True North

In 1929, at the age of 24, Elliott Merrick left his position as an advertising executive in New Jersey and headed up to Labrador to work as an unpaid volunteer for the Grenfell Mission. In 1933 he wrote True North about his experiences in the northern wilderness, living and working with trappers, Indians and with the nurse he met and married in a remote community. The book describes the hard work and severe conditions, along with the joy and friendship he and his wife experienced.

Merrick, Elliott

History

Univ of Nebraska Pr

In 1929, at the age of 24, Elliott Merrick left his position as an advertising executive in New Jersey and headed up to Labrador to work as an unpaid volunteer for the Grenfell Mission. In 1933 he wrote True North about his experiences in the northern wilderness, living and working with trappers, Indians and with the nurse he met and married in a remote community. The book describes the hard work and severe conditions, along with the joy and friendship he and his wife experienced.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

"Every word of it I enjoyed, and I don't think that there is a single change to be made in it," wrote legendary editor Maxwell Perkins when he read the manuscript of Northern Nurse in 1941. The public agreed, keeping it on the New York Times bestseller list for 17 weeks. Now a new edition of this classic is available from The Countryman Press. By turns lyrical, comic, and genuinely moving, Northern Nurse tells the story of Australian nurse Kate Austen and her adventures at Labrador's Grenfell Mission. Written by her husband, Elliott Merrick, it celebrates not only the unspoiled realm of the North, but also a woman's self-fulfillment there.

Northern Nurse (Regional Interest)

Community & Culture

Countryman Press

The Long Crossing and Other Labrador Stories

Americas

Univ of Maine Pr

A story about the thrills and perils of renovating an old farm on a shoestring, a warm and wise book about living simply in the country while pursuing the writer's craft. In 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression, Elliott Merrick and his wife bought a ramshackle farm on a Vermont hillside for $1,000. Merrick, a young writer with a healthy dose of idealism and a determination to live in the country, had just sold his first book to Maxwell Perkins at Scribner's. "I had an idea that I would be rich and famous henceforth," Merrick wrote, but added, "nothing could be farther from the truth . . . As I look back, I'm amazed that we could so blithely have crossed our great Rubicon on a spiderweb. But it turned out to be one of those fortunate mistakes—one of those fraught-with-peril enterprises that you might never have embarked on if you had known the consequences—like being born, for instance." Green Mountain Farm describes Merrick's and his family's often haphazard attempts to make a go of it on these stony, wintry acres, in a house that was falling down around them. As Merrick puts it, "We did everything wrong, but it came out right." They were dirt poor, but through it all, believed wholeheartedly in going directly after the things they wanted most: to write and to farm, however they could. A lyrical, funny, richly fulfilling book about old houses, farming, writing, and the joys of country life, this book is as fresh today as when it was originally published more than fifty years ago.

Green Mountain Farm

Literature & Fiction

Sherry Urie

While many people dream of abandoning civilization and heading into the wilderness, few manage to actually do it. One exception was twenty-four-year-old Elliott Merrick, who in 1929 left his advertising job in New Jersey and moved to Labrador, one of Canada’s most remote regions. First published by Scribner’s in 1933, True North tells the captivating story of one of the high points of Merrick’s years there: a hunting trip he and his wife, Kay, made with trapper John Michelin in 1930. Covering 300 miles over a harsh winter, they experienced an unexplored realm of nature at its most intense and faced numerous challenges. Merrick accidentally shot himself in the thigh and almost cut off his toe. Freezing cold and hunger were constant. Nonetheless, the group found beauty and even magic in the stark landscape. The couple and the trappers bonded with each other and their environment through such surprisingly daunting tasks as fabricating sunglasses to avoid snow blindness and learning to wash underwear without it freezing. Merrick’s intimate style, rich with narrative detail, brings readers into a dramatic story of survival and shares the lesson the Merricks learned: that the greatest satisfaction in life can come from the simplest things.

True North: A Journey into Unexplored Wilderness

North Atlantic Books

Cruising At Last: Sailing The East Coast

Elliott Merrick had always wanted to sail the East Coast, but he needed a boat. Not finding what he wanted, amateur cruiser Merrick built his own boat--a twenty-foot sailboat he put together on weekends, in anticipation of the cruise he'd been dreaming of for his entire life. Finally, after retiring, he and his wife set out on the water. This splendid narrative recounts Merrick's exciting journey from novice to accomplished sailor, capturing the sheer delight of a good day's sail. He describes building his boat, learning how to anchor in new harbors, meeting characters of every sort along the way. Merrick recounts "the unutterable joy of our good days, when the bow wave sparkled white, and the sky was so blue you lost yourself in it."

Cruising At Last: Sailing the East Coast

Lyons Pr

A retired "working stiff" realizes his dream of becoming a cruising sailor.

Sports & Outdoors

Water Sports

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Merrick, Elliott. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Merrick, Elliott

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Merrick, Elliott. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

True North

True North

Northern Nurse (Regional Interest)

The Long Crossing and Other Labrador Stories

Green Mountain Farm

True North: A Journey into Unexplored Wilderness

Cruising At Last: Sailing the East Coast

Cruising At Last: Sailing The East Coast