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Left to Die: The Story of the SS Newfoundland Sealing Disaster
“They didn’t die like flies, you know, like I’ve heard some reporters say over the years. Oh no, it wasn’t like that a’tall. The men who died didn’t just drop like flies. There was nothing quick or easy about it. They had frozen feet, and fingers too numb and cramped with the cold to wipe the tears from their eyes.”
Cecil Mouland, the last living survivor of the SS Newfoundland sealing disaster, told his story to Gary Collins in the fall of 1971 while travelling to St. John’s, where the old ice hunter would live out his final days. This book grew from that encounter and stands alone as the defining tale of the Bonavista Bay men who were left to die on the ice.
The historic convergence of ice, seals, and men in late March 1914 marked the end of Newfoundland’s innocence. Men both young and old left their homes from all over the province that year to pursue the annual seal hunt. Among the vessels that took them to the ice was the Newfoundland, a wooden-walled steamship captained by the famous Captain Westbury Kean. With no wireless aboard the ship, the stage was set for seventy-eight of the men who went over the side and their fates sealed.
Left to Die is Gary Collins’s most ambitious and creative work of non-fiction, a storytelling masterpiece. With new photos and new research revealed, he recalls with stunning clarity what history remembers about the sealing disaster of 1914.
Cecil Mouland, the last living survivor of the SS Newfoundland sealing disaster, told his story to Gary Collins in the fall of 1971 while travelling to St. John’s, where the old ice hunter would live out his final days. This book grew from that encounter and stands alone as the defining tale of the Bonavista Bay men who were left to die on the ice.
The historic convergence of ice, seals, and men in late March 1914 marked the end of Newfoundland’s innocence. Men both young and old left their homes from all over the province that year to pursue the annual seal hunt. Among the vessels that took them to the ice was the Newfoundland, a wooden-walled steamship captained by the famous Captain Westbury Kean. With no wireless aboard the ship, the stage was set for seventy-eight of the men who went over the side and their fates sealed.
Left to Die is Gary Collins’s most ambitious and creative work of non-fiction, a storytelling masterpiece. With new photos and new research revealed, he recalls with stunning clarity what history remembers about the sealing disaster of 1914.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
342 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2014
6 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Gary Collins
15 books14 followersGary Collins was born in Hare Bay, Bonavista North. He spent forty years in the logging and sawmilling business with his father, Theophilus, and son Clint. Gary was once Newfoundland's youngest fisheries guardian. He managed log drives down spring rivers for years, spent seven seasons driving tractor-trailers over ice roads and the Beaufort Sea of Canada's Western Arctic, and has been involved in the crab, lobster, and cod commercial fisheries. In 2016, he joined the Canadian Rangers.
Gary's writing career began when he was asked to write eulogies for deceased friends and family. Now a critically acclaimed author, he has written twelve books, including the children's illustrated book What Colour is the Ocean?, which he co-wrote with his granddaughter, Maggie Rose Parsons. That book won an Atlantic Book Award: The Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. His book Mattie Mitchell: Newfoundland's Greatest Frontiersman has been adapted for film. His first novel, The Last Beothuk, won the inaugural NL Reads literary competition, administered by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Gary Collins is Newfoundland and Labrador's favourite storyteller, and today he is known all over the province as "the Story Man." His favourite pastimes are reading, writing, and playing guitar at his log cabin. He lives in Hare Bay, Newfoundland, with his wife, the former Rose Gill. They have three children and three grandchildren
Gary's writing career began when he was asked to write eulogies for deceased friends and family. Now a critically acclaimed author, he has written twelve books, including the children's illustrated book What Colour is the Ocean?, which he co-wrote with his granddaughter, Maggie Rose Parsons. That book won an Atlantic Book Award: The Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. His book Mattie Mitchell: Newfoundland's Greatest Frontiersman has been adapted for film. His first novel, The Last Beothuk, won the inaugural NL Reads literary competition, administered by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Gary Collins is Newfoundland and Labrador's favourite storyteller, and today he is known all over the province as "the Story Man." His favourite pastimes are reading, writing, and playing guitar at his log cabin. He lives in Hare Bay, Newfoundland, with his wife, the former Rose Gill. They have three children and three grandchildren
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 31, 2014
Gut-wrenching account of the SS Newfoundland sealing disaster of 1914. Read it and you will want to up-boot and root the villains in the arse. Truly.
