My view from the Blackened Rocks
Author: Cathy Mulroy
Publish: Sept 5, 2019
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Format: ebook, Paperback, hardcover
Pages: 494
Available From:
Description:

A daughter of a hard rock miner. Married at the age of sixteen. At nineteen, Cathy Mulroy was hired at mining giant Inco and became one of the first women to work there since the war years in a non-traditional job. In 1930, legislation stated it was too dangerous for women to do this work. The laws changed during the war years, but all 1400 women lost their jobs when the war ended, and women were no longer legally employable in mining operations. Laws changed again, and in 1974 Inco hired a few women. Cathy was one of them. The company didn't want them there. The men didn't want them there, and their wives certainly didn't, either. There were no laws protecting women in the workplace back then. Women working in mining operations endured sexual harassment, discrimination, sexual assault, and threats. This job was rough, but Cathy needed it to escape a toxic marriage. It wasn't easy. Through the years, she was labelled a "troublemaker" because she stood up for herself and fought back. She began to document everything that happened to her, writing notes on anything she could get her hands on and saving them. After thirty years she began to write her memoir to tell her story from her point of view, what it was like to be the only woman among dozens of men working at Inco, including the struggles of strikes, cutbacks, force adjustments, layoffs, accidents, and fatalities. It was never boring.

Author Details:

I have always been a storyteller. Storytelling runs in the family. Writing made me nervous because I’m dyslexic. Put me in front of an audience, I am at my best. When I was a child, I like oratorical speaking. Win trophies in grade 3 and grade 4.

I became a member of the Sudbury Writers Guild in 2017/18, so I would keep writing and was hoping to meet other writers.

I’m a member of Sudbury Toastmasters club, and Sudbury’s Advanced Toastmasters Club.

I participate in the Screenwriter’s branch of the Sudbury Writers Guild. At the moment I am working on a monologue and enjoying it tremendously. This is a new niche that brings my skills as a speaker and storyteller together.

I was a member of the Memoir Writing group at Park Side. Meeting every Tuesday gave me dead lines to accomplished writing something every week. Illness took its tole on me, in and out of hospitals for years.

When I recovered, I finished writing my memoir and had it self published, At Telwel in 2019. “My view from the Blackened Rocks”

I dabble in poetry and fictional stories.

My favourite writing space; is my women-cave office in my home.

During the pandemic, I am learning that YouTube is my friend. I love to learn.

I am working on being a mentor at Sudbury Toastmasters. I love to share what I know and hope that I’m an inspiration to new speakers.