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Once upon an Isle: The Story of Fishing Families on Isle Royale: Paintings and Companion Stories
Howard Sivertson's autobiographical first book focuses on the life he was born into - growing up in a fishing family on the remote island of Isle Royale. In these 40 paintings he depicts seasons and holidays, boats and the buildings. All show the world of family togetherness as it used to be.
111 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 30, 2021
Wonderful. Forty paintings by narrative painter, Howard Sivertson, with a story about life on Isle Royale in the 1930's and 40's and it's fishing heritage accompanying each. He's a talented artist and storyteller with first hand perspective, having grown up part of a fishing family on Isle Royale - once home to many, now a National Park.
Much is explored here, I highly recommend reading it! For Lake Superior lovers, but also for all those interested in land stewardship, culture, values, and history.
I read the 40 stories and the generous informative sections over the span of a few weeks. The short stories are perfect for being able to set the book down and return to it a story or two at a time.
"..Midwestern folk knowledge is a vast and valuable body of very practical information. It is also a well-spring of human values. Perhaps most crucial to consider, in today's world these folkways and family values are often endangered. Once gone, they are irreplaceable.
..More than a story of an island, Once Upon An Isle is an insight into a way of living - based on traditions of work, family values, and a sense of place - that shows us a rarely-considered form of stewardship that combines the best of human ways with wilderness." (from the Preface by Philip Martin)
"As the only survivor of the fishing culture with the training and desire to illustrate life on the island, I felt the need to document my experiences.
..As a narrative artist, I am trying to communicate with the most people possible. The story is most important to me." (from the Introduction by Howard Sivertson)
"Bud Sivertson lived the life he is depicting.
..As a former historian for Isle Royale, I know that no other work captures the spirit of Isle Royale more completely, provocatively, or authentically.
..Bud provides us with detailed paintings of scenes rarely documented, scenes that enrich what we know about living and fishing on Isle Royale.
..Rich with implicit comparisons, Bud's paintings, even in such an exotic locale as Isle Royale, compel us to think about what we have lost and gained through time. He does not easily accept the notion that the passage of time equals progress. He is most interested in a quality of life. He suggests that "progress" can be blind to more cherished qualities of life: family, sense of place, independence and community, and folk stewardship of unsullied resources.
While Bud's work reflects family and personal roots to Isle Royale, it also chronicles and archetypical story of an immigrant family becoming proud Americans."
(from the Afterword by Timothy Cochrane) I particularly love the following paragraph:
"At the heart of Island fishing values is the primacy of women. Women are centers of life, not merely helpmates. Bud is amazed at what Island women had to contend with - including the most enigmatic creatures of all, moose and men. Fisher women are the captains of the home, equally hard workers, and the keepers of the family. And if there is a hero in this book, it is Bud's grandmother T'dora. She endures with grace. ..She is the presence, the shadow, behind Bud. Bud realizes Grandma, and women generally, provided necessities which made Island fishing whole, which made a way of living from the lake complete."
The book also asks the complicated question, "How do humans and Isle Royale mix?" with Isle Royale changing from a place people called home and based their livelihood to a National Park, a place of exile for those people.
"In effect, the decision on Isle Royale was to manufacture wilderness, certainly an oxymoron. And for what? As a country, do we value the recreational opportunities of urban dwellers more than a local culture which produces food for others and stewards its resources? Further, as environmentalists, are we not looking for role models of people living sensibly and intimately in pristine lands? ..Ultimately, the issue becomes: what is the authentic Isle Royale?"
"Most fishermen could not swim and refused to learn, believing that even the best swimmers would not survive the cold water for more than ten or fifteen minutes. They didn't wear life preservers for the same reason." Emergency Repairs, p. 69
"They didn't really retire, but just slowed down some. Besides fishing a few nets, Grandpa mended nets and did other shore work, but found plenty of time to sit in his chair and smoke a pipe. Grandma continued to cook, bake, clean house, do laundry, and fuss over her flowers. The coffee pot was always on, ready to serve the frequent visitors. I remember her especially as the quiet strong center of things, an unobtrusive core of love that everything else seemed to move around." Retirement, p.85
Much is explored here, I highly recommend reading it! For Lake Superior lovers, but also for all those interested in land stewardship, culture, values, and history.
