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As you may well know by now if you have read a part of my website so far, my name is Sean Daly and I am a retired mining geologist who switched to writing for a vocation in my old age (started 7 yrs ago) because it suits our life style as it no longer takes me away from my home and my wife and also can be practiced anywhere be it in Canada or say El Salvador where we live sometimes. All I need is my laptop and cellphone and some creativity and I am set. I have always loved writing and used to write long letters home to my parents when I was travelling in Latin America or occaisonally letters to the editor about political issues. Also, they say that engineers are not into much writing compared to geologists-maybe because we have to describe so much about the rocks. So I am rather excited because I am in the midst of co-publishing my 2nd book, with FriesenPress, of poetry, a lot about mining and geological work and family. My book is dedicated to my son who died an untimely death on Nov 9, of 2021 and as well as a short eulogy to him, two poems are also about him as a warm human being and also about his passing, thence the title Joy and Sorrow; Sorrow and Joy. This book is due to come out about mid-June for those interested. I think it is much lighter reading than my first book. The forward shows how we are all Americans in the true sense of the word from Alaska and the Yukon and the Eskimos to the Toltecs and Aztecs of Mexico, the Mayans of Central America and the Araucanians of Chile plus us later settler people. As well as poems written since the 1960's, it has many popular sayings learned in the Americas at mines and especially from a wise old Salvadoran grandmother who lived for a time at the El Mochito Mine in Honduras with her kids and later technical experts at the mine. I will end now but will continue soon on the publication process and my articles for the Mining Magazine.  Buffy Sainte-Marie
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I am 'switching gears' as they used to say at the open pit mine where I worked for many years and now am editing a short book of poems I have written over the years for potential publishing. The poems are about mining and surveying, family, Latin America and philosophy of life. These themes are all intertwined as I was a mining geologist but while working in Honduras got married to a Honduras woman and also have travelled extensively in both Canada and the US and also Latin America so hope my poems are imbued with what it is like to be not just a Canadian but also a true American in the sense of having lived in various parts of the Americas.
As true 'Americans' we are all conscious of the high mountain spine (the Western Cordillera) that occupies the western edge of North and South America, of having indigenous peoples asserting their rights in all of these countries, and of their artifacts and also ancient ruins of their temples in places like Teotihuacan near Mexico City, of meeting mixed or mestizo or Metis people in most of these countries where the people are a rich mixture of white ex-English, Scottish, Irish and Spanish and a few other caucasian groups origin and of course indigenous and also from afro-descendent people. Also, we have common foodstuffs like corn and beans throughout these countries and various forms of tortillas, like the pupusas of El Salvador, the large and small tortillas of Mexico and Central American and the thick arepas of Venezuela, the rich mineral resources throughout these countries and the common brotherhood of the miners who face similar conditions from Alaska and Canada to the US and Mesoamerica and South America in dealing with corporations who usually are only out for the profit motive with a few exceptions. This poetry pamphlet also includes some very wise sayings heard throughout my experiences in the Americas and especially from a wise old grandmother from El Salvador on life from the perspective of those engaged in their local mining industry but of wide philosophical import, ie with universal truths. |
Sean DalyI am a mining geologist and the author of From the Erzgebirge to Potosi: A History of Geology and Mining Since the 1500's and Joy & sorrow; Sorrow & Joy-musings on mining, family, Latin America and society ArchivesCategories |
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