In the nineteenth century, hundreds of young girls joined schooner- and land-based fishing crews in the great seasonal Labrador cod fishery. Uneducated and socially repressed, many of these young women found themselves alone and frightened on distant shores, with no familial or spiritual support.?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

In 1892 Sir Wilfred Grenfell, a young British doctor, answered the call from Britain’s oldest North American colony to treat the appalling social conditions among the livyers of Labrador, and the Newfoundlanders who prosecuted the Labrador cod fishery. During that first season, Grenfell’s medical ship the Albert was blown into Indian Tickle, where he encountered a young woman in great distress, under the care of a well-intentioned but misguided fishing captain.

From Grenfell’s medical files, Earl B. Pilgrim has crafted another classic in Newfoundland literature, in the tradition of Will Anyone Search for Danny? and Curse of the Red Cross Ring.

Earl Baxter Pilgrim was born in St. Anthony, Newfoundland, in 1939. He received his early education in Roddickton, later studying forestry at the College of Trades and Technology in St. John’s. Besides being Newfoundland and Labrador’s favourite storyteller and all-time bestselling author, his career has spanned numerous fields. He served with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), during which time he became a champion boxer, and following his stint in the Armed Forces, he went on to become a forest ranger and wildlife protection officer with the Newfoundland government. Pilgrim has won several awards for his efforts in conservation and protection of the environment: the Safari International; the Gunther Behr; and the “Achievement Beyond the Call of Duty.”He is married to the former Beatrice Compton of Englee. They have four children and make their home in Roddickton, Newfoundland. Pilgrim’s most recognized literary work is the bestselling Newfoundland epic Curse of the Red Cross Ring.

Earl B. Pilgrim's profile page