At the heart of Gros Morne National Park is Bonne Bay with its magnificent landscape, sheltered arms and coves, and abundant marine life. Bonne Bay occupies an important place in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. Long known to Aboriginal peoples, in the mid-1800s it grew rapidly as settlers swarmed in to take advantage of the herring and lobster fishery. Tensions between the competing claims by the French and British were often played out here. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bonne Bay grew to become the administrative centre for the northwest coast. Today, it is one of Eastern Canada's most popular tourist destinations, visited by people from all over the world.?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

This book reviews the history of Bonne Bay before Confederation in 1949. It describes the people that came to live here, with glimpses of some of the main characters, the way of life, and the influences of church and school. The book ends with the story of how Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, came to be.

As a boy, Tony Berger spent summers in Lomond where his mother, Ella Manuel, ran a sports fishing lodge. Since then, he has been a frequent visitor to and sometime resident in Woody Point. After finishing his studies in Nova Scotia, Australia, and England, he taught geology at the University of Toronto, the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, and Memorial University. He played a key role in founding several worldwide organizations dedicated to strengthening science in developing countries, and in the 1980s, he edited an international news journal for the earth sciences. Since then, he has been closely involved in scientific projects assessing contemporary rapid landscape change, researching the response of past societies to environmental disasters, and developing linkages between medical science and geology—soils, minerals, and water. Since retiring to Atlantic Canada, he has been involved in local community activities, including Writers at Woody Point, and has guided tours by bus across the island and by ship around the province. In the past two decades, Tony has worked closely with Gros Morne National Park, most recently in compiling and analyzing photographs that record the changing landscape of the park. He is the author of some ten scientific books and monographs and many journal articles. His international experience aside, his heart remains in Bonne Bay.

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