About the Author - Rendle Bowness.

E. Rendle Bowness was born in Bedeque, Prince Edward Island, across the bay from Summerside in 1909. His family moved to Summerside in 1915. Rendle attended grade and high school there and did the chores on his father's fox ranch. After graduating from Prince of Wales College, he was employed by Dr J. R. Cunningham, who operated Canada's only veterinary practice devoted exclusively to foxes. In 1928, he entered the Ontario Veterinary College, graduating in 1932. Two years as manager of Tarnedge Foxes, the oldest fox ranch in the U.S.A., then three years in a Chicago Small Animal Hospital where he got some work on foxes and mink as well as pets. In 1937, he returned to the Ontario Veterinary College to set up its department of fur-bearing animals. A year later, he went with Master Feeds to begin their Experimental Farm for animal nutrition. For 34 years, until his retirement in 1972, he worked with foxes and mink. During these years, he published a steady flow of articles on all aspects of the fur business. He organized educational meetings on an annual basis throughout Eastern Canada. He encouraged the development of local rancher associations to put on livestock and pelt shows. He was one of the small groups that brought the Canada Mink Breeders Association into being. From the beginning, he was a firm believer in selling furs by public auction. He was deeply interested in improving pelt preparation so the rancher got the best possible returns for his work. More affectionately known as "Doc", he was approached in 1977 to record the fast vanishing memories of the early mink people in Canada and since then has spent a busy three years producing this authentic and fascinating story of our beginnings . . . . . Thanks "Doc."