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Today’s blog post is from Nathan Tidridge, author of Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Nathan was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for his 15 years of volunteer support in the education of Canadians on the role of the Crown. He teaches Canadian history and government at Waterdown District High School and was awarded the Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence (Teacher of the Year) in 2007. He lives in Carlisle, Ontario.
Nathan:
When I knew that I was going to write a book about the Duke of Kent I sent Charles Pachter (Don Rouge-Humber’s much celebrated “Cézanne of contemporary pop art in Canada”) a photograph of Simon Weaver’s 1796 portrait of Prince Edward that now hangs in the Legislative Library of Nova Scotia. A historian himself, Pachter began work on a piece that would commemorate the historic 1792 Royal Tour of Upper Canada. Within a few weeks I started receiving pictures from Charles as he crafted his painting which depicted the meeting of Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe and Prince Edward Augustus at Newark, now Niagara-on-the Lake.
The painting depicts Simcoe (at left) greeting the Prince (centre) while a member of the Queen’s Rangers (Simcoe’s regiment) looks on. The waters of Lake Ontario form the dramatic backdrop of this classic work by Pachter.
A print of this work hangs in the Vice-Regal Suite of the lieutenant governor of Ontario David C. Onley (fitting since John Graves Simcoe was the first to hold that high office). Incidentally the lieutenant governor of Ontario holds the rank of colonel in perpetuity of the Ranger’s descendent regiment, the Queen’s York Rangers.
During the recent visit of His Royal Highness Prince Philip to Toronto (April 27th, 2013), Lieutenant Governor Onley showed his royal guest the piece. Fascinated by the painting, Prince Philip was interested to learn about the history it commemorated. Prince Edward Augustus is the great-great-great grandfather of Philip’s wife, Queen Elizabeth II.
Just as Pachter’s “Love Pat 2006” an affectionate portrayal of Her Majesty petting a moose, has become synonymous with my book Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy, his work “The Meeting of Lt. Governor Simcoe and HRH Prince Edward, 1792” completes Prince Edward, Duke of Kent: Father of the Canadian Crown.
Learn more about Charles Pachter and his work at www.cpachter.com
Learn more about Nathan Tidridge’s books at www.canadiancrown.com
This week’s theme is YA titles and to kick off the week we have a guest blog post from Frank O’Keeffe, author of the new release Harry Flammable. Today Frank tells us what excites him about his new book.
Frank:
Harry Flammable (Dundurn Press) is my eighth juvenile or Y/A novel but there has been a long gap between books. Not because I wasn’t writing. I was. For a year, I wrote a humorous fiction column for the Edson Leader, the local weekly newspaper of the town where I lived, and when I moved to Peachland, B.C. with my wife, I wrote skits to entertain the staff at staff parties at a local nursery where I worked selling trees, shrubs etc. That’s how I actually started writing when I first emigrated to Calgary many years ago – writing skits for entertainment at the annual Christmas party at the insurance company where I worked. I also completed a huge historical fiction adult novel which has taken me years to write and research. I’m looking for a market for it right now. And I completed Harry Flammable plus one other Y/A novel. I’ve always enjoyed writing humour and Harry Flammable is no exception.
In Harry Flammable, high schooler Harry Flanagan earned his nickname in second grade when he attempted to ride his bike through a burning refrigerator box. I was able to use a stunt my wife’s father often did on a motorcycle. I first saw him do it, and it was a surprise to me, at a Calgary Stampeders football game half time show, except he rode through a burning outhouse. In Harry Flammable, after Harry’s stunt, fires seemed to pop up wherever Harry goes. Harry dreams of being a movie star. When a school shed has burns down along with school councillor Shamberg’s new mountain bike, Harry is in trouble. Mr. Shamberg is in charge of assigning jobs in the work experience program and Harry’s dream job with Pocket Money Pictures is given to another student. He is forced to take a job he hates, toiling in the kitchen of Ritz Hotel under Chef Antonio. I enjoyed writing some of the funny bits in the Ritz kitchen based on one of my son’s experiences working in hotel kitchens in Vancouver.
This book gives me a chance to do a little touring, doing readings in schools, libraries etc., which was difficult to do without a new book under my belt. I think this book will be enjoyed by teens and adults and it excites me to think that maybe the readers of some of my previous books like Guppy Love, Weekend at the Ritz or Nancy Nylan, Ordinary Farm Girl, Explorer Extraordinaire will find me again. Like the x-ray technician in the Okanagan who told me I had the same name as her favourite author, who had come to her school in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Or the young woman in the art gallery in Calgary who remembered me visiting her school in Rock Glen, Saskatchewan. Re-connecting with readers of my previous books, and perhaps with their children who are now young adults, is an exciting possibility.
Today on the blog we have an interview with Kevin Callan, author of the new release Dazed But Not Confused. Kevin is the author of 13 books, including the hugely popular Paddler’s Guide series and the bestselling The Happy Camper. His writing and photography appear in Explore and Canoeroots magazines, and he is the recipient of five National Magazine Awards. Kevin lives in Peterborough, Ontario.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the title?
Kevin: The original idea for a title was “Tales of a Wilderness Pornographer – my nickname for “selling” wilderness – but Dazed But Not Confused seemed easier to sell as a title. It comes from a story in the book where I suffer from vertigo and, oddly enough, don’t have many dizzy issues while wandering the wilderness.
Caitlyn: Did you have a specific readership in mind when you wrote your book?
