The daughter of long time Grey Bruce MPP Eddie Sargent is continuing his legacy.
Patty Belle Sargent has finished a book her father started many years ago.
It’s called “Roses in December – A Biography of Eddie Sargent” and the 200 page book was launched at the Ginger Press in downtown Owen Sound last night.
Sargent says her Dad understood his life was interesting and wanted to write a book — so she wanted to fulfill something he started.
Sargent says she started working on the book last October, using notes her dad wrote on napkins and others typed up by his secretaries.
But Sargent says she also used 3 hours of tapes from her dad after the family sat him down in front of a tape recorded after their mother died.
Sargent says she also used news clippings and stories from people in Owen Sound and across Grey and Bruce Counties.
The book begins with a young Eddie Sargent in a remote logging camp in northern Ontario and follows his life as an athlete, a businessman and a politician.
Sargent was a municipal politician from 1946 to 1963 — serving most of them as Mayor of Owen Sound — before serving as MPP for Grey Bruce from 1963 to 1987.
Sargent says her father always had political aspirations and wanted to go even further than being a MPP.
Sargent says one thing that stood out when she was writing the book was her father always wanted to help people — and he got a sense of worth from helping others.
She hopes the book will continue her father’s legacy and people will learn about the politician and his dedication to the area.
Sargent adds the title is a reference to something he said upon retirement — that God gave us memories so we may have roses in December.
