I’m currently in the middle of a book called American Gods in which Neil Gaiman spins a tale of gods of the old world going to war against the gods of the new world and a poor guy caught in the middle of it all. One of the gods that our poor guy meets up with is a guy named Apple Johnny, which bears more than a striking resemblance to Johnny Appleseed. It eventually turns out that it is Johnny Appleseed. He’s a folk hero and, if I understand Gaiman’s mythology correctly, folk heroes are kind of like demigods. At the mention of “Apple Johnny,” I couldn’t help but think of a similar folk hero from my homeland of Canada. Of course, not a lot of people know about this person, but he is quite well known in my neck of the woods. So please, let me tell you about one of Canada’s forgotten folk heroes. Just sit back, and let me tell you about Markie Watermelonseed.
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