I read the 40 stories and the generous informative sections over the span of a few weeks. The short stories are perfect for being able to set the book down and return to it a story or two at a time.
"..Midwestern folk knowledge is a vast and valuable body of very practical information. It is also a well-spring of human values. Perhaps most crucial to consider, in today's world these folkways and family values are often endangered. Once gone, they are irreplaceable.
..More than a story of an island, Once Upon An Isle is an insight into a way of living - based on traditions of work, family values, and a sense of place - that shows us a rarely-considered form of stewardship that combines the best of human ways with wilderness." (from the Preface by Philip Martin)
"As the only survivor of the fishing culture with the training and desire to illustrate life on the island, I felt the need to document my experiences.
..As a narrative artist, I am trying to communicate with the most people possible. The story is most important to me." (from the Introduction by Howard Sivertson)
"Bud Sivertson lived the life he is depicting.
..As a former historian for Isle Royale, I know that no other work captures the spirit of Isle Royale more completely, provocatively, or authentically.
..Bud provides us with detailed paintings of scenes rarely documented, scenes that enrich what we know about living and fishing on Isle Royale.
..Rich with implicit comparisons, Bud's paintings, even in such an exotic locale as Isle Royale, compel us to think about what we have lost and gained through time. He does not easily accept the notion that the passage of time equals progress. He is most interested in a quality of life. He suggests that "progress" can be blind to more cherished qualities of life: family, sense of place, independence and community, and folk stewardship of unsullied resources.
While Bud's work reflects family and personal roots to Isle Royale, it also chronicles and archetypical story of an immigrant family becoming proud Americans."
(from the Afterword by Timothy Cochrane) I particularly love the following paragraph:
"At the heart of Island fishing values is the primacy of women. Women are centers of life, not merely helpmates. Bud is amazed at what Island women had to contend with - including the most enigmatic creatures of all, moose and men. Fisher women are the captains of the home, equally hard workers, and the keepers of the family. And if there is a hero in this book, it is Bud's grandmother T'dora. She endures with grace. ..She is the presence, the shadow, behind Bud. Bud realizes Grandma, and women generally, provided necessities which made Island fishing whole, which made a way of living from the lake complete."
The book also asks the complicated question, "How do humans and Isle Royale mix?" with Isle Royale changing from a place people called home and based their livelihood to a National Park, a place of exile for those people.
"In effect, the decision on Isle Royale was to manufacture wilderness, certainly an oxymoron. And for what? As a country, do we value the recreational opportunities of urban dwellers more than a local culture which produces food for others and stewards its resources? Further, as environmentalists, are we not looking for role models of people living sensibly and intimately in pristine lands? ..Ultimately, the issue becomes: what is the authentic Isle Royale?"
"Most fishermen could not swim and refused to learn, believing that even the best swimmers would not survive the cold water for more than ten or fifteen minutes. They didn't wear life preservers for the same reason." Emergency Repairs, p. 69
"They didn't really retire, but just slowed down some. Besides fishing a few nets, Grandpa mended nets and did other shore work, but found plenty of time to sit in his chair and smoke a pipe. Grandma continued to cook, bake, clean house, do laundry, and fuss over her flowers. The coffee pot was always on, ready to serve the frequent visitors. I remember her especially as the quiet strong center of things, an unobtrusive core of love that everything else seemed to move around." Retirement, p.85
September 9, 2008
About growing up on Isle Royale surrounded by Lake Superior. Good read, really nice artwork.
January 17, 2020
Copies of Sivertson's paintings and his short essays recall the stories of the fishing families (most from Norway) on Isle Royale in Lake Superior before it was made a National Park. A different and an unique culture I knew nothing about before finding this book after a trip to the North Shore of Minnesota.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews