Fearless and Determined

Part memoir, part creative non-fiction, Fearless and Determined, takes you back to life in rural southern Ontario in the mid 1960s. With one year’s training at Toronto Teacher’s College and no curriculum resources except a list of subjects, Linda Hutsell-Manning created and taught courses for eight grades. Built in 1860, the school had seen better days and resembled many one-room schools across Canada. With a wood stove, two pit toilets, a cold water tap, and no storm windows, many students experienced their entire elementary school education here. Linda’s memoir traverses the Kennedy assassination, the Beatles craze and smallpox shots. She worked ten-hour days and made on-the-spot decisions as teacher and principal. “Circumstance gave me this opportunity; time has deemed it to be one of the most challenging and great experiences of my life,” says Linda.

“Her one-room school serves as a backdrop to marvellous stories about a world that, perhaps regrettably, or perhaps not, will never come again.”  - —Shane Peacock, multi-genre author, the latest, Monster

Linda Hutsell-Manning demonstrated ingenuity, courage and a quiet power as she struggled to educate her students. Inspiring! —Sylvia McNicol, children’s author, the latest, Body Swap

“An ‘old school’ memoir of the nicest kind - and Linda has excellent penmanship as well.” — Ted Staunton, author 50 children’s books, the latest, The Almost Epic Squad.

“In Fearless and Determined: Two Years Teaching in a One-Room School, versatile writer Linda Hutsell-Manning effectively transports readers back to an era of galoshes, Freshie, stencils, cap guns, and gunny sack races as she recounts—with visceral clarity—her 1963-1965 teaching term in a one-room school. In her tripartite role as sole teacher, secretary, and principal, having ‘so little time and too much to do’ was her constant reality, and with a toddler at home, ‘working mother's guilt’ often lurked in the shadows.”— Shelley A. Leedahl, multi-genre author, the latest The Moon Watched It All