New book pays tribute to Rae Fleming

Reflections on Old Victoria County puts some untold stories into the spotlight

For more than 40 years, Rae Fleming was a fixture in the pantheon of Canadian historians.

Debuting with Eldon Connections: Portraits of a Township in 1975, Fleming authored or edited a dozen books, including The Railway King of Canada in 1991, General Stores of Canada: Merchants and Memories in 2002, and Peter Gzowski: A Biography, in 2010. The Argyle native’s distinctive storytelling style made him well-known not only in Kawartha Lakes, but also throughout Ontario and across Canada.

Two years on from his untimely death, a new publication completes a project Fleming began in late 2021 while also paying tribute to his life and work.

Reflections on Old Victoria County: In Tribute to R.B. Fleming, co-edited by local historians Ian McKechnie and Tom Mohr, builds on two anthologies of local history Fleming compiled and edited in 2017 and 2021, respectively. Looking For Old Victoria County and More Surprising & Intriguing Things About Old Victoria County recounted a number of stories from across Kawartha Lakes’ predecessor municipality, many of which hadn’t been told elsewhere.

In that spirit, Reflections on Old Victoria County serves up over 20 tales from this region’s rich and occasionally unheralded heritage.

These include some thoughts about a rock on the shores of Sturgeon Lake said to be a meeting place between Samuel de Champlain and the First Peoples; the story of a Black barber who made his home in Lindsay for a few years in the 1860s; memories of Swedish furniture-makers who took up residence in Fenelon Falls half a century ago; an account of strawberry, ham, and salad suppers in Valentia; the forgotten story of Italian railway builders who were viewed with suspicion by the local press in 1911; the intriguing tale of an internationally infamous swindler who made his home in Bobcaygeon; and a brief history of an area choir that once entertained a vice-regal audience.

Thanks to the talents of graphic designer Ekaterine Alexakis, readers can look forward to a fully-illustrated cornucopia of local history, with some of the stories and images being published here for the first time. Contributors include Paul Arculus, the late James E. Brown, Ian Burney, Reese Burns, Don Chase, Hilary J. Dawson, Caroline Fenelius-Carpenter, Lisa Hart, Dr. Elwood Jones, Teresa Jordan, Ian McKechnie, Deb Mohr, Tom Mohr, Kathy Morton, Mike O’Reilly, Dr. John W. Sabean, Karolyn Smardz Frost, Sara Walker-Howe, and Sharry Wilson. Fleming’s great-niece, Joanna Veale, has contributed the book’s foreword.

In a nod to Fleming’s culinary interests, some 16 heirloom recipes collected from around old Victoria County are being featured in the 196-page softcover book.

“Rae passed away all of the sudden in the middle of a project, leaving behind a number of stories untold,” says Mohr, co-editor. “Upon his death, we took note of that loss, and considered doing something about it – our way of saying ‘thank you’ and honouring Rae. With this collection, and with the assistance of all of our contributing writers, I’d say we’ve done just that – in celebration of old Victoria County.”

Reflections on Old Victoria County will be available through Amazon.ca starting on Saturday May 18, and copies will be available for purchase locally in due course.

A special launch celebration is taking place at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lindsay on May 18, 2024, from 2:00 through 4:00 p.m. Preorders for copies will be taken, and a virtual preview of the book will be shown. Refreshments – some of which are made following the featured heirloom recipes – will be available, and remarks paying tribute to Fleming will be getting underway at 3:00 p.m.