In 1947, Manhattan socialite Barbara Mundy left a life of privilege and travelled deep into the interior of Labrador, as a volunteer with the Grenfell Mission. She quickly became enamoured with the area’s natural beauty and found it more intriguing than her life among New York’s social elite. She discovered a love for hunting, canoeing, and camping—and for fur trapper Russell Groves.

However, accustomed to a life of solitude, Russell had little patience for his new bride’s lack of experience on a trap line. During their first two tumultuous years together, Barbara wrote letters chronicling the difficulties faced by a couple drawn together from vastly different backgrounds.

Anne Budgell uses these letters, as well as Barbara Mundy’s diaries and notes, to tell her remarkable story. Dear Everybody brings readers back to a remote place and time, through the eyes of a born adventurer.

Anne Budgell grew up an Air Force "brat," living on military bases all over Canada, until her parents returned home to Labrador in 1966. She had a long career as a radio and television journalist with CBC in Newfoundland and Labrador, retiring in 2007.
She credits her parents with instilling in her an interest in Labrador and its history. Her father George, grew up in Rigolet, the son of a Hudson's Bay Company factor. Her mother Ruby grew up in North West River, the daughter of a fur trapper.

Anne Budgell's profile page