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A Life in the Country
In my last post, I spoke about the prose and artistry of the English author, Robert Gibbings, who wrote in mid-20th century about his life along the Thames River. The only Canadian writer I know who wrote in a similar fashion to Gibbings was Bruce Hutchison (1901-92), whose A Life in the Country employs the… Read more
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Till I End My Song
In the fall of 2021, over the course of two posts (September 25 and October 9, to be exact), I wrote about Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee’s wonderful memoir about his childhood in the English Cotswolds, towards the end of the First World War. Today, I turn to another author, who wrote in a similar… Read more
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Flaco is Dead. Long live Flaco.
Last weekend I read that Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl had died. About a year ago, vandals had let the bird free from New York’s Central Park Zoo, after which he’d enjoyed a life on the lamb, much to the amusement and/or concern of the public and media. On Feb. 23, the “Wildlife Conservation Society, which… Read more
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Staying the Course
When I began writing these posts in July 2020, I set out the topics I planned to cover. These were largely focused on my writing and reading journey, much of it nostalgic or inwardly based. Later, as world events intruded into our lives, I made two exceptions: one dealing with the former President of the… Read more
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A World of Spies (part two)
I never did find out what happened to the Soviet Embassy’s Science Counsellor. Of course, my new security contacts were hardly likely to share that news with me. Most likely, our spy beavered away, trying to make and develop his various contacts under close CSIS observation until transferred to some other location. Flash forward three… Read more
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A World of Spies (part one)
It was 1978. The world was divided between west and east; a stagnating cold war still in effect; Leonid Brezhnev had four years left as General Secretary; the USSR was months away from invading Afghanistan; the tearing down of the Berlin Wall still eleven years away. Allan Blakeney, then Premier of Saskatchewan, was planning a… Read more
