Outport Woman: Life on the Ocean’s Edge

History often overlooks the private lives of families, women, and children. On Newfoundland’s rugged South Coast—an unforgiving place where the sea offers both survival and sudden loss—the life of Minnie Beatrice Blake challenges deeply held ideas about family, gender roles, work, grief, and sexuality.

Dr. Raymond Blake and Hayward Blake walk the line between private lives and public histories in discussing their new book, Outport Woman: Life on the Ocean’s Edge, followed by a live audience Q&A. 

Tickets: $12 plus HST. Free for Rooms members. Get your tickets online or by calling 709-757-8090.

Raymond B. Blake is Professor of History at the University of Regina. An award-winning author and historian, he has written and edited more than 20 books on Canadian and Newfoundland history. His Canada’s Prime Ministers and the Shaping of a National Identity won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for best political writing in Canada in 2025. 

Hayward C. Blake was born in Pushthrough, a community resettled in 1969. As a lifelong educator, his teaching career was spent in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. He was recognized for his leadership within the K-12 system with a Readers Digest Leadership Award and was named Canadian Principal of the Year by the Canadian Association of Principals.