The author Laurel Deedrick-Mayne discusses the 1965 memoir written by her great-aunt Amy Wilson, When Days Are Long: Nurse in the North (Caitlin Press, 2019), with Joseph Planta.

When Days Are Long: Nurse in the North by Amy Wilson (Caitlin Press, 2019). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: When Days Are Long

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

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

Last year, the World Health Organization designated this year, 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. It’s fitting we acknowledge the nurse who in 1965 published a memoir of her time in the Yukon and Northern British Columbia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Then it was called No Man Stands Alone. Last fall, her grand niece, the author Laurel Deedrick-Mayne was instrumental in the reissue of the book under its new, more appropriate title When Days Are Long: Nurse in the North. Ms. Deedrick-Mayne joins me now to talk about her great aunt and the memorable experience Miss Wilson had as a the nurse covering 518,000 square kilometers, responsible for the health of 3,000 Indigenous Peoples. She was more than just a nurse, more than a healthcare provider, she became a friend and an advocate. It’s a fascinating relationship she had with the people of the north. She wasn’t condescending or patronising, she was the best example of what a nurse should be, with care at the fore. I’ll get Laurel to reflect on the epidemics that Amy Wilson saw first hand and treated. It is timely as we live in this COVID-19 era, where the coronavirus is as mysterious as it is dangerous. The original book in 1965 was published by Gray’s Publishing, long out of business. I’ll ask Laurel about its new edition from Caitlin Press. Laurel Deedrick-Mayne was first on the show in 2015 when her debut novel A Wake for The Dreamland was published. It went on to win the Alberta Readers’ Choice Award and the Whistler Independent Book Award, and was a bestseller in Edmonton for 80 weeks, where she joined me from last week. Visit www.ldmbooks.ca for more information. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Laurel Deedrick-Mayne; Ms. Deedrick-Mayne, good morning.

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