IN THE BEGINNING
CAST OF CHARACTERS
This piece, called Cast of Characters I ‘submitted’ to a Biography class sponsored by the Guardian, under the auspices of the University of East Anglia. The process is to ‘put out’ your stuff and get feedback. It is, at best, mixed blessing. But sometimes it can become a blessing, pure and simple. I begin with the piece and end with the comments of the head of the program Jon with no h, as I call him. I had thought of doing a cast of characters, vignettes of the many people that have helped me “find” Uncle Dave. As a matter of fact, I wrote a piece, called Search Party describing the Niece’s Nexus: “I have managed to assemble a group of people that are helping me. A search party, I suppose. Another word that comes to mind is posse, but that conjures up criminality and Uncle Dave is not a criminal. My cohorts are such trusty, wonderful people.”
The cast list will include my long term friend Bruce, a friend since original Uni, a retired professor of Educational Psychology who lives in Guelph Ontario. Last January Bruce, and his wife Nancy, took me to the Canadian National Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario so I could see the Dave Dryburgh Memorial Football Trophy and observe his recognition in the Reporter’s Hall of Fame. Bruce recently emailed this provocative comment which will stimulate my writing and thinking as I continue on this odyssey.
“I am appreciating more and more that your book is, in a significant measure, a device that is helping you re-create a Canadian/Dryburgh self. You are developing new links with your family of origin and they seem to be leading to new and helpful emotional relationships. Is there any way to have this all become part of the book about your uncle? I see a story line that begins in your childhood with stories about uncle and then, 50 years later, pulling you back to an identity previously sidelined in California. The question is, of course, whose story is this anyway? I guess that is the question to answer. Are you rescuing the uncle from obscurity or he is rescuing you? Are there two books in this material?
Last session, Richard Holmes (hereinafter, genius Richard) spoke of using something like a cast of characters, placing it at the end of the book. That was brilliant. (very overused word)
What now follows is the comments penned by the head of the program. Unfortunately penned, his writing is almost illegible. But here is what he said: (I think).
There is a lot of potential in this subject Alexis, and I guess the main question is how you want to develop it. I see a number of possibly related answers to the question.
1) You are writing an ‘in search of’ story and I think your friend Bruce has characterized it very well by his question: “Are you rescuing your uncle from obscurity or is he rescuing you? I think a single narrative can be developed out of this question, but one that bears in mind that what you rescue Uncle Dave from is not what he might rescue you from.
2) As an ‘in search story you will continue ????? (I give up) of biography and autobiography. You are already doing this at the level of style although your presence as a narrator undergoes some significant shifts that will need to be acknowledged and resolved – see for example the move from writing as a family member to writing as an imaginative journalist. (I think, by the way, that you need to write more clearly about what the coroner’s report does and doesn’t say and give a some account why it is misinformation.
3) As we have already discussed, I think your story needs to begin with your first awareness of Uncle Dave, how that awareness grew into a fascination and how your discovery of what you could piece together about him also became a way of understanding and renewing connection with your family.
I listened and I learned Jon Cook. This is the book.
I listened and I learned Jon Cook. This is the book
Chapter 1
LOOKING FOR LOVE
SEARCH PARTY
The photo is obviously not of the search party,. The photo is Alexis Dryburgh, taken at an early age. I appear alone and I began (and probably ended) this book alone. It was to be a story, not just of a man, but of a family. The Dryburgh family. A family only in the loosest of terms for although there weregenetic ties, there was little else. The Dryburghs, I brilliantly penned, were not a clan, merely a configuration.
George and Janet begat eight sons, seven lived to adulthood and all, save Dave Dryburgh (the love of my life) begat. So at the beginning of this tale, in 2011, there was little or no connection between the branches. Many of George and Janet’s grandchildren had not even met one another, much less had anything resembling a close family connection. All of the eight sons, save Aki, were dead. Aki, my father, has dementia so was absent, but alive at the time of the original writing but is probably dead now. .
The reasons for this lack of connection is something that we Dryburgh women explore as we piece together this book. George and Janet emigrated from Kirkcaldy Scotland to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1920 to stay and never looked back. But from that home base all of the boys, save Dave and William, were to disperse. Canada itself is a vast country, George (the fourth son) moved about as far West as you could. Jack, the third son moved to the east to Toronto. The real maverick was Jim, who moved to Australia with his family. The others scattered themselves about in Alberta, and throughout Saskatchewan.
I found myself writing a biography of the eldest son, Dave Dryburgh. He is, was and always will be, as far as I am concerned, the star of the show. He was brilliant, a sportswriter par excellence. (I hate sports.) The apex of his work was the Regina Leader-Post; writing for them was his first job, and his last. He died in the saddle.
