Lesley Choyce

Born in rural New Jersey in 1951, Lesley Choyce moved to Nova Scotia in 1979 and started Pottersfield Press. He has written over 50 books for children, teens, and adults - including The Book of Michael (Red Deer Press, 2008), The End of the World as We Know It (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2007), Wave Warrior (Orca Soundings, 2007), Skunks for Breakfast (Nimbus, 2006), Nova Scotia: Shaped By The Sea (Pottersfield, 2007; Penguin, 1996), Driving Minnie's Piano: Memoirs of a Surfing Life in Nova Scotia (Pottersfield, 2006), Sea of Tranquility (Simon & Pierre, 2003), Cold Clear Morning (Beach Holme, 2001), Beautiful Sadness (Ekstasis, 1998), World Enough (Goose Lane, 1998) and Dance the Rocks Ashore (Goose Lane, 1997). He won the 2003 Ann Connor Brimer Children's Literature Prize and the 2003 Young Adult Canadian Book Award for Shoulder the Sky (Dundurn, 2002), and he has twice won the Dartmouth Book Award.

An experienced editor, he runs Pottersfield Press and has edited Atlantica: Stories from the Maritimes and Newfoundland (Goose Lane Editions, 2001), and, for Pottersfield Press, Nova Scotia: A Traveller's Companion, Pottersfield Nation: East of Canada, The Mi'kmaq Anthology (with Rita Joe), Ark of Ice: Canadian Futurefictions, and Pottersfield Nation: East of Canada (Pottersfield, 2004).

In 2002, his animal epic film, The Skunk Whisperer, was broadcast across Canada and heralded at the Maine International Film Festival. Along with the Surf Poets, he has released two poetry/music albums, Long Lost Planet and Sea Level.


Books

Nova Scotia: Visions of the Future

Edited by Lesley Choyce

Nonfiction: Nova Scotia, Energy, Politics, the Future
192 pages
$19.95
6" x 9" Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-897426-07-4
Available in May 2009

In the summer of 2008, Pottersfield publisher Lesley Choyce sent a letter to a select and varied list of Nova Scotians asking them to contribute to a book about this province's future. He invited some of the best minds (and hearts) around the province to present their vision of this possible province of the future. Contributing writers include Marq deVilliers, Peggy Hope-Simpson, Richard Zurawski, Premier Rodney MacDonald, Budge Wilson, Alan Wilson, Dr. Richard Goldbloom, Carol Bruneau, Tom Gallant, Geoff Regan, Sunyata Choyce, Neal Livingston, Barb Stegemann, Bill Carr, Bob Howse, Ralph Martin, and Stephen Clare.

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[Cover of Nova Scotia: Visions of the Future]

Peggy's Cove: The Amazing History of a Coastal Village

Lesley Choyce

Nonfiction: Nova Scotia History, The Maritimes
146 pages, $15.95, 6"x9" Paperback (Includes photographs)
ISBN-13: 978-1-897426-00-5
ISBN-10: 1-897426-00-3
Available in July 2008

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Here is the complete history of the famous cove and the unique village that hosts thousands of visitors each year. The story begins with the formation of the rocks along these shores and the impact of the glaciers. The Mi'kmaq were the first to live here in the summers, harvesting the riches of the sea. A land grant in 1811 brought the first hardy settlers. Sculptor William de Garthe made his home here and created his monument to the coastal fishermen out of the sheer granite outcropping in his backyard. In 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed off the shores of Peggy's Cove and the community opened its doors to the world in an effort to provide support for the rescue workers and the families of the victims. From the earliest days to the present, the story of Peggy's Cove has been a tale of natural wonder and human endurance.

[Cover of Peggy's Cove]

Nova Scotia: Shaped By The Sea

A Living History (New, Revised Edition)
Lesley Choyce

Nonfiction: Nova Scotia History
324 pages
$24.95
ISBN 978-1-895900-94-1 (Available in September 2007)

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The history of Nova Scotia is an amazing story of a land and people shaped by the waves, the tides, the wind and the wonder of the North Atlantic. Lesley Choyce weaves the legacy of this unique coastal province, piecing together the stories written in the rocks, the wrecks and the record books of human glory and error. In this true-life adventure, he provides a down-to-earth journey through the natural and man-made history that is both refreshing and revealing.

[Cover of Nova Scotia Shaped by the Sea]

Driving Minnie's Piano: Memoirs of a Surfing Life in Nova Scotia

Lesley Choyce

$19.95
ISBN-13 978-1-895900-85-9
ISBN-10 1-895900-85-9

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Novelist Lesley Choyce weaves together his real-life adventures living by the sea at Lawrencetown Beach on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. He writes of his love for the rugged coast and tells tales of the ordinary and the extraordinary. His story includes accounts of what it's like surfing in the Canadian North Atlantic through all four seasons including the frigid depths of winter.

Also threading its way through this narrative is the story of Minnie's piano. There is music here in word and spirit along with the lessons learned from the old and the young. Driving Minnie's Piano is an eloquent personal memoir about the precious and fateful moments that change our lives. It is an exploration of what makes us tick and prompts us to be both heroes and fools in the daily enterprise of living.

