A SOURDOUGH'S QUEST

"While looking for inspiration, I mentioned my ideas to Stroller White the editor of the Daily Evening Star, the main Whitehorse gazette.

He had arrived in Skagway at the time of the great era. He had tried Dawson City first and had finally chosen to establish his business in Whitehorse. Stroller was a remarkable humourist, well known in the Great North. He knew my style of writing and how easy it was for me to versify. He asked me to write something for his newspaper.

- How are your rehearsals going for the show at church?

- Hard work! I am still hesitating about the program. Should I offer a text from a modern author?

- Why quote someone else? Write something original yourself, not a play copied from a popular one in New York! Who cares about that kind of megalopolis around here? Do something typical. Why don't you compose something about the Yukon? A poem! Inhabitants are terribly fond of everything that makes them relive their story. If I were you, I would explore that avenue!

From that moment on, I kept thinking about the challenge that Stroller had thrown me."

A Sourdough's Quest, Yukon, p 335.

Charlotte Service-Longépé shares many common features with her daring great-grandfather; it is not surprising that she feels under the Spell of his poetry.

Nearly three years of extensive research were needed to bring her famous ancestor back to life thanks to unpublished documents and personal love letters revealing new insights.

Traveling faithfully in his footsteps from Scotland to the Yukon, she got close to the poet's feelings, his hopes and dreams, acquiring an acute understanding of the driving force behind his captivating life tinged by optimism.

Have a look at "A Sourdough's Quest"