August 7, 2019
I just love reading about disasters in places I have visited. And arctic shipwrecks. So this had both. Also regional fiction can sometimes be not so well written but this book was really good.
September 9, 2014
This real life account of the tough sealing men of Newfoundland is a true and compelling story of tragedy and death on the dangerous ice floes off the coast of Newfoundland. The fact that this tragedy could have been avoided is never far from your mind as you read through the poignant tale of these doomed sealers.
January 31, 2022
Gary Collins uses archival research and personal interviews to weave a deep, detailed narrative of the SS Newfoundland Sealing disaster. The first part of the book takes its time, giving you a deep sense of what it was like for the men who went to sea on this dangerous job. The slow pace at the beginning pays off, though, as the unthinkable final moments of the men on the ice feel come through ever more deeply because of those close descriptions.
My only complaint is the same one that I have often had with this sort of book, that the set of photo plates are usually placed in the middle of the book, but often pertain to the whole book. So if you look at the photo plates when you get to them, you learn bits of the story you shouldn't know yet. Not a big deal, but a bit disappointing.
A powerful tribute and history of the people who braved the ice for that glory and cash, and a damning account of the dangers such men faced when led by feckless, greedy, or sloppy leaders.
My only complaint is the same one that I have often had with this sort of book, that the set of photo plates are usually placed in the middle of the book, but often pertain to the whole book. So if you look at the photo plates when you get to them, you learn bits of the story you shouldn't know yet. Not a big deal, but a bit disappointing.
A powerful tribute and history of the people who braved the ice for that glory and cash, and a damning account of the dangers such men faced when led by feckless, greedy, or sloppy leaders.
March 31, 2024
A terrible and tragic tale. It's hard to imagine the lives that put people in the condition that this looks like a good option, going to the ice for the seal hunt.
The book reads more as historical fiction than history, as the author puts words in the mouths and actions to the bodies of men to move the narrative along. I'm not a fan of this emergency of the genre, but he does it well, so if you like that aspect, you'll be rewarded here.
The book reads more as historical fiction than history, as the author puts words in the mouths and actions to the bodies of men to move the narrative along. I'm not a fan of this emergency of the genre, but he does it well, so if you like that aspect, you'll be rewarded here.
May 14, 2017
I felt the beginning of the book really dragged and I couldn't wait for the 'adventure' to begin. But really it was just a way the author set up to relate to what the men went through later in the book. Still too little time spent on the 'adventure' and I felt many afterward questions were just quickly explained away instead of more depth. Could have been a really great story.
June 8, 2024
This book was written for the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. I think I liked this book better because it gave more of an insight into the lives of the seal hunters. It also gave more of the Newfoundland culture. The dialogue was written more closely to the way Newfoundlanders talked then, and some still do! It was a lot more interesting to get a closer glimpse into who these people were.
July 22, 2025
Took a while to get into the story of the disaster as it focused on first telling the reader about the individual sealers.
May 18, 2016
Personal feelings about the sealing trade aside, and recognizing this was over a hundred years ago and attitudes were different, one cannot help but feel for the men left out on the ice, stranded between ships and unable to find the SS Newfoundland because of the blinding storm and wandering directionless due to having no compass. The fact that any survived under the circumstances is remarkable. A compelling account, this book will appeal to those who like to read about Maritime survival accounts, especially those dealing with the frozen north. Left to Die is also notable for the depiction of the sealing industry and life in Newfoundland at the beginning of the 20th century. I especially appreciated the maps of Newfoundland and the tracing of the SS Newfoundland's route on that fateful voyage to the sealing grounds in March of 1914.
My full review is here: http://wp.me/p60sTD-y5
My full review is here: http://wp.me/p60sTD-y5
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews