Greater Napanee Senior of the Year is author and volunteer Rick Revelle
Rick Revelle is a celebrated author, and now he has one more award to add to his collection: Greater Napanee Senior of the Year.
At the regular session of Council on Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2024, the Town of Greater Napanee awarded Revelle the 2024 Senior of the Year Award for his volunteerism.
Rick Revelle is an Algonquin First Nation man who retired in 2002 and then became the successful author of the Algonquin Quest series. The first of these novels was published when Revelle was 60. His most recent book, The Elk Whistle Warrior Society, was published last year.
“Rick began his career as an author [by] getting published at the age of 60, which is really quite amazing. Rick has volunteered at Culture Days with the Town and shared stories with children and adults,” Mayor Terry Richardson read from information submitted with Revelle’s nomination forms.
In the community, he went on, “Revelle has created a Writer’s Circle to encourage writers from around the area to navigate the industry and share his journey as an author in the education system. He has visited thousands of classes with all three local school boards, as well as others across Ontario and Manitoba. He was a huge part of a recent donation to the Limestone District School Board and specifically [Granite Ridge] Education Centre [in Sharbot Lake], gifting them furs, his arrow collection, and many more items, to give students and the community a hands-on experience with the Indigenous Algonquin culture. He is always willing to share his knowledge… We are very lucky to have Rick as part of the Greater Napanee community, and he is much deserving of this [award]. So thank you, Rick,” Richardson finished, presenting Revelle with a certificate of appreciation marking his achievement.
Revelle thanked the Town, in particular the person who nominated him, as well as Muriel, his wife of 47 years. “She’s hung with me through all the stuff that I did... The porch light has always been on when I came home.”
Revelle said of his later-life career change to author, “I've been lucky. It's sugar at the end of my life.”
As Revelle is a member of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, his Algonquin Quest novel series holds great cultural significance. Set from the 1320s to the 1350s on both sides of the St. Lawrence River Valley, the Great Lakes, and the Rocky Mountains, the novels depict the struggles of an Algonquin family unit in the pre-contact era. The books introduce readers to the Algonquin, Anishinaabe, Lakota, Mi´kmaq, Mohawk, and Lakhóta languages, enriching their understanding of Indigenous cultures.
Revelle told Council that the books are read in Native Studies classes across Canada. He also revealed that his latest novel has been optioned to become a film by well-known Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal.
After reading a passage from The Elk Whistle Warrior Society, Revelle concluded, “I appreciate this award and living this long to be able to write my books. My wife and I moved here to Napanee [and] we love it here. Napanee, I don't know if you know how great a town this is.”
Michelle Dorey Forestell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kingstonist.com
