This is a good opportunity to provide some background and trace the origins of A Life on Water. I also want to acknowledge anachronisms in the story and discuss aspects that differ from facts.

Well-known public figures, events, and settings in the story reflect historical facts. Other characters and the plot are fictional, including Ardis Lowney. I tried to ensure every detail of her character was plausible. Yes, the Epilogue is fictional.

First, the Tributes!

I would like to recognize my family and friends who assisted me along the way. Thank you for your help and encouragement!

­Aidan gave me comments on later drafts; and he continues to be a great support, providing practical advice ongoing.

Olivia inspired me to work into the evenings. In the summer before Grade 12, Olivia provided my second draft with detailed, intelligent, and demanding comments that gave me a welcomed boost.

Barbara helped me clean up my grammar and encouraged me all along. Barb painted the Kemp’s ridley that is on this site, timpaleczny.com

Ray & Sally facilitated my experience of life in and on the ocean. As a well-read sailor, Ray helped me with boating details; and both Ray & Sally supported my efforts with enthusiasm.

Jack imparted the meaning of God’s immanent presence. His reference to the “downtrodden” inspired the title for Chapter 20.

Betty-Anne worked with Barb on a painting of the Water Dog, a U-boat, and dolphins that is also on this site, timpaleczny.com.

Deb joined me in Lisbon to tour the Algarve, Alentejo, and the Azores; and she supported my efforts with enthusiasm.

Jean provided two drafts with detailed critiques, full of lessons.

Helen Doner created the map and cover illustration to great acclaim.

Valéria suggested the name Xisco, and helped to identify the protagonist. “It was her mission and her boat,” she observed.

Lois asked to appear in my novel as a marine biologist whose specialty was sea turtles. And Faith suggested the name Ardis.

Laurie Kelly critiqued the fourth draft and inspired a bigger picture.

Hannah F. commented on an early draft, drawing on her History MA, interest in WWII, and familiarity with Portugal’s neutrality.

Maria & Manel brought me to Santa Cruz to see Praia das Amoeiras. The dinners they hosted on their terrace in Lisbon were my favourite part of my 2017 visit to Lisbon. Marvellous!

To all my readers & reviewers, thank you for reading my novel!

Acknowledgments

Xisco of Sonim

I visited the village of Sonim in Trás-os-Montes, Portugal, in 1998 with my former wife and her father, Fernando. He grew up in Sonim and became a stable boy at nine years of age. His love of history and Portuguese explorers inspired the schoolroom chapter—the kernel from which this story grew. Over time, the character acquired a life of his own. To mark this distinction, I changed the character’s name to Francisco, also known as Xisco. But nothing will change the fact that Fernando inspired this novel. As I wrote this, in July, 2023, Fernando was 92 years old.

Ardis Lowney

In August of 2015, I told Lois I was working on a novel, and she asked me if she was in it. I told her no. Six months later, I reported I was still working on it, and she asked again. This time, I said “yes, Lois, you are in it, what do you want to be?”

Without missing a beat, she said “A marine biologist.”

“What is your specialty?” I needed to know.

“Sea turtles.”

“Okay, you’re in it.” I was kidding of course.

Around this time, Fernando told me his father and the men in the village collected rocks for which foreigners paid cash. This clue led me to learn of the Nazi’s need for Portuguese wolfram during World War II. At that time, Lisbon had been a hotbed for spies. My story would benefit from having a character who was a spy, and even better, a female character. My research led me to Camp X and the rest fell into place.

Unfortunately, Portuguese speakers pronounce Lois as Louis, so Lois became Ava.

Then I noticed spies in movies named Ava, which wouldn’t do. To come across to readers as authentic, a protagonist needs to evoke original impressions. I looked for a name that was unique.

I mentioned my hunt for an authentic name to Faith, who suggested her mother’s name, Ardis Downey. I had never heard of the name Ardis. It reminded me of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt combined with the insect, a Preying Mantis. The name Ardis was so different it didn’t appear on a list of 150 unique names. Plus, it fit my character seamlessly: Ardis means “ardent” or “fervent,” and Lowney means “warrior.” These names met my search criteria perfectly.

Kemp’s Ridley

The Kemp’s ridley was identified by Florida fisherman Richard Kemp off Key West in the 1880s. But it wasn’t until 1947 that their nesting grounds in Tamaulipas, Mexico were documented on film. The discovery remained unknown to marine biologists for another five years.

