Heather’s books are available in Canada in bookstores and on the Internet at www.chapters.indigo.ca and www.amazon.ca. They are available in the United States at www.amazon.com and www.barnsandnoble.com. Wacousta is distributed in Canada and the United States by Wayne State University Press of Detroit, Michigan. Please see the press’s web site at http://wsupress.wayne.edu.
Heather’s first two books, Warsaw Spring and A Drop of Rain, were published by Napoleon Publishing of Toronto. Napoleon Publishing’s website is at http://napoleonandcompany.com.
Heather's novels, Warsaw Spring and A Drop of Rain, touch indirectly on the Polish Solidarity Uprising. Solidarity was a remarkable passive-resistance movement that defeated the massively-armed Soviet Union, freed Poland, and helped end the Cold War. More information about Solidarity and other passive-resistance movements can be found in the three-hour documentary film series, A Force More Powerful. This award-winning series traces the history of nonviolent conflicts around the world. Narrated by Ben Kingsley, it premiered on PBS television in September 2000. You can purchase the film series, A Force More Powerful, as well as a book and game with the same title at http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org.
Readers of Warsaw Spring and A Drop of Rain may also be interested in the 28-minute film, Zegota. This powerful film is about a clandestine underground movement in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. The movement attempted to provide assistance to Jewish people. The film is available from Documentaries International Film & Video Foundation in Washington, D.C.
http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/zegota.htm
Heather’s third book, Wacousta, was published by Winding Trail Press. Winding Trail Press is no longer in business. Inquiries regarding Wacousta can be directed to Heather Kirk. Wacousta is distributed by Wayne State University Press of Detroit, Michigan. The website of this publisher is at http://wsupress.wayne.edu. Go to the website and click on “New and Forthcoming Titles.” Then click on “Spring & Summer 2008 Catalog.” Wacousta appears on page 24 of the catalogue.
The Detroit Historical Museum has an online exhibit that provides an excellent introduction to the early history of Detroit, Michigan. (Much of the action of Wacousta takes place in Fort Detroit in 1763.) Go to Detroit Historical Museum, click on “Exhibits,” click on “Now at the Historical Museum,” click on “Frontiers to Factories.”
You can read about the exciting life of John Richardson, the original author of Wacousta, in a book by David Beasley called The Canadian Don Quixote: The Life and Works of Major John Richardson, Canada's First Novelist. Beasley's biography was published by Davus Publishing. You can purchase the book at http://www.kwic.com/~davus/richardson's_works.htm
Some scenes in Wacousta are set in Fort Michilimackinac. You can learn more about Fort Michilimackinac on the website of Mackinac State Historical Parks at http://www.mackinacparks.com. Click on Colonial Michilimackinac.
The Windsor Community Museum at 254 Pitt Street West in Windsor, Ontario has a permanent exhibition called “By the River’s Edge: A History of Windsor.” This exhibit gives an excellent overview of the early history of Detroit as well as Windsor. John Richardson, the original author of Wacousta, has said that his inspiration for the novel came from stories his grandparents told him when he was a boy visiting their home in Sandwich, an early name for Windsor. Richardson’s grandparents had lived in Detroit when they were young; their house in Sandwich overlooked the Detroit River.
http://www.windsorpubliclibrary.com/branches/museum/programs.php
Fort Malden National Historic Site of Canada will be of interest to fans of Wacousta. This site is located in Amherstburg, Ontario, just a few kilometres down river from Windsor. John Richardson (1796-1852) grew up in Amherstburg. http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/malden/index_e.asp
Fort George National Historic Site of Canada also will be of interest to fans
of Wacousta.
This site is located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, a few kilometres from the popular tourist destination, Niagara Falls. John Richardson was probably born in Fort George.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/fortgeorge/index_e.asp
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