Jacqueline Rivet in the Mid-North Monitor (Espanola) July 2022
If a situation can make you want to become a writer, it is listening to author Don Hayward. On July 14, Hayward gave a talk at the Espanola Public Library. He read excerpts from some of his books that led the audience to imagine themselves sitting on the bank of the Spanish River and meeting unique characters. Hayward’s evocative descriptions of settings and people make the words come to life.
Hayward has written 12 books, and has plans for more. Storytelling appears to live in his soul. When he speaks you see how the twists and turns of his conversation with the audience and his fluency and humour weave a living breathing tale. From his shoes to the top of his unruly snowy hair, Hayward portrays a writer brimming with stories to share making you want to sit and talk and learn from him. When he described his writing he said, “I write episodically through a series of intertwined stories.” As he read some of his poetry and from the chapters, you had a sense of the connections he built within the stories.
Don grew up in High Falls on the Spanish River. The town no longer exists as is the story of many of the small towns owned by different companies. Some of the houses were moved to other locations of which he shared a story or two. The locations of the Spanish River, Espanola and High Falls are the settings for some of his books. The trilogy beginning with the book ‘Collapse,’ followed by ‘Under Shadows’ and concluding with ‘End of Shadows’ are set in this area, as is ‘The Seventh Path.’ Hayward doesn’t just write under one genre. Some of his pieces are science fiction, others are mysteries and, like the trilogy, stories of a post global economy collapse.
After he left High Falls, he eventually made his way to Dufferin County where he operated a small farm and worked in the electrical industry. He retired in 2008 and began to write, starting with a re-write of a chapter he began in 2007. His first book was published in 2014. Hayward now lives in Goderich, Ontario. Reading his stories will convey his profound respect for the Indigenous way of life and an appreciation for the land all around us. The books are available on Amazon and directly from Don Hayward. The Espanola Public Library has his collection available for borrowing.

Reader reviews of the After the Last Day trilogy
 
“Awesome epic book. It doesn’t just deal with a collapse, but follows society for several generations, from the viewpoint of multiple characters.

This is a unique story in that it includes people with disabilities, people of various First Nations, people who are immigrants, people who are visible minorities, and people of widely varying backgrounds, ethnic heritages, political views, and religious beliefs, and treats them as actual people with stories rather than background decoration. This gives so many more opportunities to develop the story, and the author fully takes advantage of it. After reading this, I realized how much it gets repetitive reading books where the same generic heroic man fights to survive, with kids and womenfolk only there to cheer him on. I think this is the first post-apocalyptic book I’ve read where more than half the narrative is from the viewpoint of women.
 
Anton Chekov wrote, “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off.”. In this book, the wall would be destroyed by a train driving through it. The author keeps things interesting by setting up the story so you expect one thing, but then knocks the legs out from under it. For example, a community develops its own currency to replace the nearly-worthless dollar, using some old store coupons they found. The characters carefully sign each one, keep track of how many are issued, monitor the relative value of the coupons to available food resources, and secretly mark the coupons to prevent duplication. You expect that they will soon have problems with counterfeit coupons, or hyperinflation. But, just like in real life, events take place that invalidate your predictions.
This is really, really, really good value for the money. A lot of good story for your dollar.”
 

“Gripping story, and all too plausible. There are no plot points where one says “no, that isn’t possible”; more like “OMG, that could really happen”…
…On the whole, highly recommended. Prepare to have your thinking about society provoked.”
 
“The books are interesting to read. The narrative is for ordinary people, and the plot is credible.”