DATE: February 8, 2024
EVENT: Kingston’s Royal (and not so Royal) Dockyard(s): The history of shipbuilding in Kingston from LaSalle 1678 to 2024
Dr. David More was born in Montreal and grew up in Kingston, Ontario. He was educated at the University of Waterloo and Queen’s University, and is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. He was first paid to write a piece in the Montreal Gazette on reviving the Avro Arrow (1977). Dr. More has published four volumes so far in the award-winning historical novel series, the Smithyman Saga, set in colonial Northeastern North America, which have been compared to James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans. His current projects include the fifth and sixth Smithyman Saga novels, and a history about the 19th Century Golden Age of Sail on Lake Ontario. He has published 20 papers related to history and medical laboratories, numerous letters to the editor and history book reviews. More is a sought-after lecturer and popular teacher. He has presented internationally both in history and medical laboratory management.
He has always loved tinkering and fooling around with boats of all sizes and types since he learned to sail at the age of 12. He built a 32-foot, two-masted sailboat from scratch, but describes himself as “between boats” at present. Post-retirement, after a 40-year career as a technologist and managing medical laboratories, More worked for several years as a volunteer and Managing Director for Brigantine, Inc., a charity that owns and operates the brigantine square-rigger St. Lawrence II as the platform for its youth sail-training program. He also accumulated several weeks serving aboard St. Lawrence as deckhand, ship’s cook, and occasionally helmsman. More returned to school at the age of 68 and earned an MA and Ph.D. in History. Recently he re-engaged with seafaring life as a tourist guide on day excursion cruise ships based in Kingston.
More remains enthralled by Kingston’s and Canada’s deep, rich and entertaining history, especially its maritime aspects. “If you like real history, interesting history, complicated history, dive deep into Canada’s – it is comparable to any in the world.”
More is happily married and has one daughter. He and his wife of 47 years, Donna, live in an 1856 limestone home near Lake Ontario, which they are “continually improving.”