Mexicans refer to the en masse nesting as the arrabiada, the arrival.

Although a nesting of Kemp’s ridleys in Portugal is inaccurate, the consumption of baby turtles by many predators on land and in the sea fits the feeding frenzy theme in A Life on Water.

The feeding frenzy theme features cicadas on land being devoured mostly by birds. It also features small fish in the sea being herded and consumed by blue fin tuna, dolphins, and other predators.

The World Wildlife Fund has identified the Kemp’s ridley as the most endangered species of sea turtles. I hope readers’ encounter in my story with this endangered species helps to raise awareness and efforts to protect them. For this reason, I don’t mind being inaccurate about the Portuguese location.

University of British Columbia

The marine biology program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) was not instituted until years later. However, its Royal Officer Training Program and the letter read by the Dean are historically accurate. Captain Grant was a commanding officer in Vancouver.

Fran’s Restaurant

Fran’s Restaurant on College Street in Toronto wasn’t opened until 1960. However, the first Fran’s Restaurant in Toronto opened in 1940 at Yonge and St. Clair streets. I used the College location because of its proximity to the former Eaton’s across the street, where Ardis shops.

Camp X

Camp X was located in Oshawa, Ontario. Its purpose was to train American operatives before the United States formally entered the war. My story implies that Camp X was operational in 1940, but it didn’t exist yet. According to the Camp X official site (http://www.camp-x.com/officers1942.html), Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Terence Roper-Caldbeck of Scotland was appointed the first official commandant of Camp X in December of 1941.

Ardis’s Flight to Portugal

An account of Gertrude Stein’s first flight in 1934 became a model for my presentation of Ardis’s reaction to flying in the opening of the fourth chapter. (Google “Gertrude Stein first flight.”)

Wolfram and the Vatican

Did the Catholic Church ever own wolfram mines in Portugal?

I wasn’t able to confirm whether the Catholic Church ever traded in commodities. I couldn’t find any information on this topic. What I did find, though, shocked me.

In 1987, the chairman of the Vatican bank, Banco Ambrosiano, went public with the news that $1.5 billion had gone missing. A week later, he disappeared. His body turned up in London, England, hanging from the Black Friars Bridge over the Thames River.

Churches of various denominations invest in commodities. Just ask the right people. Don’t be surprised if you learn such commerce helps to offset the maintenance costs of many houses of worship.

Samuel Meyer

My inspiration for Samuel Meyer was an Orthodox Jew from Poland named Samuel Schultz, who discovered the Marrano Jews in Rebordelo in 1925. Like Samuel Schultz, the fictional Samuel Meyer is a mining engineer, too.

That is where the connection ends. The actions of Samuel Meyer are fictional in their entirety.

In my story, Sam Meyer is not Orthodox and not even a Conservative Jew, although he was raised that way and knows the Shema and other prayers. An Orthodox Jew would not engage in hunting, especially for wild boar, an unclean species that is not Kosher.

Early on, I believed the Rebordelo that Samuel Schultz visited was the village located about 10 kilometres from Sonim, where there is an active Marrano community. Later, I learned there are four villages in Portugal named Rebordelo.

The Miracles of Fatima

Sam Meyer expresses his theory that the miracles of Fatima were perpetrated by Cardinal Cerejeira and Prime Minister Salazar to leverage the fear of their Catholic audiences and cow them into compliance. Sam claims this deception constitutes a hoax against Portugal's people.

Fatima Events promoted during late 1930s

• Our Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917

• Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917

• In 1938, the Fatima Storm, an aurora that appeared across the globe, was predicted at Fatima as a sign that God was about to punish the world

• In 1939, the world plunged into World War II

Captain Americo Charon

In real life, the captain of the Serpa Pinto was Americo Dos Santos, who was a hero in his own right. In A Life on Water, I maintained the first name Americo for the captain of the Serpa Pinto and I borrowed Charon as his surname.

In Greek mythology, Charon was a spirit who piloted a raft in Hades that carried the dead across the River Styx to the final judgement in the afterlife.

I couldn’t resist.

In this context, the life that Ardis had lived is over. She has changed and she is crossing over to a new world. This is a setup for what happens in the sequel to A Life on Water, which I am working on now.

Final Thoughts

Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa wrote: “Boa é a vida, mas melhor é o vinho. O amor é bom, mas é melhor o sono.”

Life is good, but wine is better. Love is good, but sleep is better.