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DAVID WEALE
Author of Three
Tall Trees (children's), Everything that
Shines (children's), The True Meaning
of Crumbfest (children's), A Long Way
from the Road (humour), and An Island
Christmas Reader (non-fiction)
Dr. David Weale is a professor of Canadian and Prince
Edward Island history at the University of Prince Edward Island.
He has written books including works of history such as A Stream
Out of Lebanon (Institute of Island Studies, 1988) but is best
known for capturing Prince Edward Island folk history and tradition
in popular books and stage shows.
His award-winning CBC Radio show called "Them
Times," ran from the mid- to late 1980s and focussed on life
in Prince Edward Island prior to the "break," that time
after the Second World War when the 20th century seemed to hit the
Island all at once. The Institute of Island Studies urged David
Weale to collect the stories into a manuscript and published it
as a book -- Them Times (Institute of Island Studies, 1992).
Now in its eighth printing, there are 15,000 copies in print; one
household reported getting seven copies the first Christmas it was
out! The following year, Weale further established himself as a
storytelling presence when the local CBC supper-hour show, Compass,
featured him telling these stories on a weekly basis.
Two of the Christmas stories in Them Times
sparked the idea for An Island
Christmas Reader, which was published in 1994
by The Acorn Press. The book is in its third printing and has sold
over 7,000 copies.
In 1993, Weale decided to take his storytelling
on the road, and he created the lively stage show "A Long Way
from the Road," featuring his stories with fiddle and piano
accompaniment. It played for five summers to sold-out audiences
across the Island. This show resulted in the book
A Long Way from the Road (The Acorn
Press, 1998).
He is well-known for three popular children's books,
The True Meaning of Crumbfest
(Acorn Press, 1999), Everything
that Shines (The Acorn Press, 2001), and Three
Tall Trees (Acorn Press, 2004), all created in
with Prince Edward Island illustrator Dale
McNevin. He also wrote the screenplay for The True
Meaning of Crumbfest (Cellar Door/Catalyst Entertainment).
Weale has been featured on regular weekly storytelling
series on both CBC Radio and Television in Prince Edward Island;
he has told stories on regional CBC radio, and nationally on "The
Gabereau Show," with the telling of "The True Meaning
of Crumbfest." He has also been a guest on CBC-TV's "Man
Alive" and CBC Radio's "Tapestry."
Weale was a featured storyteller in the International
Storytellers Festival held in Prince Edward Island in September
1999. During the summer in 2000, he toured his one-man show, "Greenmount
Boy," across Prince Edward Island. For the next two summers,
Weale performed with songwriter Allan Rankin and musicians Brad
Fremlin and Perry Williams in a weekly show, "Here on the Island."
Recent self-published titles by David Weale include
Overheard on the Island, Pride in Small Places,
and Whatever You Say.
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