The Missionary, the Violinist and the Aunt Whose Head Was Squeezed

The Missionary, The Violinist And The Aunt Whose Head Was Squeezed follows a five month journey that Keith Harrison made into the past. This narrative diary explores the gaps and myths of family history. His father, John, had been born in Tokyo, and studied at Melbourne Grammar School before coming to Vancouver. His father's father, Ernest, from St Ives, a-journalist turned missionary, married Ethel Mercer, described as "Australia's leading woman violinist".

Keith Harrison discovers himself in the published writings of his father and grandfather. Of particular interest are the articles from Japan by Ernest during World War I and those by John that just precede World War II. Their writings add a depth of time and tone to this composite, many-voiced narrative diary, which catches ancestors shaped by love and war.

Other documents found on this extended journey not only fill in the past but disrupt myths that had been transmitted down through the years. Key to this re-visioning of the past is the figure of Aunt Betty who suffered brain damage at birth.

This remarkable and honest fusion of travel writing, family history, and cultural anthropology is also a quest for meaning, and an understated love story.

Keith Harrison lives on Hornby Island, B.C. and teaches at Vancouver Island University.