Well, the top of the morning to you. This is Ayn Cates Sullivan, host of Wisdom of the Ages where we invite the sacred into modern day reality. Let me tell you why you’re going to be excited about this episode. Do you love childhood stories with an Irish twist? I should say also a French-Canadian twist. Well, then you will love my guest today. Pauline Kiely, author of No Poverty Between the Sheets, has written a sassy memoir of a large family that is half Irish and half French Canadian. I couldn’t put it down. First, before I introduce her, I want to just add a little wisdom quote. Pauline Kiely once asked her Irish granny, “If you were so poor, why did you have 10 children?” Her granny replied, “To be certain there was no poverty between the sheets.” It takes a second.
Yes, we can find riches in a warm bed. That’s really true. I’m sure Pauline will tell us more about the title. Pauline Kiely has been a freelance writer for over 20 years. She credits University of Toronto, Trent Universities, and workshops hosted by the Writers Union of Canada for inspiring her distinctive voice that embraces resilient humor. It is true, her book has such, so much fun, such a laugh.
In May, 2019 her debut memoir, No Poverty Between the Sheets, received international recognition in New York City, winning the silver for Canada East Region and also, I think it was silver with the Independent Book Publisher Book Awards. Was it silver?
Yes.
It was. Yes. I had the pleasure of meeting you there at the IBPy awards ceremony and having a grand laugh in Times Square. Hello.
Hi. Hi, Ayn. How are you today?
I’m good. I’m good. I’m glad you’re doing this show and I’m so glad I got your book from you. I have to admit, I read it on the Amtrak ride back from New York City, back down to Charlottesville and I just started laughing. Everyone was staring at me on the train, but who cares? I couldn’t put it down. I’m so happy for you to share today and I think people will enjoy it. Okay. First question, why were you given the name, the nickname Holy Smoke?
Well, because I’m half Irish and half French Canadian and the combination is Holy Smoke. I’ve been a feisty child from day one, always that kid that wondered why, many questions and many adventures. A lot of those are showcased in the book, my antics and my zest for life. That’s why I was called Holy Smoke.
I love it. It’s a great nickname. Before we get into the memoir, why don’t you just give us a little bit of history about French Canada and Irish people and immigration and a little bit about, of background.
Well, in writing the book I seem to have exposed the fact that the French-Canadian pioneers came here, Champlain and Louis Riel and Cartier and they brought boatloads of French people here to settle in Canada. Then you had the Irish element joining that with sadly to say the coffin ships during the potato famine. Again, you had boatloads of Irish emigrating here.
I actually have a cousin in Cork and he was doing a ceremony that, it was to honor the First Nations of Canada because during the potato famine, the only people to send food to Ireland were the Ojibwe of Canada sent food. That was it. Well, everyone was afraid of the English, right? Oh my goodness. Yes. I guess it’s true. It’s history and it was a great honor for Collum to take part in this ceremony.
I was able to go and visit French Canada, I guess it was about three years ago. Quebec was beautiful. I absolutely loved it, especially Quebec City and Montreal. It’s so different than I expected: so full of history, so rich, so sophisticated. I really loved the … What sparked you to write your memoir?
From the time I was a child, I was just fascinated by my two grandmothers. The fact that one could have 10 children and the other have 12, I was thinking, “How can a woman have 10 and 12 children?” In fairness to my French Canadian grandmother, her oldest son wasn’t even 16 when her youngest child was born. She had baby after baby, 15 months apart. My, and she had a boy and a girl, a boy and a girl all the way down the line. She was a woman who prayed all her life that her children would stay together. My mom’s people are very warm and sincere and kind. We got together a lot and we still do with an annual family reunion.
My father came here at 17 years old and he was heartbroken. He missed Ireland and he missed his family because only himself, his sister and his father came here initially. He met my mom at a dance in Toronto and they used to joke every year on my birthday that I was made in the dark and in a hurry in the backseat of a ’53 Buick. They met and they both had so much in common, coming from large families. It just was the times. They liked to dance. They were both Catholic and they got along and they carved out a life together . They were really very successful in a lot of ways, more than just materially.
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Was there a specific message that you were trying to get across when you wrote this book?
Part of it is the shifts in society. It was quite the norm back then for women to have 10 and 12 kids. My French grandmother was widowed and my Irish grandmother was left alone in Ireland. It was quite common for women to raise all these kids. You also have to figure on, my parents are the product of the … They were born at the tail end of the Second World War, my dad in ’40 and my mum in ’41. It’s all caught there.
For me, I remember vividly images of the Vietnam War on television. It spans four generations and that’s what I was after. I really wanted to capture the whole: the shifts in society, the way different things were more acceptable. I think I’ve done a fair job of that.
You did. It’s amazing. If people want to go find out more about you or find out about your upcoming book also, that we’ll talk about after the break, where would they go? What’s your website?
It is paulinekiely.com.
Okay, wonderful. We had been talking with author Pauline Kiely. When we come back from this short break, we’re going to talk more about No Poverty Between the Sheets. Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
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