Blog # 155...July 2024
HAPPY CANADA DAY! At Thanksgiving dinner in our family, we always give thanks that none of us are in jail...take a minute today to appreciate that we're living in the best place in the world. Even in the slammer.
Summer's always a good time for reading, well any time is good for me. I was chasing down The Inheritance, which everyone was seeing at Toronto's CanStage, and discovered Joanna Goodman's novel, same title, different story. I'm always glad to unearth Canadian writers, liked her style and moved on to The Forgotten Daughter. It's quite a fascinating tale that incorporates two horrific elements in Canadian history - the Duplessis orphans and the murder of Pierre Laporte during the October Crisis. And, last blog I mentioned Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain and The House of Doors (Somerset Maugham and Sun Yat-sen play prominent roles in this last one) both set in his native Penang - made me long to go there. I'm not intending to make this a book review. just a heads up.
Before you put your glasses away though, Jane Philpott's Health for All is very important and easy to read in order to understand our healthcare system, what's gone wrong and some ways to fix it. She and Danielle Martin with her book Better Now are both brilliant Canadian physicians doing their best to preserve our threatened system. Watch for a piece in Toronto Life's September issue that will also deal with the subject.
Now for something completely different. I've written before about music, lots of times in fact. It's long been a place to seek refuge and form community, and continues to present new and interesting angles to examine. Almost every time a person with African American roots speaks about their early influences, they mention gospel, whether it's Mahalia Jackson or Barack Obama. Now the Faculty of Music at University of Toronto has recognized the importance of the form with studies ranging from negro spirituals to mainstream contemporary gospel choir music. The early days of slavery heard workers singing in the fields, with both joy and sorrow and We Will Overcome united activists in the 60's Civil Rights movement/ Recognizing the importance of music in Black history adds a deep dimension of understanding for all of us.
And, back to books, if any of you have read Colm Toibin's Long Island, the sequel to Brooklyn, please get in touch so we can talk about what happens next! And if you plan to read it, enjoy the wonderful voice of Jessie Buckley on the audiobook.
Reading has taken on an added importance for me lately as a break from the many worries clamouring for attention. Uncertainty one of life's most uncomfortable and scary states seems present as never before. So, I'm looking not just to be entertained and diverted but to realize, as Rebecca Solnit puts it, "hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable...the belief that what we do now matters even if how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact are not things we can know beforehand". Rebecca is very smart, I first heard of her when she wrote about Mansplaining.
So, as Bugs Bunny would say - That's all folks!
Not quite...this just in, my friend bill bissett, poet extraordinaire and longtime supporter of people with mental health issues has been awarded the Order of Canada. His downtown Toronto gallery and culture centre The Secret Handshake welcomes artists to share the creative stimulation and enjoyment of writing, visual and vocal arts n the company of other artists.
See you in August.
