Looking for a terrific book?
Kathleen’s new book is receiving rave reviews.
The five stars are piling up.
She has kindly accepted our
invitation to tell you about it.
Hello readers. I’m Kathleen Lippa, a Canadian journalist, and brand-new
author of a true-crime book published by independent, Canadian publisher Dundurn
Press. I grew up in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and obtained a B.A. in English
from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1998 before embarking on a career
as a newspaper reporter and editor. I’m married to Arctic historian and author
Kenn Harper, and we divide our time between Ottawa and St. John’s.
Title: Arctic Predator: The Crimes of Edward
Horne Against Children in Canada’s North
Synopsis: In the 1970s, a young
schoolteacher from British Columbia was becoming the darling of the Northwest
Territories education department with his dynamic teaching style. He was
learning to speak the local language, Inuktitut, something few outsiders did.
He also claimed to be Indigenous — a claim that would later prove to be false.
In truth, Edward Horne was a pedophile who sexually abused his male students.
From 1971 to 1985 his predations on Inuit boys would
disrupt life in the communities where he worked — towns of close-knit families
that would suffer the intergenerational trauma created by his abuse.
The
Story Behind the Story:
I went to the
Canadian Arctic to work for the Northern News Services in 2003, and the
experience up there changed my life. I had a front-row seat on the creation of
a new territory in Canada, Nunavut. I got to travel throughout the Eastern
Arctic for my work as a reporter. And while I was spending time in the
communities of Nunavut I heard about the crimes of Edward Horne, a compelling schoolteacher
who hailed from British Columbia. Horne had won praise from his bosses in the
education department of the Northwest Territories at the time, but in truth, in
secret, Horne was a pedophile, and abused many children in the North over the
15 years he lived in the Eastern Arctic. The people of the North I met when I
was a reporter often spoke of Horne like a mythological figure. A monster. Some
wondered what ever became of him. He’d served prison time, but was he now a
free man? There was mystery surrounding the Horne tragedy. I wanted to know
more. It took me almost 20 years to finish writing the book that is now Arctic
Predator. It was the most difficult long-form work of journalism I have ever
done. I did it on my own time and using my own money. It was very challenging
on every level to get this book out into the world, but most notably, it was emotionally
draining - not just for me but the people I interviewed. But ultimately, we all
believed it was an important true-crime story to document. And the Canadian
public is fascinated – the book is a bestseller in Canada, and I’ve done a
number of successful events at independent bookstores.
I wanted to work
with a traditional publisher, and preferably Canadian. My manuscript was
rejected by 12 different publishers before Dundurn Press in Toronto took it on.
I’m very proud that Arctic Predator is printed and bound in Canada, and
available across Canada, and internationally.
Kathleen: I have been working in non-fiction for a long time, in my home office, located just off my kitchen. Home is best for the work I do, although I have always secretly envied people who can write in coffee shops!
The files and books I use for reference tend to pile up and create clutter around my desk. But I know where everything is. I can find necessary files and information rather quickly in those piles, in spite of how bad the clutter may look, and that is something I am rather proud of, to be honest.
I do drink coffee now, although for years I found strong green tea helpful in the mind-energy department. I blend my own mushroom coffee now with lion’s mane powder and real milk. I get to work early, like 5 a.m. every morning, and I find mushroom coffee gives me a warm boost.
An Excerpt from ARCTIC PREDATOR
TRIGGER WARNING: This book contains descriptions of sexual assault and abuse of children
CAPE DORSET, January 23, 2003
A
fire raged in the metal dump, yet no sirens blared. Townsfolk in sealskin and
work boots, and women in fur-lined parkas with babies on their backs made their
way up the hill to where firefighters had purposely set one of the community’s
old school buildings ablaze.
Four
hundred people, roughly a third of the community’s population, huddled near the
flames, a reprieve from the cold in the minus 20 degrees Celsius temperature.
Some people in the crowd were crying. Others picked up rocks and hurled them
into the flames, yelling at the disintegrating structure as if it were the
living embodiment of a name they shouted — Ed Horne.
Twenty
years was a long time to live with the anger. Horne had left their community in
1983, but the emotions his name engendered were still raw.
As
the schoolhouse and its secrets burned that night, a young reporter named
Christine Kay was at her desk in Iqaluit working the phones. She called hamlet
offices in the territory each week, hearing news and gossip that could be spun
into features for her newspaper. This was the best a reporter with no travel
budget could do. To actually visit a community beyond Iqaluit required an
expensive plane ride. The phone was an economical way in. Christine was curious
about the fire she was hearing about in Cape Dorset, but could only eke out a
small story for News/North that
appeared on February 3. The headline was “Piece of Past Up in Flames”. She
reported that the burning was part of Cape Dorset’s settlement in a civil
lawsuit against the governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The
small structure, one of two portable units — free-standing classrooms not
attached to the main school — was no longer in use. A year before this symbolic
act was carried out, a multi-million-dollar settlement had been made between
the two territorial governments, the employers of Ed Horne, and dozens of young
men — once boys — who had been sexually abused by the disgraced teacher.
Tuugaaq* initially attended the burning, but left before the building was razed to the ground.
“I did see people throwing rocks, but I wasn’t compelled to
do anything because that wasn’t where I had the experience with Ed Horne. The
older one where we first encountered him is still standing,” he said, many
years later, explaining that a construction company was currently using that
building. “There were two portable schools. The one that was burned down was
from later, it was for the younger guys. To me it was like, why don’t they burn
the one where it all started?”
Thank you for sharing such a compelling story, Kathleen. I appreciate how difficult it must've been to write.
I wish you continued success with your writing.
And a GRAND-CANYON-SIZE thank you to all our visitors and readers.
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