Posted by One family’s journey from the farmlands of Norway to the coast of British Columbia
from FJORD TO FLOATHOUSE is the saga of hardy pioneers who worked and lived along the remote mainland coast of British Columbia in the first half of the twentieth century.
Lured across the continent to BC by news of the Klondike gold rush, immigrant Andy Forberg settled and raised his family where the only transportation was by boat, communication was by mail, and supplies and groceries that could not be picked, fished or shot came by steamer every second week. Andy’s partners and sons were hand-loggers whose families lived in compact camp houses pulled on to log rafts tied to the rugged shoreline.
“This is not a story of logging,” explains Myrtle Siebert. “This is a story about people – the men, women and children of one family who lived this lonely lifestyle.” The book offers a rare window on a world that few readers will have been aware: tidal influences, routine chores, food preparation, sanitation, medical attention, education, relocation, losses, leisure activities and celebrations.
Siebert tells the story of Rae Forberg, Andy’s granddaughter, who must leave the logging community to continue her education. Years later, while sorting through the personal effects of her deceased parents, Rae develops a curiosity about her ancestors. Three years of family history research culminates in a heartwarming welcome at the farm in Norway her grandfather left one hundred years before. A second cousin translates the words of her elderly mother, “My mother always told us there were cousins in Canada and it seemed like she was waiting for them to come, and now you are here.”
Author Biography
Myrtle Rae Forberg Siebert came to writing through a deep appreciation for books, first as a child and later through participation as a teacher on a Ministry of Education Textbook Selection Committee. Ms Siebert’s Management and Foods is a ministry text and was the first book to achieve a much-coveted metric “M” designation in Canada. An education ministry contact led to her second work, Food for Life, published in 1994 by McGraw-Hill Ryerson for students at grade nine and ten level.
She is a Registered Professional Home Economist with a special interest in management of time, energy and resources. A former teacher, she has enjoyed a wide range of careers including that of owner-operator of a small fast food outlet. Her other interests of a more personal nature change with the season or need: bookkeeper, homebuilder, kitchen designer, decorator and gardener. Through many years of volunteer activities she has gained a valuable understanding of group leadership. Involvement with International Training in Communications has honed Myrtle’s public speaking skills. She has led beginners workshops in writing, family history research and life planning.
Myrtle has three children and lives with her husband near Sidney on Vancouver Island. from Fjord to Floathouse is the result of over three years of family history research. She is currently working on a fiction with the same setting as this publication.
9 x 6 – 232 pages – $21.95