Kevin: I have a solid following of outdoor enthusiasts from previous books and numerous presentations – but I also want to attract a new audience using misadventure stories and humour. I basically want as many people heading out into the woods as possible – and then try to save what we have left out there.
Caitlyn: Describe your ideal writing environment.
Kevin: Writing in my journal while traveling in a wilderness area – then at home transform what I wrote out there into something legible. Early morning with a cup of coffee and danish. Then a stroll downtown for a cup of tea and quiche. Then back home for a late night (after putting my daughter to bed) with a couple drams of single malt.
Caitlyn: What inspired your to write your first book?
Kevin: To give me a solid excuse to wander around the wilderness and sharing stories about what happen out there. I’ve written a journal since boyhood.
Caitlyn: Who did you read as a young adult?
Kevin: Sigurd Olson, Farley Mowat, Bill Mason, Eric Morse and R.D. Lawrence
Today is Earth Day.
International Earth Day started in 1990, and today over one billion people in 170 countries participate in this day – six million of whom are Canadian. Earth Day exists to raise awareness about environmental concerns such as pollution, rising world temperatures, melting ice caps etc.
Some of the big events that are happening in Canada for Earth Day are Victoria’s Earth Walk, Edmonton’s Earth Day Festival at Hawrelak Park and Oakville, Ontario’s Waterways Clean-up. If you’re in the area for any of those events make sure that you drop by! Also Google Earth Day and see what events are going on in your neighbourhood.
*side note: Did you play with the Google doodle? You can make it rain!*
The Earth of course needs our attention and appreciation for more than one day a year – just ask Kevin Callan, Darryl Blazino, and André-François Bourbeau, but I’m sure that they would agree with me when I say that Earth Day is a really good start.
To all those who participated in events today to help clean up our planet a huge THANK YOU! And to everyone in general let’s all be better at taking care of our home.
The Bishop of New Westminster (Vancouver), Michael Ingham, announced his retirement last week. At his installation he promised his flock ten years of service but gave twenty.
British Columbia has a reputation for electing Anglican bishops who push the envelope — Ingham is just the last in a procession that has marched through BC history from its beginnings in 1860 to today. In fighting for equality rights, many became mirrors of, or change agents for, society’s attitudes. Two risked their careers because of their public positions on social justice, one was at the centre of the only Anglican schism in Canadian history, and one was voted the sixth most important person of the twentieth century whose world view transformed society. All experienced praise and significant abuse for their reforms, and gained some fame in the secular world.
But it was Ingham who gained the most celebrity and lost the biggest prize for his position on full equality of gays and lesbians in the Church. The Bishop of New Westminster was repeatedly front page news from 1998 to 2002 when his diocese became the first in the world to approve blessing of same-sex unions.
Julie H. Ferguson’s book, Sing a New Song: Portraits of Canada’s Crusading Bishops, chronicles Ingham’s story and those of three other groundbreaking bishops who changed the world — George Hills, David Somerville, and Douglas Hambidge — while delving with compelling insight into their personal and spiritual lives.
Hills fought for Black equality when Victoria was a muddy village; Somerville ordained women when most of the world Church was strongly opposed; and Hambidge supported the Nisga’a First Nation’s fight for self-government and increased the number of indigenous clergy by developing a world-renowned training program.
These biographies are inspiring to read, whether you’re Christian or not, whether a churchgoer or not. Sing a New Song’s four bishops were all leaders of unusual courage and integrity in world filled with change and confusion.
Blog post written by Julie H. Ferguson who is the author of Sing a New Song: Portraits of Canada’s Crusading Bishops, James Douglas: Father of British Columbia, and many other books. She is a sought-after professional speaker and instructs at a community college. She currently lives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
Kim Thompson, author of Eldritch Manor, recently moved to British Columbia, and today she tells us about her experience so far in the beautiful province. Kim is a filmmaker and television writer who has written scripts for many well-known children’s cartoons. Eldritch Manor is her first novel. She lives on Saltspring Island, British Columbia.
Kim:
Eight months ago I lived in the west end of Toronto in an old brick house with a yard so small I could cut the grass with scissors. Today I’m in a wood frame cottage surrounded by mossy trees, perched on the side of a mountain on Saltspring Island, B.C.
A bit of a change.
I haven’t been here very long but I’ve noticed a few basic things about British Columbia:
1. It’s green. Freakishly green.
2. And damp. If you stand still for too long moss will grow on you.
3. Ravens’ wings make a loud whooshing sound.
4. This is the only place where I have ever been asked in casual conversation if I own a chainsaw.
5. Everyone backs into parking lot spots.
6. Raccoons in the wild are only half the size of their cheezie-bloated Toronto cousins.
7. Everyone’s got a bear story.
8. Santa Claus travels by float plane.
Saltspring Island is a weird, unique little place, but in many ways it lives up to every B.C. cliché. Nobody is on time for anything. Nobody locks their cars, and many actually leave their keys in the ignition. The guy at the next table in the coffee shop could be a millionaire, or he could live in a cave. When you meet someone new here, you have absolutely no idea what outfield world-view they’re about to throw at you.
As for writing in B.C., I now stare out my office window at trees instead of buildings, and my concentration is shattered by ravens flapping around instead of sirens. My brain is still settling into the new rhythm. For a long time I found the energy of the city invigorating. The buzz and hum of people doing things – working, hustling, rushing about, and talking talking talking – carried me along for many years, but lately I realized that the city was just making me resentful, stressed and antsy.
