Mirrors of Stone

Unearthing the rich heritage of the Porcupine region of Northern Ontario, author Charlie Angus takes us on a journey through ethnic neighbourhoods, bootlegging joints, and bordellos. Here you won't find the conventional history of "great men and events," but the stories of ordinary immigrants caught up in extraordinary times: pitched street battles, gold smuggling mobsters, and big band dance kings. Searching for the roots of his own identity, Angus recreates the disasters and celebrations that defined life in what was then Canada's multi-ethnic frontier. Louie Palu's photographic exploration of the "landscapes of memory" - the immigrant graveyards of the Porcupine - moves in compelling counterpoint to the text. This collaboration of history and photography raises a fundamental question about Canadian identity: Why are some stories told and others deliberately forgotten, as if airbrushed from memory?