Yearly Archives: 2011

Hey There L’ll Red Riding Hood – Think Like a Mountain

Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf. So writes Aldo Leopold, an environmentalist, forester and ecologist who died in 1948.  Yet his famous essay, Thinking Like a Mountain, still offers insight.  … Read More

Patsy George – A Happy Social Worker Has No Analysis. 8th, On Poverty

Patsy George is the social worker we all wish we could be.  She has spent more than four decades pursuing social and economic justice in Canada and globally.  She worked for the provincial government in British Columbia for most of … Read More

Support Independent Bookstores

A happy convergence in my life was subscribing to the Literary Review of Canada, Geist and the New York Review of Books, at the same time as learning to order books on line.  The prospect was too tempting and the … Read More

Nick Hornby: About A Boy, His son Danny

Nick Hornby writes popular books which become equally popular movies, (High Fidelity and  About a Boy )  He also wrote the screenplay for the award winning film, An Education.  His writing resonates, I suspect  because like Hornby, music is the … Read More

The Hateful ‘r’ Word

J.  e-mails a number of us about the "r" word  regularly.  It's a painful ache she can't explain.  In addition to her environmental pursuits and her special passion for arachnids she wants answers: "Why do they keep calling us 'r' … Read More

The Dignity Project of the Salvation Army, 7th, on Poverty

There is no dignity in poverty, in not being able to feed your kids, in not providing them with the essentials, in worrying how to take care of your family, in struggling to survive, in being blamed for being poor, … Read More

Sean Moore’s Double Double

Sean Moore, Canada's public policy walrus is re-doubling his efforts. He's launching two new products: Advocacy School and a major article on public policy in the The Philanthropist.  Advocacy School is designed to assist civil sector organizations influence government decisions, … Read More

Look Who’s Talking? Shari Graydon and Informed Opinions

Look who's talking?  Men.  And editorializing, opining, pontificating, informing, pitching, swaying and influencing.  To a ratio of 80/20 according to the research .  That's right 80% of editorial opinion in the Canadian media comes from men.  This, despite the fact … Read More

Bonnie Sherr Klein – The Gift of Asking

Bonnie Sherr Klein is a celebrated documentary filmmaker.  From her base at the National Film Board she created award winning films such as, the anti-pornography documentary Not a Love Story and Speaking Our Peace.  Along the way she helped create … Read More

Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet reveals the birth of Compassion

Australian writer Tim Winton's masterpiece is, Cloudstreet whose every word seems to sparkle with the special light that illuminates the air in his hometown of Perth. The novel revolves around two charming, eccentric families.  I am drawn in particular to … Read More