Woman, Watching by Merilyn Simonds

Referred to as a Canadian Rachel Carson, Louise de Kiriline Lawrence lived and worked in an isolated log cabin near North Bay. After her husband was murdered by Bolsheviks, she refused her Swedish privilege and joined the Canadian Red Cross, visiting her northern Ontario patients by dogsled. When Elzire Dionne gave birth to five babies, Louise became nurse to the Dionne Quintuplets. Repulsed by the media circus, she retreated to her wilderness cabin, where she devoted herself to studying the birds that nested in her forest. Author of six books and scores of magazine stories, de Kiriline Lawrence and her "loghouse nest" became a Mecca for international ornithologists.

Lawrence was an old woman when Merilyn Simonds moved into the woods not far away. Their paths crossed, sparking Simonds's lifelong interest. A dedicated birder, Simonds brings her own songbird experiences from Canadian nesting grounds and Mexican wintering grounds to this deeply researched, engaging portrait of a uniquely fascinating woman. (From ECW Press)'

Woman, Watchingis unlike anything I've ever read. It's radical, it's ravishing. Simply brilliant.- Kyo Maclear

Merilyn Simonds is a writer from Kingston, Ont. who has written 20 books,including the nonfiction booksThe Convict Lover,Gutenberg's Fingerprintand the novelRefuge. She is the founder and first artistic director of the Kingston WritersFest.

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Watch the Woman, Watching film

Interviews withMerilyn Simonds

The Next Chapter21:52Merilyn Simonds on Woman, Watching

Merilyn Simonds talks to Shelagh Rogers about her book, Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay.

Saskatchewan Weekend15:41Woman, Watching: a new book from Merilyn Simonds

Some people seem to live more lives than most; Canadian naturalist Louise de Kiriline Lawrence was one of them! Host Shauna Powers speaks with author Merilyn Simonds about her biography of the aristocrat-turned-nurse-turned-ornithologist.