• Age: 13
• Grade: 8

In 2008 Keith Billington's surprise bestseller, House Calls by Dogsled: Six Years in an Arctic Medical Outpost, vividly described Billington and his wife Muriel's experiences providing medical care to a string of isolated First Nations settlements in the Northwest
Territories during the 1960s. In Cold Land, Warm Hearts: More Memories of an Arctic Medical Outpost, Billington dishes up more of the hair-raising and heartwarming stories about medical emergencies and Native traditions that made his first book such a hit. In one story, he and his RCMP escort get more than they bargain for during a patrol of hunting camps as they find their loaded dogsleds plunging over a massive waterfall, which is only navigable owing to the fact it is frozen solid.

Time and again the Billingtons are awoken in the wee hours to find a life-threatening emergency unfolding before their sleepy eyes, which frequently ends by lighting a makeshift airstrip with rolls of toilet paper soaked in kerosene so a steel-nerved bush pilot can be summoned on a pitch-dark mercy flight to the hospital in Inuvik. Through it all Keith and Muriel become ever closer to the Gwich'in people of the North who serve as foster grandparents to their growing family and in whose life dramas the Billingtons
inevitably become involved. In this book Keith and Muriel return to their northern haunts after the passage of more than a quarter century and learn the endings to many of the stories started in the first book. They are moved beyond tears to discover their old medical post in Fort McPherson replaced by a modern two-storey facility named for their faithful Gwich'in assistant, William Firth.

Grippingly written and infused with great warmth, Cold Land, Warm Hearts is an absorbing adventure story that rounds out the Billingtons' Arctic saga with a deepened understanding of the far North and its people.

A registered nurse from England, Keith Billington emigrated to Canada and worked in the Canadian Arctic for six years with his wife, Muriel, who is a nurse-midwife. Keith obtained his Public Health Nurse Diploma at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Since retiring, Keith and his wife continue to travel in winter by snowmobile and skis, and in the summertime they find adventure in their double seagoing kayak. His previous books are House Calls by Dogsled (Harbour Publishing, 2008) and Cold Land, Warm Hearts (Harbour Publishing, 2010).

Keith Billington's profile page

Cold Land, Warm Hearts: More Memories of an Arctic Medical Outpost

In this sequel to House Calls by Dogsled, Billington once again tells unique, insightful stories of his time in the Northwest Territories with the Gwich’in people. In 1963, he and his wife began a six-year stint at the medical outpost in Fort McPherson. Both specially trained nurses, they looked after the medical needs in the village and the surrounding area while raising their own two young children. A return visit 40 years later provides the opportunity to continue their story as they reconnect with old friends and see the changes brought by time and technology, both for the better and the worse. Their continued respect for the Arctic lands and the Gwich’in culture is clear, as is the sense of humour needed for them to have thrived in an extreme environment.

Cold Land, Warm Hearts: More Memories of an Arctic Medical Outpost

Keith and Muriel Billington, both nurses, worked in isolated communities in the Northwest Territories’ Mackenzie Delta from 1963–69. Their primary location was at the nursing station in Fort McPherson and environs home of the Gwich’in First Nation. In 2009, they returned to the area to catch up with the people who had been the centre of their care. The book blends narrative about both people and events from their six-year stay as well as from the return visit. Aspects of the life and lore of the Arctic are described as well as the difficulties living in such a demanding environment. The tragic socio-economic consequences of the imposition of white culture, alcohol and residential schools are critiqued. Gwich’in traditional games and stories are mentioned.

Billington also wrote House Calls by Dogsled.