Writer/editor James R. ‘Jim’ Stevens was raised on a dairy farm at St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. Like many Canadian youth he was a hockey player and in 1960 he went off to Ithaca, New York on a scholarship at Cornell University. He has had published a wide range of non fiction books in Canada that vary extensively in their subject matter.

 “As an author with the blessing or curse of a Gemini construct in personality many things interest me passionately, however, my bottom line is that a book of mine must have insight and have an enduring quality for readers. A good non fiction book will be valuable long into the future.”  At present Stevens has five books in print in Canada and one of them has been moving off of booksellers shelves for thirty-two years.

Price $14.95 CDN
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Searching For The Hudson Bombers: Lads, Love and Death in World War II.

James R. Stevens’ latest book (2004) is an intimate set of biographies of Commonwealth flyers from around the globe. It is perhaps the most insightful nonfiction work ever written about RAF Coastal Command flyers in World War Two. This book is the first of two volumes on Lockheed Hudson Bomber crews who flew over the North Sea, the Atlantic and the dangerous Mediterranean protecting convoys and searching for enemy submarines. Much of the text in this book is taken from diaries, letters home, log books, RAF operational records and interviews with surviving Hudson pilots. The book is illustrated with over a 100 black and white photographs.
Price $20.95
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Sacred Legends was published in 1971 in collaboration with the late Cree artist, Carl Ray and the elders of the Sandy Lake Reserve on the Severn River in remote north-western Ontario. This book is a Canadian classic and has been in print continuously for over thirty years. The longevity of the Stevens/Ray book is due to its authenticity. Writer Farley Mowat has described Sacred Legends as, “one of the earliest and one of the best collections of tales from the antiquity of an ancient people. It is a marvelous account …I recommend it to all readers.”

Price: $12.95
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Legends From The Forest-Told by Chief Thomas Fiddler

Edited by James R. Stevens

Legends From The Forest is a collection of ancient stories from the Sandy Lake and Deer Lake people in north-western Ontario. The book is illustrated with black and white drawings by northern Ontario Aboriginal artists, Sam Ash, Noah Sainniwap, Gelineau Fisher, Douglas Kakekagumick, Johnson Meekis and Levius Fiddler.

Price: $12.95
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Killing The Shamen

For over ten years James R. Stevens collaborated with Chief Thomas Fiddler, the Sucker Clan leader at Sandy Lake on the Severn River in northwestern Ontario. The result of their co-authorship is a vast amount of fascinating lore from the Aboriginal clan families who inhabit the upper Severn water system on the far north of Ontario. The book focuses on the arrest of Jack and Joseph Fiddler in 1909 who were charged by the Royal North-West Mounted Police for the murder of a windigo. Originally published in 1985 the book is in its ninth printing. The Toronto Globe & Mail reviewer called this book, “a vivid and compelling history of a people.”

Price: $18.95
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Phillip Neault-Pioneer

Told by Mae Carroll of Sioux Lookout, Ontario

Introduction and edited by James R. Stevens. Illustrated by Ernest Adams O.C.A.

Phillip Neault-Pioneer is a touching collection of stories and songs told by a northern eighty year old grandmother to her many grandchildren. The engaging stories are about her pioneer father and grandmother in the early days of Fort William and the northern railroad town of Sioux Lookout. This is a great book to read to children at bed time because the stories are classical and presented with Mrs. Carrolls’ pronunciation. The stories are: Phillip Neault Had A Stepmother; My Father Couldn’t Read Or Write; Mother Was A Very Religious Person; The Slop Pail Murder and more.

Price: $9.95
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