Rick Ranson has collected stories from all over North America, from the DEW Line and the drill ships of "Working North" to the raging waters of the Mississippi in "Paddling South." Now, join this engaging raconteur as he ventures to one of Canada's most talked-about locations: Fort McMurray, home of the oilsands.

In "Bittersweet Sands," Rick Ranson recounts a twenty-four day shift at an oilsands operation undergoing a shutdown, giving us a glimpse at a world most of us only know from the evening news. Along the way, he encounters a group of engaging roughnecks, including a husband and wife welding crew, a petty fascist safety inspector, and the tough-as-nails secretary that keeps them all in line.

In the Fall of 1969, Rick Ranson and John Van Landeghem, both barely out of high school, took on the might of the Red and Mississippi Rivers to paddle a canoe from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Combining high drama with hilarity, Ranson tells how the duo, ducked bullets in St. Louis, avoided a whirlpool, worked on a Mississippi tow boat, sailed a yacht through a barge congested Cairo, IL, and spent a few days in the Fargo City Jail, while meeting an eclectic array of unforgettable characters. Paddling South tells the incredible tale of how they survived the three month trip on the often treacherous rivers, beset by snow storms, hurricanes, monstrous waves, and unseen dams.

Ranson skillfully recreates his northern experience in strong crisp stories that are humorous quirky and unique Working North makes it clear why Ranson was moved to &quotpity the southerner who has never seen an arctic sun skipping along the earth gathering all the colours of the prism and turning the land a warm purple " "Working North" is an engaging and entertaining read for inexperienced southerners and northern travellers alike