No Escape from Greatness
- Details
- Published on Thursday, February 25, 2016
By Sheila Runions
Banner Staff
The headline of this story is the title of a book written by a man who spent one year of his life in Rivers and while he has few memories of town, several readers will be familiar with his family tree. His mother Laurie Plumb explains the history of author Jeffrey John Eyamie of Winnipeg.
“Jeff’s grandparents moved to Rivers in 1952 from Bird’s Hill, Man. Walter “Wally” Pinniger was the owner of Rivers Sheet Metal until his death in 1960. He and his wife Myrle had three daughters, Janet, Laurie and Elaine. They lived and worked at 704 Second Avenue, the corner of Second Avenue and Quebec Street. After Wally passed away, Myrle married John Ruml and they had two more children, Adella and Tom. John was the owner of the Blue Boy Café (1953-58) and then Alexandra Restaurant in the hotel (1958-78). In 1969 their daughter Laurie married Lou Eyamie (Royal Canadian Air Force) and moved to West Germany and Quebec, where Jeff was born in 1973. At two months of age, Jeff and family left the air force and moved to Rivers for one year. They lived in a fourplex on Fourth Avenue near the high school. His father worked at the hotel pub until the family moved to Brandon in 1974. Jeff lived in Brandon three years, Virden three years and then Winnipeg since 1981. Currently, Jeff’s cousin and family (Adella’s son, Cory Plaisier) live in Rivers.”
Jeff’s 224-page paperback will be available the end of March. Published by Turnstone Press, their press release reads, “In it's own right, it's a very funny novel about one man's futile attempts to escape his responsibilities from a small, fictitious town in southern Manitoba.” Turnstone Press was founded in a Winnipeg pub in 1976 to publish chapbooks by Manitoba poets; it is now a highly-regarded publisher in Western Canada. They publish only Canadian authors or landed immigrants, with half of them being Manitoba writers and/or books with Manitoba content.
Jeff’s edition is about Gabriel Pegg, who went from the penthouse to outhouse, after his shot at a serious acting career in Hollywood goes bust. Broke, behind on child support payments and a wanted man, Gabriel heads to the only place he has left — Greatness, Manitoba. He believes his destiny as a serious artist awaits him, once he can rid himself of those pesky parental commitments. When Gabriel unwittingly signs himself up for six-days-a-week custody of his 11-year-old daughter, he realizes there might just be no escape from Greatness. Determined to make spritzers out of life’s lemons, Gabriel sets out to film his great artistic masterpiece, right there in Greatness, with the help of some willing and not so willing locals — insanity ensues.
“Really funny and terribly dark, No Escape from Greatness explores artistic ambition, parental obligations and small town life with a wry and cynical eye,” reads the press release.
The release of this book will be Jeff’s third novel; the first two were self-published. In addition to being a novelist, Jeff also has a background in screenwriting, perhaps most notably in the writers’ room of Less Than Kind (HBO Canada). His comedy pilot Split Level was accepted by the National Screen Institute's Totally Television program.
A Manitoba book launch will be at McNally Robinson (Winnipeg) on March 24 at 7 p.m. His Calgary launch on March 31 (Owl’s Nest Books, 7 p.m.) will likely be attended by the Pinniger girls and Uncle Tom — all of them live in in that city. Turnstone Press has created a video to advertise the book; to view it go to youtube.com/watch?v=9o-zVNIXIgU. You may also pre-order the book (at a 40 per cent discounted rate) from turnstonepress.com/fiction/no-escape-from-greatness.html.