I needed to find a quiet, green, bird-twittery hideaway and this place fits the bill. I don’t know much about the writing community in B.C. yet, though they tell me you can’t throw a rock on this island without hitting a writer. And I haven’t been here long enough to have a full B.C.-inspired novel in my head, but my next book will probably include at least one character covered in moss.
This week’s blog theme is British Columbia. We’re talking to authors from B.C., and we’ve got some B.C. authors who are writing blog posts for us too. Today’s blog post is an interview with E.R. Brown, author of the new release Almost Criminal. E.R. Brown is an award-winning advertising writer whose fiction has been heard on CBC Radio 3 and seen in national magazines. Born in Montreal, he lives in Vancouver.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
E.R. Almost Criminal is a crime thriller, based in the subculture of BC Bud and grow-ops. There’s also a coming-of-age story threaded through. It follows Tate McLane, the most gifted and under-appreciated teenage barista in rural Wallace BC, and what happens after he meets Randle Kennedy, a charming and elegant producer of specialized marijuana. Randle becomes Tate’s mentor, and things start to look up for poor Tate. Then they start to go very badly indeed.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
E.R. One day at lunch, an acquaintance shared a deep worry: a family member, a middle-class soccer-mom living in the Kootenays, had begun making a full-time living trimming marijuana plants. It’s a specialty sometimes called “budding”, and a skilled budder can do very well indeed. My client was sleepless with anxiety about the possibility of arrest, and what would happen when the kids found out what their mom did for a living.
All I could think was… what kid doesn’t know what their mom does for a living? That was the seed idea for the family at the heart of Almost Criminal.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the title?
E.R. I’m terrible with titles. The book went through five or six working titles as it ran through its various drafts, Running the Green was one. Smoke was another. Some of them are really embarrassing, looking back now. The final title, Almost Criminal, came up in a brainstorming session with my dear friend Martin Gotfrit, a bottle of Black Bush, and the pressure of a publisher’s deadline. For me, the title works in many ways: young Tate’s “almost criminal”… since he’s just barely under the adult age limit, he knows he’ll be treated as a Young Offender, not an adult, if he gets caught. And in BC, bud is widely treated as if it’s just barely, technically, illegal (Marc Emery’s experience aside). Medical dispensaries are everywhere. On my block in Vancouver there were once three (3) grow-ops at the same time. My favourite example of the “almost criminal” nature of pot is the story of Allan Piche of Christina Lake. He’s the fellow who (allegedly) fed up to two dozen (24!) black bears, as a strategy to keep people from poaching his (allegedly) significant outdoor pot farm. He did this for a more than ten (10!) years, until he was caught and prosecuted. His crime? Nothing to do with pot. He was feeding dangerous wildlife.
But I digress. The title is Almost Criminal, thanks to Martin.
Caitlyn: How did you research your book?
E.R. That’s a subject worthy of a blog post on its own, and one of these days I’ll post something on my website www.erbrown.com.
Early on, I bought book after book on grow-ops and marijuana cultivation. As they arrived at my door, I kept expecting the Mounties to show up. Later on, when I needed some personal perspective, I hung out in interior towns famed for BC Bud cultivation. But I was an outsider, and I was stonewalled. I did end up finding a source of expert advice, but it was a challenge. Toward the end of the editorial process, Marc Emery, the jailed pot activist, gave me some useful notes.
Caitlyn: What was your first publication?
E.R. My first published fiction was a short story, The Bands, a tale of a couple of teenage friends through several years, see through their partnership in a series of garage bands. A sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll story, essentially… it was published in Prairie Fire, a small literary magazine.
Caitlyn: Describe the most memorable response you’ve received from a reader.
E.R. That rock ‘n roll story, The Bands: while it was fiction, it was based, very loosely, on my misspent youth. One of the two main characters is based on a close friend who died too young, and in a way the story is an elegy. Imagine my surprise when, perhaps a year after the story’s publication, an acquaintance from my old home town contacted me out of the blue. How he’d found the story in a fairly esoteric publication, I have no idea. But he was convinced that, first, the story was a memoir, and second, that he was the key character. And he wasn’t entirely pleased. I’ll repeat – the story is fiction, and the character that he saw himself as, is a broadly fictionalized version of someone who is no longer alive. Another confusing thing: I never played in a band with this guy. I barely knew him. It was one of the few times when I’ve been caught completely at a loss.
I only hope that nothing similar happens after Almost Criminal comes out. All I need is an angry delusional biker at my door.
A Few Memories of Kildare Dobbs from Tony Hawke
When I first started working in publishing as promotion director of McClelland & Stewart in 1965, I quickly became aware of Kildare Dobbs as a prominent author, editor, and CBC radio personality – someone who was very important in Canadian letters. In fact, I seem to recall that the first large promotion lunch that I had to organize for an M&S title included Kildare as one of the most prominent guests. He seemed then to be a great wit, full of life, with an enchanting Irish accent.
Over the years, Kildare continued to achieve more prominence in writing and broadcasting and became a personality that I would frequently meet at M&S parties. As always, he seemed larger than life, a fascinating raconteur who knew most of Canada’s leading literary figures – authors, publishers, editors, etc.
After leaving M&S, I helped start Books in Canada magazine edited and founded by Val Clery, who knew Kildare very well. Val was Irish, had served in The Second World War, and was a well-known CBC radio producer and editor so he and Kildare had a lot in common. As I recall, we published quite a few of his book reviews, which certainly drove up the profile of the magazine.
