Gary Collins was born in a small, two-storey house by the side of the sea in the town of Hare Bay, Bonavista North. He finished school at Brown Memorial High in the same town and resides in Hare Bay still.

He spent forty years in the logging and sawmilling business along with his father, Theophilus, and son Clint. Gary was once Newfoundland’s youngest fisheries guardian. He managed log drives for years down spring rivers, spent seven seasons driving tractor trailers over ice roads and the Beaufort Sea of Canada’s Western Arctic, and has been involved in the crab, lobster, and cod commercial fisheries. His writing career began when he was asked to write eulogies for deceased friends and family. He spent a full summer employed as a prospector before he wrote Soulis Joe’s Lost Mine. He liked the work so much, he went back to school to earn his prospecting certificate.

His favourite pastimes are reading and playing guitar at his log cabin, and now, “banging rocks.” Gary Collins is married to the former Rose Gill, and together they have three children and three grandchildren.

Questions & Answers

Read the Q & A with Gary Collins