Less than one month after publishing these memoirs, Mr. Knockwood died on June 16, 2018 at the age of 88. He suffered from pneumonia and heart failure, which is not surprising, as he had only one lung, having lost the other to TB years ago. This book, published by Roseway Publishing (an imprint of Fernwood Publishing), will remain as a testament and eulogy to the man who helped so many people, Indigenous and otherwise, on the long road to recovery. Along the way, we meet friends, family members and others whose lives he touched, as they contribute loving recollections of their time with him.
His friend Don Fitzpatrick recalls:
“Doug knows everyone at every meeting, probably in all the Maritimes. In the Native communities, in the non-native communities, wherever he goes. You just could never estimate the impact that he’s had on so many families. To bring them back and have them be productive members of society. I know I’m thankful for him for saving my life and the lives of countless others. That’s my friend Doug.”
Doug has a pretty good memory considering all the issues he had with alcohol addictions and hospitalizations. The book takes you through his family life, his stint in the Army, the residential school system, his eventual break from alcohol (fifty-four years of sobriety at his death) and his natural inclination and ability to help people get free from their addictions, setting up programs all over Canada.
“He was the happiest man on Earth,” Errol Sharpe, a publisher at Fernwood Publishing, said at the book’s launch in May of 2018.
An excellent book, and worth all the more so as we no longer have Doug Knockwood among us.
Doug Knockwood, Mi’kmaw Elder: Stories, Memories, Reflections by Doug Knockwood & Friends
Roseway Publishing
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James M. Fisher is the Founding Editor of The Miramichi Reader. He began TMR in 2015, realizing that there was a genuine need for more book reviews of Canadian literature. It has since become Canada’s best-regarded source for the finest in new literary releases. James has been interviewed about TMR on CBC Radio and other media sites. He works as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technologist and lives in Miramichi, New Brunswick with his wife Diane, their tabby cat Eddie, and Buster the Red Merle Border Collie.