The Man, The Fisher Man and The Facts, man

The man, not the fisher man, was how Dennis put it when he described the article he was writing. "Those who know him, know him as the fisherman; I'd like to portray how the man, Roderick Haig-Brown, lived his life."

Dennis stayed a night and asked me many, many questions about the Haig-Brown's...

• what I knew of their lives (varied, educated, au natural, community, neighbourly, interesting, social)
• their work (pro-active, visionary, valuable, compassionate, sensible, hard)
• the books (he wrote about 25; I say "about" because some were published posthumously and he collaborated on several, plus wrote hundreds of essays and papers, as well as a number of magazine articles)
• house (they purchased it - including the almost 20 acres around it - 13 years after it was built by the Pidcock brothers, Reg and Herbert. Rod and Ann finished the upstairs, the basement, added onto the kitchen, built the library, added the carport, and made additional modifications both interior and exterior)
• money (there was none. Or very little. For a very long while. They worked hard to make money, and early on traded dairy and vegetable produce for sundry items)
• food (mostly, they grew their own, milked their own cows, fished for their dinner...)
• kids (there are four: Valerie, Mary, Alan, Celie, and they all have children of their own)
• friends (goodness, where to begin! Innumerable!)
• families (Ann was born in Seattle, to a Canadian mother and American physician father, and Ann loved her family dearly. Rod was born in Lancing, Sussex, England, loved his family very much as well, and lost his father in WWI)
• likes (or loves! Ann loved everything Italian, made several visits to Italy, re-configured the terrace at HBH to resemble a terraza and apparently spoke Italian. Rod liked the colour red, and loved writing!)
• dislikes (Ann did not like red. Rod did not like the water pump at the house in the early years....)
  

And pictures. Dennis took many, many pictures of anything and everything Haig-Brown. Dennis is nothing if not thorough. His quiet insistence and pursuit of the story was evident. I answered what I could; apparently there's still much for me to learn. In the end, I encouraged him to research Wikipedia and a few books since I was starting to say, "I'm uncertain about this fact or that fact..."

Looking forward to seeing the finished story, and to see how the factoids look when put together under the influence of the writer's quill. Let us know, Dennis, how it all turns out! See you next time.
Sandra