Bill MacDonald’s latest work, Days to Remember, is a compelling autobiography. It’s jam-packed with stories of MacDonald’s childhood in a one-room school house in Pardee and—among other adventures—his experiences as a forester, teacher, student in Paris, and arctic weatherman. MacDonald’s parents Marge and Johnny, who lived in the same house without speaking for 17 years, are front and centre, and their dysfunctional, passive-aggressive relationship is woven effectively with MacDonald’s story. The book is hard to put down. You’ll recognize many of its locations: Hillcrest High School, Pigeon River, Archibald Street. While I found the presentations of some characters one-sided and the last few chapters anticlimactic compared to the tales of MacDonald’s earlier life, this is a fascinating, well-written book by an iconic, and prolific, local author.
[rating:3.5]
-Caroline Cox
