Hugh R. MacDonald is a graduate of Cape Breton University and recently retired from a career in the human service field. He has been a member of the Writers' Union of Canada for many years, as well a long time member of the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia. After a number of years in Toronto, Hugh now resides in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, with his wife, Joanne. Over the years, Hugh has performed music in a number of venues, and still enjoys being a singer/songwriter in his free time. Trapper Boy  was his first published novel in 2012, which he followed up with the sequel, Us and Them in October 2016. He is currently working on his next project, A Fisherman’s Son, a mainstream novel set in Cape Breton. In a recent review by Ruth Latta in CM Magazine (CM: Canadian Review of Materials), she wrote: "Trapper Boy is excellent literature....Highly Recommended." In a recent review by Carmelita Cechetto-Shea in the December 2016 issue of Resource Links (Vol 22, no. 2) she wrote: "Us and Them is an excellent piece of storytelling that should be in the Canadian history curriculum for Grades 7-12 . . . a remarkable book that will have the reader hoping for the next installment."  

Trapper Boy and Us and Them were both selected by the Canadian Children's Book Centre(CCBC) Best Books for Kids and Teens during the year of publication. 

Hugh’s song, “Trapper Boy,” which he wrote prior to the novel of the same name, has been added to the repertoire of the world famous Men of the Deeps Coal Miners’ Chorus, and was included on their 50th Anniversary Compilation CD, which was released in April 2016.

In 2017, Trapper Boy was recognized by Reading Nova Scotia as one of 150 Books of Influence, which can be found at this website:                                                          http://renewyourcuriosity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/L150books_HR.pdf

Trapper Boy was selected by Dr. Patrick Howard of Cape Breton University’s Education Department as a novel around which to develop a Teacher Resource. The resource is currently available at no charge for teachers using Trapper Boy.

Award-winning novelist, Sheldon Currie, writes: “What a wonderful piece of storytelling. It’s not only a good story, it’s a history of coal mining in Cape Breton and not just a factual history but it’s what’s missing in most factual accounts, a heartbreaking and emotional account about what poor people had to put up with at the hands of soulless and business organizations and their mindless CEOs. It’s the kind of book that should be used for history classes in high school and universities. Trapper Boy would be a powerful play … ripe for the stage. For a movie too.”