After the Book Tour…

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Well a long journey is finally finished, more or less!! Yes, the book that was started in a fashion somewhat akin to earnest in 2005 after a luncheon at the Diamond Club at SFU with the late Ron MacLeod, has been put to rest. Printed not published. Provided not sold. Furthermore, I managed to see in person and thank most of the key people in Ontario and around Edmonton that helped at some point or another to complete the project. Unfortunately I have not been able to visit directly yet the people in the Maritimes or around Calgary or in Saskatchewan and B.C. – that will happen once the restrictions are removed from visiting them. Copies have been put in the mail for these folk – the rest of you can simply look on this website, below the link to the Editorialog, and click on the indicated link that will take you directly to the book – you can read it there or download it and print yourself a copy (and if you find it worthwhile, you can send the link to others to do likewise).

The book tour was fun. Other than the occasional non-book related person who made comments about me re my Alberta-plated rental car (Hertz thought as my office is in Edmonton I would be more at home in such a car, I guess), everything went well. I had a brunch with my favourite author Gordon Pitts, sitting at the edge of Moira Lake on the Canadian Shield. There is something about that lake that instills a sense of tranquillity in me and Gordon’s place at Pitts’ Landing may be the most tranquil of all. It got everything off to a wonderful start – conversation was great and he also suggested I stop by the Madoc Public Library and give them a copy. I did, and, while my writing is not as well-known as his, surprisingly they were excited to get a copy. (If you are ever in Madoc, you could ask to see if they still have it on their shelves!!) The other highlights resulting from my start in Madoc were:

1) A visit to the 6/62 craft brewery operated by Scott Williams who, along with his partner, used to run a great B&B (The Spotted Dog). The beer is good and Scott is a great conversationalist.

2) A visit to the Potters’ Settlement Winery which is just off Sulfide Road near Tweed. This too is a rather unique venture as it is on the Shield and no where near warming presence of a Great Lake. The wine was quite good but it didn’t make it back to BC as it turned out to be sought after gifts for those hosting events during the tour.

In case you wonder why I started the tour at Madoc, it’s best you read the book.

After the Madoc area, I drove back to TO to visit some folk in southwestern Ontario. The highlight was lunch with Mr. Henderson – my English teacher at Madoc High. Clare is still going strong in retirement, mainly being a strong push for the Oakville alternate cinema world. As he is actually quoted in the book I felt he deserved a hand-delivered copy. The other folk I intended to see in London, Tavistock and Cambridge all had to have their copies dropped at their doors as during that week, for different reasons, the Covid-19 world kept us from visiting. I did experience another phenomenon though – the near empty hotel syndrome. Both the hotel in London and at Pearson Airport had almost no cars in the parking facilities, and the eating establishments were devoid of any sizeable crowd. I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing significant reductions in the number of hotels and restaurants open at all.

I did stop in Whitby at Sinclair Secondary School which is named after my great grandfather. They were very happy to receive a copy of the book but due to Covid-19 restrictions they could not give me a tour of the school. That would have been nice as it would be interesting to see how it has evolved since the grand opening I attended in 1995.

Ottawa was a most successful stop. Everyone was able and willing to meet. The occasions included a wonderful Polish dinner, a brunch on an enclosed patio, a mid-day luncheon on a deck (complete with electric buffalo robes), an indoor bbq dinner with exquisite wines and cocktails, and an old-fashioned living room visit in a quiet neighbourhood being invaded by monster houses (I hadn’t realized the Vancouver disease had crept so far eastward, thankfully the house we met in is neighbourhood friendly). It was three days of great conversations with some colleagues I have known for as long as forty-two years and others who were students of mine in teaching moments earlier in this millennium and others who are on-going CFL buddies – all had made an impactful contribution to the book.

Kingston concluded the eastern tour: The home of Queen’s University and my editor, it seemed fitting that I end there with dinner at the Portsmouth Pub down near the Big House (Penitentiary) along Lake Ontario. We had many laughs and some good reminiscences…

In Edmonton, due to changing flight schedules on the part of Air Canada, my visits were somewhat convoluted. Nevertheless I did get to see everyone, partly because several were willing to come out to a Saturday brunch. Again these were former students who had assisted in various fashions and so the conversations were filled with youthful energy more focused on going forward rather than looking back. It is moments like these that I again have hope for the future.

I did take a side trip to Cold Lake. My sister had brought mother to her place for a late afternoon dinner and I was the surprise gift. This turned out to be a wonderful visit as Mom got going about our days in Embro when we delivered papers. She became very animated when she recalled one particular customer who always was reluctant to pay until she finally decided to go to the house herself and inform the person that we would no longer be delivering the paper to their door, they would have to get it at the post office or in Woodstock. I had all but forgotten the incident, but Mom sure hadn’t!!

Other than the near-empty hotels, I must admit I didn’t sense the lockdown as much as I thought I would. The major expressway (#401) was congested enough that on the way from Cambridge to Whitby I needed to take the toll-road (#407). Traffic from Ottawa on the #416 was also very busy for a Tuesday. And traffic to/from Cold Lake/Edmonton often contained significant line-ups. As well, the planes were quite full although I think this was aided by frequent flight cancellations so people could be re-directed onto other planes to make sure they were flying at near capacity. But the service was excellent and all the staff were friendly and constantly thanked people for returning to the air.

Not sure when I will get to thank in person the remaining book tour people, but at least now the book is available to be downloaded and read.

As always,
g.w.