A few years later, I started my own small publishing company, Hounslow Press, which I ran for about 20 years before selling it to Dundurn Press and Kirk Howard in 1993. During these years, I lost touch with Kildare, but continued to follow his amazing career.
We didn’t meet up again until 2005 when Dundurn co-published Kildare’s brilliant second memoir: Running the Rapids: A Writer’s Life. When the manuscript of the work first came to the attention of Kirk Howard and me, we both loved the book and really enjoyed meeting the author again. Even though Kildare was then in his early eighties, the text was superb – flawless in fact, so the decision to publish was an easy one. Needless to say, some of the younger members of the firm didn’t really know who Kildare Dobbs was, but they soon became enthusiastic supporters of this marvellous writer. We had an elegant, most successful launch party at Massey College, where all 123 copies available were signed and sold by the author. Kildare gave a wonderful speech filled with humour and humility. Running the Rapids went on to sell well and received enthusiastic, widespread review attention. After this I lost touch with Kildare, and was shocked and very sad to learn of his recent death. Canadian letters has lost an incredible talent and a unique voice.
Adam Dodek, author of the new release The Canadian Constitution writes the blog post today on how and why he was inspired to write his book.
Adam:
I’ve been wanting to write a little book on the Canadian Constitution for at least seven years. To be honest, I was inspired by the American example and angered by the Canadian lack of access to our Constitution. In the U.S., you can walk into any bookstore and buy a copy of the American Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, etc. I can tell you that there are lots of them. I collect them and I own at least 20 different versions.
The Canadian Constitution will be the first of its kind: the only book that contains the whole text of our Constitution and introduces and explains it to Canadians.
Before I wrote this book, the only version of the Constitution was published by the Government of Canada. As a good Canadian and a law professor, I encourage my students to buy it every year. A few years ago, something happened that really pissed me off. I was informed that the Constitution was out of print. It was not available in print form. Worse yet, it appeared that no one but me noticed. I knew right then and there that I would have to write this book and the sooner the better.
I think it is critical that Canadians know about their constitution because it defines and explains who we are as Canadians. It reflects our history, it explains where we are today and it tells us something of where we are headed in the future. It is an important part of our identity of which Canadians can rightly be proud.
Many Canadians might be surprised to learn that our Constitution, specifically the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, has been studied, cited and adapted by constitution makers and judges around the world. People in countries as different as New Zealand, Israel, South Africa, Australia and Hong Kong have looked to the Canadian Constitution for inspiration. If people outside of Canada think that our constitution is worth looking at, I think it’s time that Canadians become more familiar with their own Constitution as well. That’s what I have tried to do with the Canadian Constitution.
Adam Dodek is an award-winning law professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. He teaches and writes about the Canadian Constitution and the Supreme Court of Canada and has worked at the Supreme Courts of Canada and Israel and the U.S. Court of Appeals. Adam lives in Ottawa.
Roy MacGregor, author of the bestselling book The Last Season, joins us today for an interview about the 30th anniversary of his book, hockey culture in Canada and in Europe, and his newest project.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Roy: This is the 30th anniversary of The Last Season, a novel about hockey that has become something of a cult in the hockey world — particularly with players who have gone over to Europe to play. It was a made-for-television movie in the late 1980s that won several awards. The book received magnificent reviews but, alas, did not find its legs in the wider market, as bookstores seemed unsure where to place a “novel” about “hockey”. So it was often lost in sports sections or Canadiana. Thirty years later, Canadian Literature has matured to a point where hockey is as fair a subject as love and adventure (which are also in The Last Season) and it is hoped the novel will find itself into the hands of a wider and more general audience.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
Roy: I grew up in Ottawa Valley and my father worked in lumber with many Polish workers. I have always been fascinated by the Poles of the Wilno/Barry’s Bay/Whitney area. I was born in Whitney. My studies of the Polish experience in Canada led me to begin writing the book as a political novel, set on Parliament Hill and Wilno, but I scrapped that and instead made the main character a hockey player.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the title?
Roy: It seemed obvious once the book was finished. I had called it “At A Man Disadvantage.” Too obscure a hockey term. The Last Season seemed exactly right.
Caitlyn: Tell us a little about the overarching theme of your work, and why you felt compelled to explore it.
Roy: The theme is that gifted athletes must die twice, once in their sport, once in life. But that is only part of the The Last Season. It is about the relationship between fathers and sons. It is about the Polish settlement of the Upper Ottawa Valley. It is about strange religious rites and fears. It is about playing hockey in Finland and about falling in love. It is about family and roots, about good and evil, about life itself.
Caitlyn: How did you research your book?
Roy: I spent a lifetime in the Ottawa Valley and in the town of Huntsville, where the early part of the book is set. I played hockey in Finland (not professionally). I covered the NHL for years, so have intimate knowledge of the world of professional hockey. I also read dozens of books on Poles, Canadian settlement, the Second World War, Finnish history and the Ottawa Valley.
Caitlyn: What was your first publication?
Roy: Shorelines, a novel in 1980, republished in 2002 as “Canoe Lake.” The story of Tom Thomson and the love of his life, who likely bore his child. This was fiction. In 2010 I published Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him, a non-fiction account that proves, once and for all, where the famous Canadian artist is buried.
Caitlyn: Describe the most memorable response you’ve received from a reader.
Roy: On two different occasions, professional hockey players who had gone to Europe to play, said they felt The Last Season was their own story and wondered how I have been able to tell it.
