21 September 2009

The truth is out there…

It just ain’t coming from this Mulder.

labradore notes a curious commentary on Sean Cadigan’s recent history of Newfoundland and Labrador written by someone name Judith MacDonald Guy Mulder from Port Hope, Ontario.  The thing appeared in the weekend Telegram but isn’t online.

Ms. Mulder either did not read or did not understand Cadigan's book.  She mentions several things but does not present anything to rebut Cadigan other than merely to assert that he is just wrong. That is always persuasive.

With that said,  her major grievances appear to be that Cadigan :

  1. does not accept the anti-Confederate orthodoxy now in vogue, and,
  2. calls Danny Williams a "tycoon".

On the first of these he ought to be commended.

On the second, it is hard to fathom why she objects to calling Williams a word that means a powerful and wealthy businessman.

Isn't that what he is?

Cadigan’s book is worth taking the time to read if you have an open mind and can understand simple English.  The argument Cadigan offers is not complicated or hard to understand. Cadigan is a professional historian but his writing is, as the saying goes, “accessible” and the themes he weaves are equally easy to grasp. 

This is an exceptional overview of  Newfoundland and Labrador history that deserves to be read by more people.

-srbp-