Bob Lowery, The Unbeatable Breed: People and Events in Northern Manitoba

by J. D. Ingram
Gordon Bell High School

Manitoba History, Number 7, Spring 1984

The Unbeatable Breed: People and Events in Northern Manitoba. Bob Lowery. Winnipeg: The Prairie Publishing Company, 1981. 135 pp., ill., ports. ISBN 0-919576-28-1.

The Unbeatable Breed is Bob Lowery’s attempt to record in some small way an account of the lives of a variety of people he met in Northern Manitoba. To the author these were remarkable individuals who overcame many challenges and proved themselves unbeatable. There are eighteen brief “biographies,” varying from five to twelve pages in length. Some of the subjects of Lowery’s book include Annie Moose, Joe Highway, Angelique Merasty, Jim Ritchie, and Tom Lamb. These people are certainly interesting—each in his or her own right. Unfortunately, there is so little about each portrayal that the reader comes away tantalized but unsatisfied. No effort has been made to draw any comparisons or make connections between the stories. The book lacks an introduction, an index, and maps. In short, interesting work but not substantial.