Roy MacGregor is the bestselling author of Home Team: Fathers, Sons, and Hockey (shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award), Northern Light, and Canadians. Currently, he is a regular columnist for the Globe & Mail. His journalism has earned him four National Magazine Awards and two National Newspaper Awards. In 2012 he became a Media Honouree Hockey Hall of Fame. He lives in Ottawa.
This week’s book cover contest features four covers of books that celebrate Canada in different ways. You can find out more about each one below. But first, pick your favourite cover. The one that is chosen will determine the book that is given away in this week’s Twitter contest.
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Canada’s Road by Mark Richardson: In 10 weeks during the summer of 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the Trans-Canada Highway, author Mark Richardson drove the nearly 8,000 kilometres of the iconic road, meeting a variety of people along the way, exploring the route’s fabled history, and discovering how important this ribbon of asphalt is to Canada.
Nothing More Comforting by Dorothy Duncan: Nothing More Comforting is a reflection of our society: an eclectic mix of many different cultures and traditions. Dorothy Duncan — with her extensive knowledge of heritage foods — has chosen her favourite “Country Fare” columns from the popular Century Home magazine for this wonderful book on Canada’s heritage cuisine. Each chapter focuses on one particular food or ingredient followed by historical facts and traditional recipes for you to try at home. Fast food restaurants and instant foods will never replace our seasonal and regional specialties: maple syrup, fiddleheads, rhubarb (pie plant to our ancestors), asparagus, corn on the cob, Saskatoon berries and McIntosh apples. The recipes in this book take advantage of Canada’s unique foods, creating a taste that is distinctly Canadian. Nothing More Comforting will provide the avid as well as the armchair cook with interesting food facts and new recipes to try.
Fighting Words by Mark Bourrie: Fighting Words is a history of war reporting in Canada over 1,000 years, including Viking battles, the destruction of the Huron nation, and a surgeon’s account of the Battle of Lake Erie. Military buffs and fans of Canadian history will be thrilled by these eyewitness accounts by journalists and non-fiction writers.
The Last Season by Roy MacGregor: Felix Batterinski grew up tough in Northern Ontario. After enjoying brief fame as an “enforcer” for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, he finds himself eking out a living as a player-coach in Finland. But a controversial play spells the end of his comeback bid, and Felix begins a tragic descent into disillusion and despair.
Today’s guest blog post is from Kevin Callan author of the new release Dazed But Not Confused. Kevin is the author of 13 books, including the hugely popular Paddler’s Guide series and the bestselling The Happy Camper. His writing and photography appear in Explore and Canoeroots magazines, and he is the recipient of five National Magazine Awards. Kevin lives in Peterborough, Ontario.
Kevin:
My passion for canoeing began at the age of twelve. My father and I were at a remote fishing lodge in Algoma and spent a good part of the week trolling the main lake without much luck. The second-last day, we decided to borrow one of the lodge’s beat-up aluminum canoes and portaged into a neighboring lake to try for speckled trout. We caught plenty of fish, but it was the idea of the canoe itself taking me to such a special place, a place that truly characterized remote wilderness, that I was hooked on. I’ve yet to look back. At the age of 44, I’ve never had a full-time job; and the jobs I have worked at all had something to do with paddling wilderness areas. It’s a dream come true
The canoe is still my choice for getting around out there. It’s the one thing that definitely binds me irrevocably to the wilderness. I even find the motion of paddling the craft itself very methodic; the action of drifting across a calm lake or being pulled downriver is very Zen-like..
My passion may have something to do with the fact that I’m Canadian as well. Even though canoeists owe a great deal to Scottish philanthropist, John MacGregor, who popularized canoeing as a recreational sport back in 1865 across Europe and the United States, I doubt few would argue that the Canadian identity itself lies with the canoe. After all, if Canadian film producers ever wanted to depict the opening of Canada’s wilderness the way Hollywood characterized winning the Wild West, the hero wouldn’t be straddling a horse, but rather crouched down in a canoe, paddling off into the sunset. The packsack, paddle and portage are as much pioneer icons as the chuckwagon, boot spur and ten-gallon hat. Maybe the closest this aspect of Canadian culture has come to be represented in film (the work of Bill Mason excluded) is with the Frantic’s Mr. Canoehead, a superhero who had his head inadvertently welded to his aluminum canoe by a stray lightning bolt.
To me, when I spot a car barreling down the highway with a canoe strapped to its roof, I don’t necessarily see a somewhat inexpensive recreational watercraft owned by some poor fool who can’t afford a speedboat; I see a way of life.
There are few things that rouse a Dutchman to anything resembling national pride, but rare as they are I’ve recently discovered one in the form of a blog post by my girlfriend, the hot-tempered, red-haired Irish heavyweight Laura Boyle. You may have noticed from popular history the Dutch like to keep a low profile, we get a lot done without calling attention to ourselves. When I read Laura’s blog post it struck me I would have my work cut out for me if I was to respond. I mean, off the top of my head it’s really hard to think of any popular Dutch figures in world history. My thoughts immediately turned to Mike Myers playing the Dutch villain in the movie ‘Goldmember’, the character always repeating the line “I’m Dutch, isn’t that weird?”
Here is my problem, when you search for famous Dutch names all that comes up is Vincent Van Gogh and Rembrandt Van Rijn. There are amazing unknowns like Anton Van Leeuwenhoek who improved the early microscope and invented microbiology or Christiaan Huygens, one of the first astrologers to use the Dutch developed telescope to map planets, who also invented the pendulum, discovered centrifugal force, discovered light is in waves, and developed modern calculus. Did I mention he was also a composer? We could go on and on like this, but I think we would miss the point.
