Author Q & A

Here are some questions I am often asked about my book, Muskoka’s Main Street.

1. How did you get the idea to write this book?

I subscribed to The Country Connection magazine, which had an ongoing feature about the colonization roads of Ontario. They had not done an article about the Muskoka Road and since I knew Muskoka from having cottaged there for years, and I knew a bit about the Muskoka Road, I pitched the article idea to the editor. He bought it and published it in the January 2010 issue. Gary Long, who later became the map-maker and book designer for Main Street, spotted the article and alerted Patrick Boyer, Publisher of Muskoka Books. Patrick contacted me about expanding the article into a book. A wonderful example of connections, right timing and exactly the right people finding each other for a project!

2. What kind of research did you need to do?

I probably spent an equal amount of time in libraries, archives and in what biographer Charlotte Gray calls “walking around research.” A lot of the government records, surveyor reports and maps I needed are housed at the Archives of Ontario and some are with Library and Archives Canada. I also read as many memoirs as I could find, by loggers, pioneers, steamboat entrepreneurs and captains, and early travellers of the Muskoka Road. Biographies, too, were also very helpful. I wanted to tell every aspect of this story from someone’s personal perspective. Logging, for example. Rather than a textbook-style industry history, Anson Dodge provided the perfect point of view.

There’s nothing better than being on site. My husband and I spent many days and many miles exploring the remnants of the road. This “walking around research” was essential for me to get a true sense of the road itself, its evolution and the hardships its travellers endured.

As you can imagine, I also referred to maps of all kinds – aerial, topographical, historical. Gary Long, who among his many talents is also a geographer and Muskoka Road hiker, was generous beyond measure in providing maps and expertise. In the end, we mapped every inch of the Muskoka Road.

3. What is your favourite part of the story?

That’s easy – the surveyors. I knew very little about surveying before writing this book, so I enjoyed learning about the methods, the technicalities, and about the history of surveying in Upper Canada. The best part was reading the handwritten diaries and field notes of the early Muskoka surveyors. I love the 19th century language, when you would sign a letter as “your humble servant” and “beg leave” to get money to pay your team. I love the personalities that shined through – Bridgland flowery and opinionated; Dennis curt and formal. It was easy to imagine Unwin on the banks of the Severn, drafting his report in a tent next to the open campfire.

4. What are you going to write next?

I haven’t thought much about “next”, but I’ll probably switch gears and write some fiction for a while. Meanwhile, I’d like to enjoy the experience of Muskoka’s Main Street fully – meeting readers and sharing what I know about the road with other keen back-roads travellers.

Got a question for Lee Ann? Send it in here.