It All Began with Daisy: 2 [Hardcover]

Sonia Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 1987

In 1972 Gordon Jones sold his management consulting firm in New York City and moved to Nova Scotia with his wife, Sonia, a Harvard Ph.D. and upcoming chairperson of the Spanish Department at Dalhousie University. The couple bought a small farm next to the ocean where Gordon intended to help care for their first child, Valerie, while enjoying the natural beauty of the area and indulging his life-long dream of owning a yacht and sailing into the occasional sunset.

Their lives were quiet and orderly until, in an unguarded moment, they made the mistake of buying a cow. Daisy quickly became the head of the household, subordinating her new owners to the position of servants in charge of cleaning, feeding, and milking her. The Joneses meekly accepted their servitude, for which Daisy rewarded them by supplying more milk than their refrigerator could hold. They tried reasoning with her but she was unwilling to cut back her milk supply (not even on Sundays and holidays), so Sonia decided to make the surplus milk into yogurt for a friend of hers who owned a health food store. After many false starts and costly learning experiences, the entrepreneurial couple eventually succeeded in getting their new business off the ground. Now the Joneses employ forty-two people and enjoy annual sales of over two million dollars. After a long and contented life Daisy finally was called to cow heaven, but she has been immortalized on the Jones's Peninsula Farm tractor-trailers and yogurt containers.

In spite of dedicating much of her time to nursing babies, raising children, teaching classes, sitting on university committees, and publishing academic books and articles, Sonia managed to write a humorous, heart-warming book about her family's adventures and misadventures in the dairy industry where they found themselves wrestling with multinational competitors and Napoleonic dairy-case boys. Her book was published by E.P. Dutton in New York and featured as an alternate selection by the Literary Guild of America. It was later condensed by the Reader's Digest and circulated to twenty-eight million readers in a dozen languages. Gordon, by the way, never did get his yacht, but he is grateful to the many friends who are kind enough to invite him to go sailing with them from time to time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The eponymous Daisy is a cow that the author and her husband bought when they moved from New York City to a farm in Nova Scotia. Daisy's yield of milk proved to be so plentiful that the author was able to make yogurt for local store owners to sell. As the fame of the product spread so did its sales, and the business continues to reward the husband-and-wife partnership. The author relates the story in an engaging fashion, even describing setbacks cheerfully. There is added charm in accounts of veteran farmers whose advice was invaluable to the couple, to whom rural life at first was utterly alien.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The eponymous Daisy is a cow that the author and her husband bought when they moved from New York City to a farm in Nova Scotia. Daisy's yield of milk proved to be so plentiful that the author was able to make yogurt for local store owners to sell. As the fame of the product spread so did its sales, and the business continues to reward the husband-and-wife partnership. The author relates the story in an engaging fashion, even describing setbacks cheerfully. There is added charm in accounts of veteran farmers whose advice was invaluable to the couple, to whom rural life at first was utterly alien. (Publisher's Weekly, May 27, 1987)

Some stories have inherent charm... To describe her unusual achievements, the author has constructed a breezy, well-paced narrative, with nice descriptions of the Canadian countryside and cheerful character sketches of her neighbors and business allies. Inverting the conventions of business autobiography, she describes her blunders - both technical and in matters of human relations - with a pleasing comic style. Indeed, the best things in "It All Began With Daisy" are its author's good humor and genuine charity of spirit. (Bob Coleman, New York Times, June 21, 1987)

What's especially interesting about Jones' story is that her company became a success in spite of itself. It was in business before it even had a name, it had no plan and no start-up money. That's nothing short of amazing when you consider that everything written or said on entrepreneurship stresses developing a solid business proposal, having a sound marketing plan and spending a small fortune to launch the enterprise. (Marilyn Linton, Lifestyle Editor, the Toronto Sunday Sun, June 21, 1987)

The inevitable growth of the house that the Joneses built is funny, but there is a more telling side to the story of these small entrepreneurs. Starting wtih sound bees in their bonnets about quality and honesty, they had to deal constantly with the strange logic of bureaucrats and the curious customs of bigger businesses such as supermarket chains. They appear to have hung in there with astonishing and unceasing good humor. (Pauline Carey, Toronto Globe and Mail, August 8, 1987)

