successful simple school.

He remembers speechmaking the enactment of Robert Frost, who helium said influenced him greatly.

"I loved his worldly due to the fact that his scenery was my scenery — farm," helium said. "I could place with everything helium was talking about."

Members of CBC New Brunswick's Books and Backroads publication nine successful Plaster Rock had a akin acquisition speechmaking Curtis' book, One Indian Summer, which was published by Goose Lane successful 1993.

Readers successful six tiny communities successful agrarian parts of the state took portion successful publication clubs arsenic portion of CBC's concern with New Brunswick Public Libraries.

Club members discovered books from an array of genres, each with a transportation to New Brunswick.

LISTEN: Plaster Rock publication nine discusses Wayne Curtis's coming-of-age caller and growing up successful agrarian New Brunswick:

Susan Mulherin said she felt a heavy transportation to Curtis's novel, which tells the communicative of Steven Moar arsenic helium is increasing up connected a New Brunswick workplace successful the 1950s.

Moar finds himself caught betwixt his loyalty to his household to enactment and enactment connected their equine farm and his idiosyncratic tendency to spell to the metropolis and gain a assemblage education. 

"I loved the book," said Mulherin, whose begetter had a farm. "We had cows, horses, pigs — truthful it was similar astir coming location due to the fact that I grew up successful the '50s ... truthful it was conscionable like, 'Oh, I'm a kid again.'"

'Every small play had its job'

Curtis dropped retired of precocious schoolhouse but completed a GED and took courses astatine St. Thomas University successful Fredericton for astir 10 years. He ne'er completed his Bachelor's grade but did person an honourary doctorate successful 2005. 

He called One Indian Summer a reflection of beingness successful communities on the Miramichi River and an relationship of the deterioration of the household farm. 

"I tried to support it arsenic adjacent arsenic I could to the archetypal dialogue," helium said. "The lingo, the mode we speech implicit there."

He said that connected a farm, "every small play had its job," from cutting wood to planting and harvesting oregon sidesplitting pigs. 

"I was trying to picture the mode I saw the workplace erstwhile I was a kid." 

"I've been there," said room manager and publication nine subordinate Stephanie Hamilton, after speechmaking Curtis's statement of a livestock auction.

"I retrieve going to the merchantability with my begetter and gramps and sitting successful the motortruck and being parked determination with immoderate workplace carnal connected the back, sinking little and little into the spot retired of embarrassment."

Library adjunct Sandy Wilmering appreciated the mounting of the novel. She felt the Miramichi River was symbolic of the character's wishes to "burst escaped and beryllium wild" astatine times. 

Hamilton agreed, and drew a parallel to surviving alongside quality during each seasons.

"The anxiousness of the crystal flowing successful the stream resonated with me… that benignant of anxious unknowing was precise familiar."