The Price Paid for Charley: Grenfell's Rescue From the Ice

In the dead of winter, 1908, Dr. Wilfred Grenfell set out on a medical mission from his hospital headquarters at St. Anthony to save the life of a young boy.

Against the advice of local residents, he ventured across the ice by dogsled, ill-prepared for the treacherous northern elements.

While he was crossing Hare Bay, the ice opened up and started drifting, stranding the doctor and his sled dogs.

This is the story of Dr. Grenfell's harrowing adventure on the deadly Arctic ice.

Earl Baxter Pilgrim was born in St. Anthony, Newfoundland in 1939, son of Norman and Winnie (Roberts) Pilgrim. He received his early education in Roddickton, Newfoundland, later studying Forestry at the College of Trades and Technology in St. John's.

He began his adult career in 1960 as an infantryman in the Canadian Army, serving with the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry. While there, he became involved in sport boxing, eventually becoming the Canadian Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion.

Following a stint in the Forces, Pilgrim took a job as a forest ranger with the Newfoundland and Labrador Forestry Department. During this time, he came to recognize the plight of the big game population on Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. After nine years as a forest warden he became a wildlife protection officer with the Newfoundland Wildlife Service.

For seventeen years, he has devoted his efforts to the growth and conservation of the big game population on the Great Northern Peninsula. Under his surveillance, the moose and caribou populations have grown and prospered at an astonishing rate. As a game warden and a local storyteller, he has gained the respect of the conservationist and poacher alike.

Earl Pilgrim has been presented with a number of awards: the Safari International, presented by the Provincial Wildlife Division; the Gunther Behr, presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Wildlife Federation; and the Achievement "Beyond the Call of Duty" Award, presented by the White Bay Central Development Association.

Among his many achievements are contributions as a conservationist for waterfowl. He has made a hobby of raising eider ducks, and it has been estimated that eighty percent of all nesting eiders in Newfoundland developed from his original twelve ducks.

He is married to the former Beatrice Compton of Englee. They have four children and make their home in Roddickton, Newfoundland.