Harvey Sawler
Breakwater Books
“I’M A poor wayfaring stranger, / Travelling through this world of woe; / And there’s no sickness, toil, or danger / In that bright land to which I go.” So wrote Ron Hynes, the hugely respected songwriter and performer who died in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on November 19, 2015. Hynes wrote songs the way he lived his life: with searing honesty, and uncaring about the vicissitudes of fame. Harvey Sawler has compiled a fitting tribute to the late musician: part biography, part appreciation, part reminiscence from friends and colleagues. “The songs are so world-class,” says keyboardist Paul Kinsman. “They are not bullshit songs.”