Michael Isaac to visit county schools and public potluck this week.

Mi’kmaw author and teacher Michael Isaac will read to kids at three Shelburne County Elementary schools and attend a public meet-and-greet potluck on October 20 and 21.

The author of the children’s illustrated book called How the Cougar Came to be Called the Ghost Cat will meet kids at Lockeport Elementary School on Thursday October 20. The next morning, Isaac will read and speak to kids at Evelyn Richardson Memorial Elementary School in Woods Harbour and then visit Hillcrest Academy in Shelburne that afternoon.

On the evening of October 20 starting at 6 pm, Isaac will attend an informal meet-and-greet potluck at the home of Kathleen Tudor who organized Isaac’s visit for the Shelburne County Arts Council. Members of the public are welcome to attend the potluck at 322 Pleasant Point Road near Lockeport.

Michael Isaac is from the Listuguj First Nation near the border of Quebec and New Brunswick. Formerly a law enforcement officer and federal civil servant including at the Canadian Security Intelligent Service (CSIS), Isaac returned to Atlantic Canada to pursue a career in education. He now teaches within the Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board.

His book How the Cougar Came to be Called the Ghost Cat is about Ajig, an adventurous young cougar who goes to live in a strange forest. When he finds that all of the animals in the forest are afraid of him, Ajig agrees to stop behaving like a cougar so that he can make friends. But when Ajig tries to return to his birthplace, he learns that he is no longer welcome there either. Lost between two worlds, the young cougar becomes a “ghost cat.”

Illustrated book by Dozay (Arlene) Christmas and written in both Mi’kmaw and English, this is the story the difficulties of assimilation as experienced by First Nations peoples.

Michael Isaac’s visit is funded with the help of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. The Shelburne County Arts Council is a local charity that serves artists and the arts in Shelburne County with the assistance of the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage. To find out more about the potluck, contact Kathleen Tudor at (902) 656-2446.