Harold Macy might have Merville mud on his gumboots, but he’s a philosopher just the same. Come and find out why when Macy reads from his new book, The Four Storey Forest, As Grow the Trees, So Too the Heart at the Courtenay Library on Wednesday, June 15 at 2 p.m.
The Four Storey Forest is actually two books in one.
As a memoir, it tells the story of Macy’s love affair with nature. As a youngster growing up on the Prairies, he was always examining bugs, grasses and whatever he else could find. But it was on the annual one week family vacation to the West coast that he fell in love with trees.
Central to the story is the regeneration of Macy’s woodlot from the fire of 1938 that devastated the Black Creek area. And this is where the second, fictional, part of the book comes in. Jacob’s story takes place in the years before and after the fire. He’s part of the Mennonite community whose faith is tested both by natural disaster and conflicts over fighting in the war.
Author Jack Hodgins writes, “Harold Macy has done something remarkable…. Part autobiography, part spiritual journey, part historical fiction and part arboreal adventure, this is a four-pillared exploration of life as it is lived by the people and forests of north-central Vancouver Island.”
Macy’s been published in Island Word, Aspect Journal and, in 2010, won the North Island College Three-hour Short Fiction contest. He’s currently working on a historical novel that takes place in San Josef Bay and contemplating a short story collection.
For more information call 250-334-3369, drop by the library at 300 Sixth St., or visit www.virl.bc.ca.
— Vancouver Island Regional Library