What the Dutch contributed to this world they did as a whole, as a culture of technologically curious and religiously open-minded people.
How is it that this tiny country in the north of central Europe, a country I’m told you can drive across in 3 hours, came to in the year 1670 have in it’s fleet half of all European cargo in transit at that time? As my Pake (that’s Frisian for grandfather) used to say “The North Sea, what’s it north of? It’s not north of England.” The point he was making was the Dutch owned the sea long before the English or the French, as evidenced by New York being previously named New Amsterdam and (less widely known) Australia being originally named New Holland. The Dutch built windmills that could cut wood that could build ships that could bring back cargo from Asia that could make them rich, revolutionizing cartography and inventing international law (Hugo Grotius) in the process.
In fact after the Spanish empire rose and declined it was the Dutch empire of the 17th century, called the Dutch Golden Age, that provided the template then copied by the competing English and French empires. In this way the Dutch are responsible for creating much of modern society.
Financially insuring the ships that would make the year-long voyages to Asia to bring back the products to sell in the European market had the effect of the Dutch East India Company basically inventing modern economics. Bank of Amsterdam was the first bank, and The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, established in 1602, is considered the oldest in the world. The Dutch East India Company itself was the first multinational corporation, and the first to issue stock.
Of course having invented modern economics they were also the first to get burned by it when they began speculating on tulips and crashed their shiny brand new stock market:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Politically the Dutch were the first to permanently overthrow rule by monarchy and institute stronger parliamentary government when they fought the Eighty Years’ War to free themselves from Spanish rule. After Spanish rule, much like the ancient Greek city states, their many provinces resisted being united under one king and the modern parliament was born. Their Patriot rebellion of 1785 is seen as the forerunner of the French revolution, and they also supported the Americans during their war of independence – becoming the first to officially recognize The Continental Congress, or early American government. In the late 19th century politician Abraham Kuyper developed the concept of ’sphere-sovereighty’ (society as organized minorities) known today as ‘pluralism’. Even in more modern times the Dutch Christian Reformed Church would be the only European church to publicly denounce the Nazis before the beginning of the war.
In fact this culture of tolerance, itself a by product of first hand experiences in international trade, could also be considered a scientific contribution. While many intellectuals from across Europe like Galileo Galilei and Rene Descartes were being persecuted in their own countries the Dutch not only harboured them but became Europe’s unofficial publishing house by printing their controversial books and having them secretly exported.
In the end what’s truly amazing about the Dutch is they did so much but still succeeded at being forgotten by history.
Except for Vincent Van Gogh…but of course he made every painting unaware he would ever be remembered.
Today’s interview is with Glenn Dixon, author of the new release Tripping the World Fantastic, and Pilgrim in the Palace of Words. Glenn has published travel articles in major publications such as National Geographic, the New York Post, The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, and Psychology Today. An expert on language with an M.A. in socio-linguistics, he is currently a language consultant with the Calgary Board of Education. He lives in Calgary.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your new book.
Glenn: Tripping the World Fantastic is about music. I travelled all over the world – taking sitar lessons in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, listening to African drumming in Ghana and dancing to the wild electric rhythms of Cuba. Of course I couldn’t possibly do justice to all the music on Earth. That’d be a fool’s errand. What I was trying to get at is why music is so important to us. I looked at a lot of brain research too and there’s fantastic stuff coming out just in the last couple of years. It all came together and anyone, I think, who’s a musician, anyone who really loves music will find some real surprises in this book.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the title?
Glenn: The title came to me on a cross-country ski trip deep into the Canadian Rockies. It just came out of nowhere. I already had a working title – The Song Atlas - but this had more poetry. The reference, of course, is from that old song A Whiter Shade of Pale – “I tripped the light fantastic.” When I got home I looked it up and it turns out it originally comes from Milton. Even Shakespeare in The Tempest used something pretty close. I liked that. I will say though, that the subtitle is key too – a journey through the music of our planet. That’s what’ll catch in the search engines. One’s for beauty and lyricism, one’s for the cold hard knocks of our present reality.
Caitlyn: What’s different about this book?
Glenn: I’ve had quite a lot of experience in documentary film making and so, everywhere I went – thirty countries or so – I dragged along a video camera. All of the music I heard, I recorded in some form or another. The text of this book has forty-five links to short videos so you can actually hear everything from whales singing in the Pacific to a rendition of Redemption Song at Bob Marley’s grave in Jamaica. There are wild Irish jigs from the pubs of Galway and even the sound of the oldest instrument ever found – a Paleolithic bone flute from 42,000 B.C. The paper edition will feature all these on an accompanying website (www.tripping-the-world.com), the e-book will have the links directly embedded. It’s a new world for readers out there. And I’m proud to be working with Dundurn to make it all happen.
Caitlyn: What was the creative process like for you?
Glenn: HI have dozens of notebooks from my travels – little anecdotes, facts and figures, funny things people said. You should see what I left on the cutting room floor. I write and I write a lot. For about a year in the writing of this book, I was keeping myself to 500 words a day. That’s not easy. Ask any writer. At about five or six chapters in (and I had this experience with my first book too) I began to see the structure of it all. I had to go back and toss out a lot of those first few chapters and start again but that’s the process for me. I have to write a lot – say thirty thousand words – and be thinking all the time – and then things start to fall into place, I start to see how the whole great muddle can be a whole.
