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The article discusses the writing, publication, and reception of the 1972 book "Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914" by Cassie Brown with Harold Horwood, an account of the deaths from exposure of dozens of sealers seen as stemming from corporate indifference to their welfare. The book, an international bestseller written by and about Newfoundlanders, is seen as a landmark in Newfoundland print culture and cultural identity. Topics discussed include sealing in Newfoundland literature, Brown's early career and development as an author, and the life cycle of her book.

The article discusses the development of medical autobiography--the life writings of physicians and allied health workers--in Newfoundland and Labrador in the 20th century, with attention to the influence on the genre of medical missionary Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (1865-1940) and the local print culture he inspired. A case study is also presented, of "Snowshoe & Lancet: Memoirs of a Frontier Newfoundland Doctor, 1937-1948," published in 2000 by American physician Robert Skidmore Ecke (1909-2001).