A Strange Twilight

TILTING - The community of Tilting on Fogo Island is rich with history but it is a community that isn't done with making it into the history books, or books in general, just yet.

In addition to all that has helped the community of Tilting grow its rich history in the past, many of the events happening in the present to help preserve the past will certainly make for some interesting reading in years to come.

A retired teacher, Roy Dwyer is a founding member of the Tilting Recreation and Culture Society (TRACS) and a local volunteer firefighter. He has been involved in much of the recent history that has been made in the community. Mr. Dwyer has been involved in compiling information for a number of special events and occasions that have involved Tilting.

Mr. Dwyer has compiled a number of these writings as well as others depicting various events in the community and of his experiences into a book entitled A Strange Twilight, a book of essays and short stories.

"Some of the work had a purpose, other than this book," explained Mr. Dwyer. "Others just filled an idle hour."

Many of the essays in the book are rewrites of documents he originally compiled for TRACS.

"The essays are related to the TRACS. Writing is the rationale to obtain funding for different projects and you try to persuade somebody that these buildings are worth preserving," explained Mr. Dwyer.

The work of TRACs has seen many of the fishing stages in the community as well as some of the older homes restored to their original condition.

As for the short stories contained in his book, Mr. Dwyer said some of them came from his experiences with sealing and the fishery.

In fact it was due to not being able to go sealing a few years back that Mr. Dwyer found himself with a lot of free time on his hands - since retiring from teaching he has been involved in the fishery and well as sealing industry - and he said he wrote his first short story about sealing.

"The boys were out there and I was thinking about sealing so I wrote my first short story thinking about sealing," he said. "When I conquered that, and it took a while to conquer it because I wasn't used to writing stories, once I got it done the other ones were a little bit easier."

The book also has several photographs from the community of Tilting as well as photos from Mr. Dwyer's time sealing.

As for the books title, A Strange Twilight, Mr. Dwyer said it comes from the Simani song Outport People, a song about resettlement. Mr. Dwyer said that while many of the harbours in Tilting haven't been hit by resettlement, outmigration - especially amongst the community's youth is a common thing.

In the song it speaks of houses becoming dark and Mr. Dwyer said that while the lights aren't going out in the homes in Tilting, they seem to be dimming as people are leaving to find work on the mainland.

Mr. Dwyer said he had his novel published through Transcontinental Media out of Grand Falls-Windsor noting that Chris Watton was a great help in making his book become a reality.

The book was first launched in Tilting during the community's reunion week in late summer.

"From the people who have read it, there has been a lot of good feedback," said Mr. Dwyer.

A Strange Twilight is available at The Rooms in St. John's as well as in local stores on Fogo Island. Copies of the book can also be obtained by contacting Mr. Dwyer at (709) 658-3538 or by e-mail at roy.dwyer@nf.sympatico.ca.