".... a collection of stories of love, courage, and adventure..."
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What does it take to succeed as a field zoologist, particularly as a woman in a heavily male-dominated industry? Resilience, adaptability and a longing for adventure. These are the traits that Lorna Lyons highlights in her personal memoir, Drinking from the Iceberg. Across seventy short scenes, spanning around thirty years and four provinces and one territory, Lyons invites the reader into her home and family, her successes and struggles of her early life and early career.
Lyons blends memory and vivid scenes to create compelling portraits of her time growing up in Northern Alberta. As the oldest of seven siblings, Lyons balances childhood games and exploration with taking care of her younger siblings. It is not always easy, but Lyons unveils the excitement and compassion of rural life in the mid-twentieth century. Through these tales of growth, Lyons demonstrates an early fascination for nature and small creatures. Little does she know that an early fascination with a bat on the front porch would take her to some of the most remote places in Canada.
Lyons’ zoology training takes her from the labs of the University of Alberta to the endless skies of the Northwest Territories. In this phase of life, she hones her skills as a scientist and a survivalist. But the work takes its toll and Lyons veers off course for a year, transferring to the University of British Columbia to study English. Here, she meets Harvey, whom she quickly marries. Their new adventure together sees them traveling east, eventually settling for a time on the remote Camel Island, in Newfoundland, with their daughter and two dogs.
Lyons peoples her recollections with a cast of colourful characters, placing the reader at the heart of conversations and conflicts, inviting them into a world that is at once foreign and recognizably human.
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REVIEWS
Drinking From the Iceberg: Review by Edythe Anstey Hanen
"Drinking From the Iceberg is a collection of stories of love, courage, and adventure that chronicle the life of a woman whose indomitable spirit shines through every page of this fascinating memoir. Born in Red Deer, Alberta, Lorna Lyons spent most of her childhood in Beaverlodge, a small town in northern Alberta. The eldest of seven children, she spent much of her childhood and teen years caring for her younger siblings. Much as she loved each new baby that arrived, as she got older she longed for freedom and independence and a life of her own. At fifteen, her life at home began to feel too small for her dreams, and for the person she wanted to be. One of her escapes from the tumult of a busy household was her bicycle. Away from the chores and responsibilities of home, she would ride out to her favourite “saskatoon patch” where she could look out over the valley and dream of the worlds she yearned to explore. The tenderness and beauty of Lorna’s relationship with her “Granny” is one of the highlights of this memoir. It was with her grandmother that she found a deep nurturing, and a connection that she couldn’t always find in the chaos of home. Together they shared a love of classical music, ideas about books, and long talks that provided Lorna with guidance for years to come. This loving relationship is chronicled in many stories throughout the book. Lorna first began to explore her independence when she attended the University of Alberta with plans to become a nurse. However, life intervened when she discovered her true passion – zoology, the scientific study of animal life. As part of her honours zoology program, she was given the opportunity to do field work at Heart Lake in the Northwest Territories, and it was during those exceptional days when Lorna’s dream of being a zoologist fully took flight. She and other students spent their days exploring, trapping, and dissecting small mammals under the direction of their professor. Away from camp, she often worked alone, sleeping in the front seat of the University of Alberta’s Land Rover, and cooking over a campfire. Travelling down the Peace River in a freighter canoe was the highlight of one of those summer explorations. After moving to Vancouver to study English at the University of British Columbia, Lorna met Harvey, an Irishman visiting from London. Both avid adventurers with similar dreams, they married and set out to travel across Canada in Lorna’s dad’s truck and camper. In Port Arthur they found a small, abandoned shack that they were able to rent for $25 a month. With only an oil stove, a well for water, and an outhouse, they settled there for a year while Lorna taught science and English at Fort William High School, and Harvey began a program in Forestry. Lorna’s decision to return to university to pursue a Master’s degree at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, changed their lives profoundly. Pregnant with their first child, Chenoa, they moved first to St. John’s, where Chenoa was born, and then to Notre Dame Bay on Camel Island, a remote and uninhabited island situated off the northern coast of Newfoundland. Lorna’s project for her Master’s thesis was studying the population dynamics of two species of vole. After a “magical summer” living in a tent and a fisherman’s shack, and occasionally cooking lobster in a huge cauldron of water over a fire on the beach, they moved into a small cabin which Memorial University built for them and settled into a rugged life in one of Canada’s most desolate terrains. Despite wild September storms, random icebergs, and hospital stays that involved flights on a chopper to Gander for treatment, they spent almost three years in that rugged landscape. Drinking From the Iceberg is a delightful collection of stories from rural Canada that are told with both tenderness and humour. Lorna’s dedication to the work she loved, and her determination to follow her dreams in a time and culture where female zoologists were almost non-existent, is nothing less than extraordinary. Edythe Anstey Hanen, author of Nine Birds Singing
If you have read my new memoir, Drinking from the Iceberg, I would be grateful if you would take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. In a crowded literary world, reviews are vital and even a sentence or two can make a big difference.