****+This is the inspirational book to read when you know the grass is greener on the other side of the subway fence and you want to get out of the rat race... the Joneses are now celebrities thanks to their high-quality products and their funny and heart-warming story. For an old-fashioned, delightful experience, read this true-life romp of two urban professionals let loose on a farm. (Kathryn Falk, Nonfiction Reviews, Aug., 1987)

A colorful parade of well-drawn characters and comic-tragic events - from a leaky filling machine to three years of production built upon a kitchen stove and Canadian Tire styrofoam coolers - all but ensures the Jones' life will soon be the subject of a made-for-TV movie. (Would Jane Fonda consider playing the confident and unstoppable Sonia?) Other cast members include Travis, the laconic neighbor who offers homespun advice on everything from plumbing to bovine psychology; David Sobey, the fairy godfather who "discovers" Peninsula Farm and invites the Joneses into the Sobey supermarket chain; Yvette, a French-Canadian dynamo who regales her health food customers with equal portions of spoonerisms and sensual descriptions of strawberry yogurt; and Ed Shoemaker (Fast Eddie?), the grasping chainstore buyer who teaches Sonia the hard, cold facts of the food industry... When it comes to business, muses Sonia Jones, "small is terrifying but medium is beautiful." The yogurt Queen has arrived. (Jennifer Henderson, the Toronto Financial Post, November 9, 1987)

It All Began With Daisy is a non-fiction romp for those who enjoy good writing, humor, and country life. The joy of this delightful book is that the author keeps the reader amused and interested in the many trials and tribulations experienced by an academic combining a farm and business career, to say nothing of raising a family at the same time... Readers will acquire a favorite new author after reading this book. -- Jim Morrison, Burrelle's The Book Corner, Nova Scotia, 1987 edition

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1st edition (May 27, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525245405
• ISBN-13: 978-0525245407
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,673,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sonia Harrison Jones has a PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard, and chaired the Spanish Dept at Dalhousie University for many years. She wrote a beginning Spanish textbook ("Spanish One") that was adopted by over 100 universities in the US and Canada, and a biography of the well-loved Argentine writer, "Alfonsina Storni." After moving to Nova Scotia she and her husband bought a cow in an unguarded moment, which led to the development of a multi-million dollar yogurt industry in the Maritime provinces. She wrote two books about their experiences ("It All Began With Daisy," and "Daisy and Goliath"), after which she wrote an intriguing family memoir ("The Primrose Path") about her famous grandfather, the photographer Percy Pond, who documented the Gold Rush in Alaska. It also introduces her father, Kay Harrison, the Managing Director of Hollywood's Technicolor Films in London, Paris, and Rome. "Of Mice and Moose Calls" is a collection of poignant, humorous articles published in "The Banner." Her latest book is a thriller/mystery called "Cloning Jesus," which features science and religion in a fresh new look at who we are, why we're here, and where we're going. The Joneses have two daughters (a physician and an artist). They claim (the parents, not the daughters) that they are now enjoying the last of life for which the first was made.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring book filled with humour, local colour and charm, April 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: It All Began with Daisy: 2 (Hardcover)

It All Began With Daisy is an inspiring book filled with humour, local colour and excellent storytelling. It is encouraging to read of the adventures of such an entrepeneurial couple and their "vigourous muddling" through the years of establishing their yoghurt company. Characters come alive and conversations quiver with the skill of the author's recounting. Highly recommended for light, inspirational reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating Story, August 15, 2007

By 

L. Watson (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It All Began with Daisy: 2 (Hardcover)

When I first read this engaging book by Sonia Jones in about 2000, I couldn't put this book down. Closing the last page, I attempted to look up the Peninsula farm, envisioning a trip to Novia Scotia, only to find the farm recently shut down. Appears the farm continued operating well after the book was published. If you loved this book and enjoy arm-chair traveling, I highly recommend another inspiring book of a road less traveled. See my review of Atchafayala Houseboat by Gwen Carpenter Roland.