Dying Hard: Industrial Carnage in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

by Elliott Leyton

Dying Hard is a series of first-hand accounts by miners suffering from industrial diseases contracted while working in the fluorspar mines of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. It tells the stories of men waiting for death to relieve them from the continuing agony of cancer and silicosis; and of the women who coped with the burden of raising children while their husbands' health deteriorated. Their stories are heart-wrenching, poignant and powerful. Through their voices Leyton makes the The miners of St. Lawrence died because of corporate negligence, and their suffering was exacerbated by a government compensation system that was callous, arbitrary and unfair. The fluorspar mines of St. Lawrence are now closed, but miners in other communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in Canada and around the world continue to suffer and die from industrial diseases. Originally published in the mid-1970s under another title, this 2004 edition includes photographs, a map, and an update by Leyton.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Elliott Leyton is a Canadian social-anthropologist, educator and author who is amongst the most widely consulted experts on serial homicide worldwide. He has also served as president of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association.

Leyton earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of British Columbia then went on to obtain his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Toronto in 1972. During his ensuing career, he dedicated himself to the analysis and research of social ills such as juvenile delinquency and the psychology behind perpetrators of serial killings. Leyton's achieved level of expertise has led to his giving lectures at the College of Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa.

Professor Leyton has held faculty positions at Queen's University of Belfast in Ireland (where he is a research Fellow), and at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel; and at Memorial University of Newfoundland where he currently is Professor Emeritus of anthropology.

Reviews

[David Tapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is certainly a remarkable read which should be read by all as a reminder of the carnage that fellow Newfoundlanders endured that was given a blind eye by the company. Dr Leyton went in those family homes and pressed play/record and provided us with a raw narrative where he pressed play.