THE OWL & THE TEACUP

About the Book

At last count, the population of the tiny community of Dog River that sits about twenty miles outside of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, was about fifty-nine. That’s seventeen two-legged people, one stubby-eared cat by the name of Fat Jack, and about forty-nine four-legged dogs.

Jim Green, a former local broadcaster on CBC North Radio, draws upon the storytelling traditions of the Caribou Eater Chipewyan, Woodland Cree, Métis, and transplanted outport Labradorians to share a delightful collection of short tales that humorously showcase the people of Dog River. His Northern Bush stories offer an entertaining glimpse into such diverse characters as Charlie Peter Desjarlais as he ropes a buffalo in the middle of the river, six-year-old Marshall Jody McNeil confronting the moose called Brian Mulroney, Dora Beaulieu and her explosive recipe for Whole Low Bush Cranberry muffins, Grampa McNeil as he blows his chickens away with his ten-gauge goose gun, and Alphonse Desjarlais who somehow manages to drive his dogs for sixteen hours with his finger stuck up his nose.

The Owl and the Teacup is a volume of campfire tales that describe Northern living at its very best, when life was a simpler, more gentle experience.

About the Author

Born and raised in the lee of the Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta, Jim Green learned to hunt, trap, and fish. He acquired a lifelong passion for elk steaks, fried brook trout, saskatoon jam, and Mrs. Russell’s warm huckleberry pie. Feeling the need for new country after high school, he hitchhiked to the west coast and caught a boat to New Zealand. Sometime later, he got off another boat in Montreal, ate a handful of chokecherries, and hitched back west to Alberta. He’d been a banjo (that’s a shovel) operator, front-end loader virtuoso, truck driver, waiter, street photographer, spray-painter, farm laborer, kitchen hand, and smuggler. He was a bit part actor in Madrid in The Fall of the Roman Empire with Sophia Loren. He got himself a degree in journalism, headed to the Northwest Territories for forty-five years, had two books of poetry published, did a whack of radio and magazine work, and broadened his culinary tastes to include frozen char, roasted caribou, bannock on a stick, and Dora Beaulieu’s cranberry muffins. Back from the north and home in Alberta once again, Drum Song Productions issued six CDs of his storytelling and this book, The Owl & the Teacup, as well as a handful of YouTube videos. In the meantime, he’s performed his own material in every province and territory of the country. One time, he sunburned both feet on a four-island, sixteen-engagement gig in Hawaii. It was a tough assignment, but somebody had to do it. Jim and his partner, Juneva, live in Pincher Creek, Alberta. They have three grown children and six grandchildren. Glen was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Jason emerged in the old Stanton Yellowknife Hospital. Jaida joined them at the Taloyoak Nursing Station.