Caitlyn: Who did you read as a young adult?
Glenn: I read everything I could get my hands on as a young adult – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Vonnegut, Tolkien of course and I think I even tried James Joyce though I couldn’t make much of anything out of that. I don’t think at that point I knew I wanted to be a writer. But I loved the written word, that’s for sure. I remember being flabbergasted when I got a mediocre mark in high school English. At the time I was reading Dostoevsky on my own. I had little use for that teacher and her thumping out of the iambic pentameter. She didn’t get it. She didn’t get me. It’s funny then that I went on to become a high school English teacher myself. My main goal was always to instill a love of reading in my students and I did that until last year when I finally left teaching to become a full time author.
Today’s guest blog post is by Mark Richardson, author of the very soon to be released Canada’s Road. Mark is the former automotive editor of the Toronto Star and is the author of Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. He lives in Cobourg, Ontario.
Mark:
Spring’s here, and this week I’m off on my first road trip of the season, down to New York City from my home near Toronto. People are still asking, though, about the road trip I took last summer that stretched right across Canada – I drove the length of the Trans-Canada Highway, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia. And since I drove out to Newfoundland to start the journey, and then drove home from B.C. at the end of it, the whole adventure covered almost 30,000 km. This helps explain the comment from my wife when I said I’d be hitting the road again this week to get to New York: “Aren’t you sick of driving?” she asked. “Don’t you want to just take a plane?”
No, not if there’s the time to stay on the ground. Road trips put travel into perspective and that’s why I drove across the country last year. The Trans-Canada Highway was opened 50 years ago, on the same day that I was born, and it’s something that connects Canada in a far more physical way than a bunch of flight paths or television signals. I wanted to meet the people who live along it and find out if the highway kept its promise as a link across the nation. Most of all, I just wanted to see the country.
There were some wonderful stretches, too. People always mention the grandeur of the Rockies and the beauty of Lake Superior’s north shore – and they are very grand and beautiful – but I slowed down and discovered something new every day. The enormous prairies, even more limitless with the top down on the Camaro as I sped west with my son; the fascinating rock of Newfoundland and its relentless rain, huddled in the car with the roof up; the people, English and French and everything else, using the highway to get to the store or get to the ocean. It was three months of exploration.
I’ll drive less this year. That’s really too bad, but the Trans-Canada Highway will always be there.
This week’s theme is travel. The Spring is here, and soon we will be breaking out of our hibernation and hitting the road. You can find out more about each of these books below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Canada’s Road by Mark Richardson: In 10 weeks during the summer of 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the Trans-Canada Highway, author Mark Richardson drove the nearly 8,000 kilometres of the iconic road, meeting a variety of people along the way, exploring the route’s fabled history, and discovering how important this ribbon of asphalt is to Canada.
Route 66 Still Kicks by Rick Antonson: Through the stories of one of Canada’s most enthusiastic travellers explore the famous American highway that inspired the likes of Al Capone, Salvador Dali, Mickey Mantle, and the countless fans of this iconic American landmark.
Indochina Now and Then by George Fetherling: George Fetherling recounts multiple journeys through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, keeping an eye peeled and an ear cocked for whatever faint traces of French rule might remain. Indochina Now and Then is a travel narrative that leaves an indelible impression in the readers imagination.
Walking Backwards by Mark Frutkin: Whether inadvertently smuggling cloth into Istanbul, reading poetry in New Delhi to a crowd expecting a world-famous pianist, or wandering through Mantua searching for a non-existent hotel on a street thats fallen off the map, Mark Frutkin is a master at rediscovering the magic at the heart of travel.
Today’s blog post is from Kevin Callan, author of Dazed But Not Confused. Kevin is the author of 13 books, including the hugely popular Paddler’s Guide series and the bestselling The Happy Camper. His writing and photography appear in Explore and Canoeroots magazines, and he is the recipient of five National Magazine Awards. Kevin lives in Peterborough, Ontario.
Kevin:
A couple years ago I was diagnosed with Benign Positional Vertigo – a sudden spinning sensation, feeling similar to walking off the Tilt-A-Whirl ride at the amusement park after drinking a full 26 oz. bottle of bourbon. It’s due to a disturbance within the inner ear and quite honesty was a life-altering experience I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. The specialists administered drugs, told me to stop drinking coffee (caffeine is thought to induce the spinning) and sent me to physiotherapy periodically for them to perform a fancy maneuver of shaking my head back and forth to loosen the small bits of bone-like calcium that supposedly clogs within the tube of the inner ear. I was also told that I had the illness forever, my hearing would gradually get worse, my balance would depreciate and the act of going canoeing into wilderness areas, especially alone and for long extended periods, would have to stop.
Having an odd affliction for eternity was a shock, loosing my hearing was upsetting, and walking around as if I’m drunk most of the time was hard to deal with – but no longer being able to go on long solo canoe trips was absolutely unacceptable! So I did what any wilderness-loving paddler would do that succumbed to an illness – I stocked up on the drugs I needed, taught myself how to do the head shaking maneuver myself, and packed enough decaffeinated coffee I would need for an extensive solo canoe trip. The majority of doctors advised against it – but my physiotherapist promoted it; even helped me prepare for it.
