on a Personal note

BOOK: Edges Lightly Soiled. DUST JACKET: Lightly Creased; Lightly Chipped; In Archival Quality Jacket Cover. DESIGN: Kathryn Moore. ELECTRONIC FORMATTING: Jean Lightfoot Peters. COVER PHOTO: Mark Mainguy. BACK COVER PHOTO: Warren Gordon. DESIGN: Kathryn Moore. CONTENTS: Big Pond; The Store; Summer to Winter; Christmas; Relatives; Moving; Settling Down; On My Own; Love; Laura; David; Dundalk; Born a Woman; Depression; Part of the Mystery; I'm Not What I Seem; Fast Train to Tokyo; Flying; Whirlwind; Fame and Fortune; We'll Reach the Sky Tonight; The Flip Side; Rita & Friends; Realizing the Dream; Discography. SYNOPSIS: The eagerly awaited life story of internationally acclaimed singer songwriter Rita MacNeil is a heartwarming account of hard times and remarkable achievements that will appeal not only to her devoted audience but also to anyone touched by triumphs of the human heart. On these pages, golden memories shine through. But those memories take their place among other, darker images of her childhood. In this book, for the first time, Rita MacNeil talks about both. Hers is an inspirational story, leavened by her unique sense of humor, and buoyed by her indomitable attitude toward life. The fifth of eight children, Rita MacNeil was born and raised in Big Pond, on picturesque cape Breton Island, in Nova Scotia. She was born with a cleft lip and within weeks of her birth had the first of many operations to correct it. From early childhood, her dream was to sing, and through an unsettled early life, marriage and separation, a time as a single mother, and periodic bouts of ill health, Rita MacNeil never forgot her dream. From singing in the kitchen for her family, to performing at pubs and clubs, to her breakthrough performances at Expo '86 in Vancouver, to the spotlight of the concert stage, and through international tours of Australia and Great Britain, this is a remarkable story of the people and the places on the road to her success. Two of the most important people on that road were her parents, and her songs "Reason to Believe" and "Old Man" are tributes to them. From their lives she learned what love, hard work, and determination can accomplish. Rita MacNeil has remained true to her roots: like her parents, she rose above the dark times to find her dreams. On a Personal Note is a story written by a woman who has, over the years, always reached out to people and shared the stories of her life through her songs. This book is one more way for Rita MacNeil to reach out and attempt to bring people closer together. That's what she's been doing all her life. Rita MacNeil has achieved international success as a vocalist, recording artist, concert performer, television star, and songwriter. She released her first album in 1975; thirteen other albums have followed, many of which went double and triple platinum. She is a multiple winner of the Canadian Country Music Award, the East Coast Music Award, and the Juno Award, and received a Gemini Award in 1996 for her television show "Rita & Friends." She has received five honorary doctorates from various universities. In 1992 she was inducted into the Order of Canada. She has a home in Sydney, and a farmhouse in Big Pond, Nova Scotia, where Rita's Tea Room is a major tourist attraction. Anne Simpson teaches writing at St. Francis Xavier University. In 1997, she shared the Journey Prize for her short story, "Dreaming Snow," which was first published in The Fiddlehead. She has written a novel called Canterbury Beach, and is presently working on a collection of poems. She lives in Antigonish with her husband and two children. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.