Launched on an Inland Sea: Barbara Yurkoski

For decades, people looking out at the Thunder Bay harbour and seeing the ships dotting the horizon did not have to look far to find the makers of those ships. Our city has a fascinating history of local shipbuilding that is not as well known as it should be. A new book by Barbara Yurkoski brings this story to life and while reading it, I was quite struck by the ingenuity and vision of the early entrepreneurs who both built and repaired these massive vessels right here. From the early days of the Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company of 1909 through the wartime years of constructing vessels for the Canadian Fleet, the book chronicles the evolution of a manufacturing powerhouse that has since disappeared. The book has many photographs and an entire chapter is dedicated to the iconic icebreaker the Alexander Henry, which was launched in 1958 and spent 26 years doing important work here and on the Great Lakes before retiring and becoming a floating museum docked at the harbour. A short but important book of local history.

-Angela Meady