The results were one of the best trips I’ve ever had – one that included awesome rapids, phenomenal fishing, incredible scenery, utter solitude…and zero spinning episodes! Maybe wilderness travel is the cure for all, maybe a stress free environment should be put in a bottle and sold at a pharmacy store; maybe the trip was more like taking a dash of placebo. Whatever the case, the trip was proof that there’s a sense of magic out there in the woods, a drug like no other, and a reminder that wilderness is a necessity of the human spirit, not a luxury.
Today’s blog post is an interview with Dorah L. Williams, author of Haunted and Haunted Too. In Haunted Too, supernatural experiences are shared, along with the stories, opinions, and advice of paranormal experts.
Were you surprised that so many people had their own stories to tell?
Yes; I really was surprised by that, and continue to be. Some people have no problem with the fact they are living in a haunted home. They want to share their experiences but don’t feel threatened or scared by this phenomenon. Usually, in these cases, they feel it is the spirit of a loved one watching over them, or a benevolent presence connected to the property, which means them no harm.
But, others, and perhaps the majority, describe their encounters as being unnerving, and sometimes even completely terrifying. I can understand and relate to both of these reactions, and the full spectrum in between.
I recently received an email from the owners of one of the ten most haunted houses in America and he and his wife shared their amazing, and frightening, experiences since purchasing this New England property. This gentleman’s words clearly sum up the reaction many others have expressed when describing their haunting:
“I remember shaking & having so many emotions at the time from fear, rage, hate, sadness, depression and anxiety…It was like having a burglar break into your house (someone is in your space), that violated feeling and you don’t get over it.”
The impression that your home is being violated, by a haunting, is very real for a lot of people. But perhaps a spirit can regard those living in the house in the same way, and therefore their space feels invaded, too. Maybe it is the reaction to that discomfort, on both sides, that causes paranormal activity to begin and perpetuate. That seemed a possible explanation to my own family’s haunting, and is often expressed in the emails I receive from readers.
What’s your favourite thing about living in a haunted house?
I really like that kind of energy level, as long as it is positive. Without it a house has almost a vacuum-like atmosphere, to me. But, having said that, there is a very big difference in comfort level, of course, between a house with a loving spiritual energy, and one with a creepy or menacing one. Like everyone, I only want to feel safe and comfortable in my own home. Otherwise, it truly can feel very violating, as the New England homeowner described.
Today’s blog post is from Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe, author of the new release Mysteries and Secrets of Numerology. Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe are president and first lady of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. They have over half a century’s experience investigating and writing about the paranormal, with more than 30 successful titles. They live in Cardiff, Wales.
Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe:
Every new scientific discovery – whether at the farthest edge of the known universe, or inside the smallest sub-atomic particle – emphasizes the strangeness and mystery of our environment. For over half a century, we have been interested in finding out all we could about everything that didn’t seem to fit with the known laws of physics, chemistry and biology. We enjoy the excitement of visiting the sites where anomalous phenomena have been reported, talking to witnesses whenever possible, and examining such sites in detail.
When it is the site of a reported haunting, we look at five major possibilities. Could it be a glitch in time? Has something happened to time that enables a witness in the 21st century to see something being re-enacted from an earlier era? Is it what the avant garde physicists refer to as part of the ‘multiverse’? Do probability tracks – the Worlds of If – really exist, and do they sometimes collide with our everyday reality? Could what honest witnesses describe as ‘ghosts’ or ‘phantoms’ actually be extra-terrestrial in origin? Or might they be survivors of an ancient civilisation such as Atlantis, or Lemuria? What if they are traditional ghosts in the Shakespearean or Dickensian sense – the souls, or spirits, of dead human beings?
We are totally open-minded and objective in our investigations: nothing is impossible in this incredible universe.
Of all the mysteries that we have investigated at first hand, there are two that intrigue us most. The first is the Oak Island Money Pit, in Mahone Bay, just off the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. In 1795, three teenaged lads discovered a deep shaft that was protected by flood tunnels. Someone, long before 1795, had hidden something deep below Oak Island, in what may well have been part of a mysterious labyrinth of tunnels. To this day, no-one knows who created the Money Pit or what it contains. Our second favourite mystery concerns the Chase Elliott vault at Christchurch near Oistins in Barbados. Heavy lead coffins moved around in that vault as though in the hands of an invisible giant.
Because we’ve recently released a whole bunch of paranormal books, we decided to feature them for the book cover contest. You can find out about each one by clicking on the book title below. But for now, cast your vote on the cover that creeps you out the most! The winning book will determine the prize that we give out for Thursday’s Twitter giveaway.
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Mysteries and Secrets of Numerology by Lionel & Patricia Fanthorpe: Paranormal experts Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe analyze the fascinating history of numerology and its natural occurrence in our everyday lives.
Haunted Ontario by Terry Boyle: Join Ontario ghosthunter Terry Boyle as he conjures up a treasury of spectral delights that include apparitions at the former Swastika Hotel in Muskoka, the woman in the window at Inn at the Falls in Bracebridge, and poltergeists galore in Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum, among many other unearthly occurrences.
Haunted Too by Dorah L. Williams: Spiritual encounters can happen everywhere, to all ages, and in all walks of life. In Haunted Too, supernatural experiences are shared, along with the stories, opinions, and advice of paranormal experts.
Haunted Hamilton by Mark Leslie: Prepare to be thrilled and chilled with this compilation of tales compiled from historical documents, first-person accounts, and the files of the paranormal group Haunted Hamilton, which has been investigating and celebrating Hamilton’s historic haunted past since 1999.
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