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Audiobooks Narrated by Dana Negrey
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One of the greatest marathon runners of all time, Tom Longboat was one of the best-known athletes of the western world in the early 20th century.
Longboat was an astonishing long-distance runner who grew up on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario.
He won the Boston Marathon in record time, 2:24.24, almost five minutes faster than the 10 previous winners.
Longboat then raced in the Olympic Marathon in 1908, but he collapsed on the course amid rumours that his manager had drugged him with strychnine.
At a rematch the following year in New York City, Longboat won the race handily, beating his nearest competitor.
In 1916, Longboat enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces and worked as a dispatch carrier for the 107th Pioneer Battalion in France.
He was left for dead on the battlefield, but somehow survived and returned to Canada only to discover that his wife, Lauretta, thinking he was dead, had remarried.
Longboat’s independent spirit and passion for running carried him through the many difficulties he faced as an Aboriginal person.
His enduring legacy has been honoured with the Tom Longboat Awards, established in 1951 to celebrate outstanding First Nations athletes in Canada.
He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Indian Hall of Fame.
Searching through the annals of North American history uncovers the diverse and astounding contributions by the Natives of the Americas who formed the world we know today.
In the Shadow of Our Ancestors explores the rich history of the indigenous peoples of North America and leaves us in awe of their stunning achievements and inventions:
The Great Law of Peace — The ideals, words and symbols of the Iroquois Confederacy inspired the governments of the New World to form democracies that recognized, in their constitutions, the rights of all people.
Potatoes — The lowly potato, a staple food of Natives for almost 15,000 years, was unknown outside the Americas until Europeans arrived; now, with almost 4000 varieties, it is the fourth most-consumed agricultural product in the world.
Sacagawea — The settlement of western North America was inspired and influenced by the results of the Lewis and Clark expedition in the early 1800s, with the journey’s success made possible because of a Native woman named Sacagawea, whose presence paved the way for the explorers to be seen as a peaceful party.
“Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.” -Robertson Davies. So many of our greatest authors have had cats that it seems a cat is next to the pen in importance to writers. Similarly cats have appeared all through great literature and all through more mainstream modern entertainment. This book tells the stories of these cats in story, and of their writers.
Most pets’ main job is to provide companionship to their human companions. But many dogs have other, very important jobs as well. Dogs’ keen sense of smell, their intelligence and willingness to learn and their strong dispositions make them irreplaceable as K-9 police officers, as seeing eye dogs for the blind, therapy and companion dogs for seniors and as soldiers’’ helpers in times of war. A few even work with politicians or as mascots on television! Here are over fifty, easy-to-read stories about these hardworking dogs.
What do you know about your dog? Or dogs in general? Learn more from over 300 facts, trivia bits, factoids (and even some jokes) all about humans’ most loyal companion: the dog. Sit down, read up and be informed.
There are more than 220 million cats in the world, and this book has stories about the world’s favourite pet from all across the globe. From an owner with 96 cats in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to a daring cat-escape from Lebanon to the Middle East, the book tells many fine feline tales. We4 also list over 20 different breeds from around the world, where they’re from and a short description. Truly a global cat reference for any cat-lover.
It’s not true that dead men tell no tales.
You can hear their haunting stories on the fog-shrouded banks of Newfoundland, in the aging brick manses of Upper and Lower Canada, on the wind-beaten flatlands of the prairies and among the misty mountains of the far west.
This entertaining collection features tales of ghosts and other unexplained phenomena that have found their way into Canadian folklore.
Bruce Tilbrook hooks you with his unique brand of humor and observations about fly-fishing and reels you in with this collection of entertaining stories about the men of the river:
-One fly-tying expert believes tasting his flies helps him understand the feeding behavior of the trout
-On a day of excellent casting, no fish were biting, but suddenly a form rose out of the water in front of Bruce; his catch was of the human variety
-Bruce once showed his catch to a Fish and Wildlife Officer, not realizing he was one fish over the limit, and he earned himself a ticket you’d think would go to someone hiding a whole trunk full of fish.
Since our nation was first conceived, Canadian athletes have been involved in some of the weirdest moments in sport.
Learn facts that will astound, confuse and make you laugh.
The Great One himself is afraid of flying.
Semi-professional baseball team, the Guelph Maple Leafs, beat the Ku Klux Klan in an exciting but strange final.
The worst way to defrost a football field from the grounds crew of the Calgary Stampeders was to set it ablaze–they still went on with the game.
Golfer Andy Bean lost the Canadian Open after forgetting to follow the rules.
Discover lesser-known sports that Canadians have been playing for years, from rattlesnake hunts to horse apple hockey.
A sliced-up lacrosse ball and a rink superintendent’s need to save on window glass prompted the creation of the rubber hockey puck.
Steve Durbano grabbed Bobby Hull’s toupee during a World Hockey League game.
At the 1998 winter Olympics, snowboarder Ross Rebagliati almost lost his gold medal when he tested positive for marijuana.
And many more strange tales from Canada’s best and worst.
This book takes you deep inside the weirdest and most peculiar aspects of our country:
Yes, there is a lighthouse in Saskatchewan!! Climb 153 steps to the top.
The Diefenbunker is a relic of the Cold War that was built just outside Ottawa to house essential government and military personnel in the event of a nuclear attack; it is now a museum.
The Brussel Sprouts Festival is held yearly in the village of Rogersville, NB.
Lake Okanagan’s Ogopogo is one of Canada’s most well known monsters, but the weird thing is that at least 14 other unknown, cryptid lake creatures are said to swim this country’s waters.
The Old Sow tidal whirlpool, located in Passamaquoddy Bay, is the largest in the Western Hemisphere at 75 metres in diameter with a current speed of 28 kilometres an hour.
Over seven years 14 severed feet have washed up on the Pacific Coastline; some have been identified through DNA testing but the identity of most, and the reason for their find, remains a mystery.
The largest beaver dam in the world is 850 metres wide and is located in a remote corner of Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta.
The Hôtel de Glace in Québec City is sculpted from 500 tonnes of ice and 15,000 tonnes of snow.
Now, that’s just weird!
And there are hundreds more strange things about our country that you will learn about in Canada Weird, Strange and True!
Toronto is not only Canada’s economic capital, but it also has one of the most diverse populations and has been classified as one of the world’s most livable cities.
But Toronto’s past and present are full of weird facts and tidbits from the truly trivial to the seriously strange:
The name ”Toronto” first appeared on a French map as ”Lac de Taranteau,” derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto.
Today, Yorkville is a trendy downtown shopping area but it was once a cemetery for those who could not afford a church burial; the cemetery was removed in the 1870s, but human remains keep turning up at every modern-day Yorkville construction project.
The land on which Toronto was built was purchased from the Mississauga First Nation band for a few hundred British pounds, 2000 gun flints, two dozen each of kettles and hats, all the hand mirrors they could carry and 100 gallons of excellent navy rum.
Olympic sculler Ned Hanlan got in lots of midnight practice rowing crates of whisky for his bootlegger dad.
William Davies, whose pork-processing company earned Toronto the nickname ”Hogtown,” died after being butted by a goat.
The abandoned Queen Street underground streetcar station is a location for the latest remake of the slasher movie Nightmare on Elm Street.
And many more fascinating facts.
