The award-winning journalist Duncan McCue discusses his memoir, The Shoe Boy (Nonvella, 2016), identity, and more, with Joseph Planta.

The Shoe Boy by Duncan McCue (Nonvella, 2016). Click to buy this book from Nonvella: The Shoe Boy

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

If you’re like me, you’ll have watched Duncan McCue’s journalism on the CBC for a number of years now, admiring his skill and diligence as a reporter. If you read his new book, his first, you’ll no doubt admire him a little bit more. The book is called The Shoe Boy. It’s just been published by Nonvella. The book is a memoir of the few months he spent just after high school, hunting in Northern Quebec. It evokes the landscape, the harshness of the wild, and the remarkable people he encounters along the way: Robbie Matthew Sr., Sally Matthew, and Bruce Matthew. Mr. McCue joins me now, and I’ll get him to tell us the genesis of this book, why he came to write about this formative time in his life, as well as how he ended up there in the first place. This is a beautiful book. It’s also honest, where we see the author talk about matters sexual, as well as witnessing alcohol abuse, and about the startling numbers when it comes to suicide on reserve, and amongst the Native population. Duncan McCue is the award winning journalist with CBC News, whose work is featured on the flagship broadcast The National. He is also an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Journalism, who has also taught journalism to Indigenous students at First Nations University, and Capilano College. He received a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University in 2011, where he created an online guide for journalists: Reporting in Indigenous Communities. He studied English and Law at the University of King’s College, and UBC respectively. He is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in Southern Ontario. He lives in Vancouver, where he joins me from today. The book is published by Nonvella. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Duncan McCue; Mr. McCue, good morning.

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