The Chronicles of Uncle Mose

Edward “Ted” Russell was born in Coley’s Point, Conception Bay, in 1904. At sixteen, he undertook his first teaching assignment at Pass Island. For the next twenty-three years he worked in outport communities as a teacher and later a magistrate. In 1943 he moved to St. John’s to accept the position of Director of Co-operatives for the Commission of Government. After a brief stint in politics (a member of the first Smallwood cabinet), Ted returned to teaching. But he also found a new opportunity to give expression to the more creative side of his nature. In 1953 he was offered a spot on CBC Radio’s Fishermen’s Broadcast as Uncle Mose. The highly successful “Chronicles of Uncle Mose” continued until 1962. During this period Ted also wrote several radio plays, all of which were broadcast by CBC. The last years of his working life were spent on the faculty of Memorial University (English Department) from which he retired in 1973. He died four years later. Ted married Dora Oake (of Change Islands) in 1934. They had five children: Rhona; Elizabeth “Betty”; June; Margaret “Peggy”; and Kelly.

Elizabeth Miller was born in St. John’s in 1939, the second of five children of Ted and Dora Russell. She spent her entire career as an educator, first as a high school teacher and principal (at Joe Batt’s Arm), followed by over thirty years on faculty with the English Department at Memorial University. During the 1970s and 1980s, Elizabeth edited numerous collections of the stories of Uncle Mose and published two full-length biographies (on Ted Russell and Norman Duncan). In the early 1990s, her scholarly pursuits took an unusual turn. Elizabeth is now internationally acclaimed as one of the world’s foremost Dracula scholars, having published six books on the subject along with dozens of articles. Her expertise is sought for TV documentaries and magazine articles around the world. She has been the recipient of several accolades: Graduate Studies Award for Thesis Excellence (1988); President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching (1991); Baroness of the House of Dracula (Romania, 1995); Daughter of Aref (Romania, 2000); and Professor Emerita, Memorial University (2005). Elizabeth has one son (Dennis) and since her retirement in 2002 has resided in Toronto.