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Dafydd
Dafydd is a first-person narrative memoir of growing up on a farm in the 1950s and visiting a nearby city on weekends and summer holidays.
As a curious young man, the author began researching the lives of his ancestors and stuffing file cabinets with his findings. Long forgotten documents and vintage photographs fuelled his compilation of complex lineage charts and detailed biographies. Decades later, inspired by the pursuit of his ancestors’ stories, Forsyth committed to providing his descendants with a record of life in the mid-twentieth century. Dafydd is that record.
The book is a compilation of anecdotes, unique memories of a wonderful time. It can be read simply for the pleasure of reminiscing, or as an informal historical reference to post-war rural life in Canada. It is the author's conviction that ordinary lives have historical significance and should be documented.
As a curious young man, the author began researching the lives of his ancestors and stuffing file cabinets with his findings. Long forgotten documents and vintage photographs fuelled his compilation of complex lineage charts and detailed biographies. Decades later, inspired by the pursuit of his ancestors’ stories, Forsyth committed to providing his descendants with a record of life in the mid-twentieth century. Dafydd is that record.
The book is a compilation of anecdotes, unique memories of a wonderful time. It can be read simply for the pleasure of reminiscing, or as an informal historical reference to post-war rural life in Canada. It is the author's conviction that ordinary lives have historical significance and should be documented.
242 pages, Paperback
Published January 15, 2014
2 people want to read
About the author
David J. Forsyth
5 books9 followersDavid J. Forsyth was born at Hamilton, Canada in 1945 and grew up on a farm immediately north of the city. For much of his life, he harboured a passion for genealogy, researching the histories of hundreds of his ancestors. Forsyth stuffed his findings into file cabinets, compiled biographies and studied individuals and family lines spanning three centuries. Finally, with a little prompting, the author began documenting the period of history that he had personally witnessed.
In January, 2014, he published his debut book Dafydd, a non-fiction narrative memoir. Copies of Dafydd are available at Amazon and http://www.davidjforsyth.com
As a teenager, Forsyth dreamed of cruising the world. Over a period of fifteen years, aboard several vessels including his own Alberg 29 Alice Rose, he sailed thousands of nautical miles, exploring coasts and communities throughout the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast of North America from Labrador to Florida.
His second book, Too Cold for Mermaids is based on his memories, journal entries and ship’s logs over more than a decade of cruising. Copies are available at Amazon, http://www.rocksmillspress.com as well as through the author's website and select Canadian book retailers.
Forsyth's third book, Footnotes "poems of loss, the passage of time and mortality," contains 51 of his works, written over a period of six decades. As of October 1, 2020, it is available at Amazon.ca, rocksmillspress.com and through the author's website.
Rock's Mills Press has recently published Forsyth's fourth book, a fact based narrative featuring the life of a World War One war-bride titled Alice and The Machine Gunner. Details of this work are available at http://www.davidjforsyth.com
A collection of Forsyth's short stories, titled Shadows and Reflections is pending.
In January, 2014, he published his debut book Dafydd, a non-fiction narrative memoir. Copies of Dafydd are available at Amazon and http://www.davidjforsyth.com
As a teenager, Forsyth dreamed of cruising the world. Over a period of fifteen years, aboard several vessels including his own Alberg 29 Alice Rose, he sailed thousands of nautical miles, exploring coasts and communities throughout the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast of North America from Labrador to Florida.
His second book, Too Cold for Mermaids is based on his memories, journal entries and ship’s logs over more than a decade of cruising. Copies are available at Amazon, http://www.rocksmillspress.com as well as through the author's website and select Canadian book retailers.
Forsyth's third book, Footnotes "poems of loss, the passage of time and mortality," contains 51 of his works, written over a period of six decades. As of October 1, 2020, it is available at Amazon.ca, rocksmillspress.com and through the author's website.
Rock's Mills Press has recently published Forsyth's fourth book, a fact based narrative featuring the life of a World War One war-bride titled Alice and The Machine Gunner. Details of this work are available at http://www.davidjforsyth.com
A collection of Forsyth's short stories, titled Shadows and Reflections is pending.
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December 20, 2016Dafydd - David J. Forsyth – A Review
For all of us, growing up and taking our places in society is a series of initiations into the social rituals of our culture and the challenges and rewards of undergoing new and personal experiences. In his memoire, Dafydd, David J. Forsyth recalls the specifics of growing up in the second half of the 20th Century as a farm-boy near Waterdown and as a teenager and a young man in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In a series of charming, perceptive and sometimes blunt anecdotes about the interaction between his society and his own developing personality, the story-teller captures the essence of growing into manhood or womanhood in all cultures and at all times. – John Passfield
For all of us, growing up and taking our places in society is a series of initiations into the social rituals of our culture and the challenges and rewards of undergoing new and personal experiences. In his memoire, Dafydd, David J. Forsyth recalls the specifics of growing up in the second half of the 20th Century as a farm-boy near Waterdown and as a teenager and a young man in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In a series of charming, perceptive and sometimes blunt anecdotes about the interaction between his society and his own developing personality, the story-teller captures the essence of growing into manhood or womanhood in all cultures and at all times. – John Passfield
Displaying 1 of 1 review