THE WINDS OF WENDIGO Reflections On A Northern Ontario Heritage In his spirited exploration of his rural past, author Ralph Gibbins revisits the Northern Ontario of his own youth and that of his pioneering parents and finds, in the lessons learned and the character traits inherited from those previous generations, a strength and wisdom missing in our world today. Can we learn from the past? Does the growing urbanization of modern day Canada -- and our subsequent loss of contact with the natural world -- effect our health and happiness? Combining history, personal experience, and stories remembered from his boyhood, Gibbins answers 'yes' to both questions, and with the style of a natural-born storyteller treats the reader to his reasons why. Though local in setting, the stories in this highly readable memoir, evoke the early development of much of North America. "The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn" H.G. Wells 'The Discovery of the Future'