[Cover of Driving Minnie's Piano: Memoirs of a Surfing Life in Nova Scotia]

Nova Scotia: A Traveller's Companion

Edited by Lesley Choyce

Nova Scotia, History, Travel
224 pages
$19.95 includes illustrations
ISBN-10 1-895900-72-7
ISBN-13 978-1-895900-72-9

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Much ink has been spilled over the years by those famous and not-so-famous travellers who have explored this province. There are both words of praise and words of scorn for the land, the weather and the people of Nova Scotia. Here is a journey in both time and place. The adventure begins with the reports of Samuel de Champlain in Port Royal in 1605 and the trail takes you from Yarmouth to Sydney, from Amherst to Canso. Halifax features prominently but so does Shelburne, Windsor, Pictou, Truro, Glace Bay, Digby, Wolfville, Chester, Dartmouth, Cape Sable Island, and many other stops along the way. Along with Champlain, you will have as your travelling companions Nicolas Denys, Captain James Cook, Joseph Howe, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Archibald MacMechan, and many more. You'll even experience a bumpy and dangerous trip around the Cabot Trail in the 1930s guided by T. Morris Longstreth.

This anthology is an entertaining traveller's companion sure to provide discoveries for both the history buff and the tourist.

[Cover of Nova Scotia A Travellers Companion]

Pottersfield Nation: East of Canada

Edited by Lesley Choyce

Creative nonfiction
224 pages
$19.95
6 x 9 paperback
ISBN 1-895900-63-8

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A stunning collection of some of Canada's finest writers who just happen to call Atlantic Canada their home. The book celebrates Pottersfield Press writers in our 25th year.

[Cover of Pottersfield Nation]

Contributors include: Harry Thurston, Joan Baxter, Thomas Raddall, Charles Saunders, George Elliott Clarke, Pete Sarsfield, Gregory Cook, Billy Budge, Bob Chaulk, Mike Ungar, the Frenchy's Ladies (Pat Wilson and Kris Wood), Farley Mowat, H.R. Percy, Archibald MacMechan, Judith Fingard, Dean Jobb, and others.

The Mi'kmaq Anthology

Edited by Rita Joe and Lesley Choyce

Fiction, First Nations, Autobiography, Poetry
286 pages, 6 x 9 paperback, $18.95
ISBN-10 1-895900-04-2
ISBN-13 978-1-895900-04-0

Contributors include:
Elsie Charles Basque
Murdena Marshall
Mary Louise Martin
Shirley Kiju Kawi
Isabelle Knockwood

Sunset Rose Morris
Harold Gloade
Helen Sylliboy
Don Julien
Theresa Meuse
Katherine Sorbey

 
Rita Joe
Noel Knockwood
Daniel N. Paul
Lindsay Marshall
Marie Battiste

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[Cover of The Mi'kmaq Anthology.]

The most comprehensive volume of Mi'kmaq writings available, this anthology is varied and spirited, bringing together both young and older writers. Included are essays on history, culture, and spirituality as well as autobiography, traditional stories and poetry. Valuable as a landmark of an ancient culture, The Mi'kmaq Anthology also delivers to a wide audience the wealth of creative talent within the Mi'kmaq community today. Although many voices here may be new to the reading public, the book radiates with deep spirituality, social awareness, intellectual energy and a passionate political concern for preserving our natural heritage and the Mi'kmaq way of life.


Far Enough Island

Lesley Choyce

Illustrated by Jill Quinn

Children's Literature
$8.95
ISBN-10 1-895900-33-6
ISBN-13 978-1-895900-33-0

An "Our Choice" selection of the Canadian Children's Book Centre.

Sarah's family has had a streak of bad luck. Her father is a fisherman and the fish have disappeared. Her mother is worried all the time. It seems that nothing is going right for her family. Sarah's best friend is her dog, Jeremiah, who came into her life in the night in the middle of a horrendous storm. Sarah is concerned about her unhappy mother and her father -- who doesn't always make the right decisions. Here is a story about a young girl's belief in herself, a family's struggle to survive and the desire to hold onto hope even when all hope seems to be gone.

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[Cover of Far Enough Island.]

Ark of Ice: Canadian Futurefictions

Edited by Lesley Choyce

Science Fiction, Canadian
280 pages
$14.95
6 x 9 paperback
ISBN 0-919001-73-4

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[Cover of Ark of Ice.]

The Coastline of Forgetting

Lesley Choyce

Poetry, Journal
80 pages
$8.95
6 x 9 paperback
ISBN 0-919001-95-5
Illustrated

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[Cover of The Coastline of Forgetting.]

Famous At Last

Lesley Choyce

Illustrated by Jill Quinn

Children's Chapter Book
48 pages
$8.95
6 x 9 paperback
ISBN-10 1-895900-11-5
ISBN-13 978-1-895900-11-8

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[Cover of Famous At Last.]

December Six \ The Halifax Solution (Nonfiction) $4.95 ISBN 0-919001-45-9. Order this book:
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Visions from the Edge (Fiction; with John Bell) $7.95 ISBN 0-919001-03-3. Order this book:
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The Cape Breton Collection (Fiction) $10.95 ISBN 0-919001-15-7. Order this book:
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An Avalanche of Ocean (Fiction: Goose Lane Editions) $14.95 ISBN 0-86492-060-5. Order this book:
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Second Season of Jonas MacPherson (Fiction: Thistledown) $12.95 ISBN 0-920633-67-6. Order this book:
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Downwind (Fiction: Creative) $1.95 ISBN 0-920021-08-5. Order this book:
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Billy Botzweiler's Last Dance (Fiction: Nightwood) $1.95 ISBN 0-88971-099-6. Order this book:
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Eastern Sure (Fiction: Nimbus) $7.95 ISBN 0-920852-08-4. Order this book:
[from Pottersfield Press]


Long Lost Planet (Music; with the Surf Poets) $14.95 ISBN 1-895900-03-4. Order this CD.

Sea Level (Music; with the Surf Poets) $14.95 ISBN 1-895900-22-0. Order this CD.

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