But finding Uncle Dave proved to be a difficult, if not an impossible task. For not only were there no ties, no links between the disparate families but there were no artifacts, no But not purposively, not thinking ahead, I managed to assemble a group of people that not only helped me but paved the way for the search. A search party, I suppose. Another word that comes to mind is posse, but that conjures up criminality and Uncle Dave is not a criminal. My cohorts are trusty, reliable, wonderful people and without them I would not be able to put this “book of love” as one calls it, together.
The first person to join the search party was Gail. We “met” one dismal, not-quite-spring-but-not-winter-either day in March of 2011 at a deconsecrated church in Canada. She is my first cousin, we had actually met before but neither of us can remember the same place and time. I remember a time when we were eight, she remembers when were were seventeen, we are the same age, so that, at least, makes the math easy. We met in mutual memory at Aki’s ninetieth birthday party. (Aki, is the nickname of my father, Alexander Baxter Carins Dryburgh) You can find that story in the Afterword.
Gail and I kept in touch through the magic of the Internet. I found myself in London writing a biography of my uncle. I thought I needed to follow in his footsteps and go to his birthplace in Scotland. Gail had always wanted to go to Scotland to see the birthplace of her father and try to unlock some of the mystery of his life. As will be revealed, none of the Dryburgh boys talked about their early years, their childhood or of their family of origin. Their lives were barren of the memorabilia that mark most family histories. There were no pictures, no diaries, no letters, no post cards; none of the paraphernalia, the bits and pieces that most families collect over the years.
So Gail wanted to go there and observe first hand, her father’s birthplace and country. She was a willing companion on my journey to Scotland. I was following in the footsteps of the fine biographer Richard Holmes whose book Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer served as an inspiration. So Gail and I traveled to Scotland to “dig up” our ancestors. Spoiler alert: It was not altogether a successful “dig” but it was invaluable.
It was invaluable because I became the Lone Ranger and Gail became my Tonto. (So far no one has assumed the role of Silver, the horse.) Tonto had the “need to know” and the connections. The connections were the names and email addresses of the kissing kin, the nieces of Uncle Dave. I reached out to them via email and asked them to join the search party. They all saddled up and off we rode.
I cleverly call us the Niece’s Nexus. The “branch” illustrates who they are (or were) and where they come from but here is a brief written description.
Gail Daughter of George, the fourth son of Janet and George Dryburgh.
Geri Gail’s sister, so also a daughter of George. She has since died.
Pat Daughter of Jim, the fifth son of Janet and George Dryburgh.
Faye Daughter of Bill, the sixth son of Janet and George Dryburgh.
Carol-Ann Daughter of Garnet, the eighth son of Janet and George Dryburgh. .
All the women play instrumental roles and make huge contributions on an individual level as well as being supportive members of the Niece’s Nexus. I have not included their last names; all have assumed their husband’s last name. I did the same thing.
This is a biography, not a fairy story, but it is a story with a happy ending. The search for Uncle Dave led to my finding not only him, but myself. I began the search as a childless old woman, without a family to call my own. (Carol-Ann aptly labelled the Dryburghs “a family of strangers”.) I was on the periphery of this family of strangers. A moderately successful, well-educated, much-married woman but a chameleon constantly searching for approval, laughs, and affection, with (as one of my friends described) an almost desperate quest for family. I thought I found one. When I wrote of my intention to return to Canada upon the expiration of the student visa that allows me to be in the U.K. I was assured that I would be welcomed “with open arms.”
So I set out to find an uncle. I did. Not only did I find him but also I found a family and myself. All of us were there the whole time. But then we lost one another.
Post Script
Within the last couple of days of the original writing we have completed the circle, due again to Gail’s diligence. The daughter of George and Janet’s third son, Jack, has joined us. I copy from Gail’s email. (The “she” and “her” refers to Janet, the “your visit” is me)
“In the email I sent a week or so ago I attached the photo of the “cousins” at Carol-Ann’s during your visit in January. She had not realized how many cousins were still alive as her father never talked about his family. I also sent the emails “the best day” to help fill her in (I sorted it out so she didn’t have to read from the bottom up). She said her daughter was very interested in family history but as a working mom it was difficult to find the time. Today I sent on “the submission for my tutorial” to her and to daughter Karen. Karen told me her daughter is studying International Relations at St. Andrews in Scotland. In May Karen will be going to Scotland to pick up Abi and they are planning on going to Kirkcaldy.”
A January 2016 photo pictured a gathering of the cousins. Beginning in the back from left to right: Dale (son of Aki); David (son of Garnet); Geri (daughter of George); Carol-Ann (daughter of Garnet). In the front row from left to right: Jack (son of George); Alexis (daughter of Aki); Gail (daughter of George); Gary (son of George). The photo does exist and will be found, but not at this time.
It was my aim to gather these disparate Dryburghs together, and together often, to honor Uncle Dave. Thought we could resume the forgotten tradition of having a family member award the Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy. The Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy is presented annually to the player finishing first in scoring in the Western Division of the Canadian Football League. Thus, the dream was to “always remember his name”.
