Last night I met Linda Granfield author of : Remembering John McCrae

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.






— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

In the quiet of the media room in Beaconsfield Library, the Montreal Childrens Literature Roundtable gathered to enjoy the presentation by Linda Granfield. It was a great priviledge to see her meticulous research laid out before us to discover the quality of this man, John McCrae.

In Remembering John McCrae, Linda Granfield, one of Canada’s finest historians and celebrated authors of non-fiction for young readers, has compiled a beautiful tribute to this man. In a distinctive “scrapbook” style, more than one hundred photos, paintings, and documents are displayed to help paint an intimate portrait of a true hero. Readers will learn about his life as a doctor and teacher of medicine, about his tour of duty in the Boer War, and of course, about his service in the First World War, where he experienced a loss so profound it moved him to write “In Flanders Fields.”
You can find Linda Granfield's website here.