Haunted by Al Pacino: The Ottawa Healthcare Wilderness Life seems to me a random series of disconnected events, experienced as a sort of punctuated equilibrium. Al Pacino has frequently insinuated himself into my mental landscape like a hirsute wraith, erupting suddenly into my consciousness or ken of vision as if out of an AL-in-a-Box. We..
Fragments 1962: Archie’s Convenience Store Junk Food Club, Georgetown Ontario As far back as I remember, we children from Georgetown’s Swanick subdivision frequented Archie’s convenience store at the corner of Ewing Street and Highway 7. Choi’s – THE GEORGETOWN VAULT The owner and manager, Archie Girard, cultivated an avid clientele of baby boom kidlets; he..
Being Steve McQueen For most of high school life in London, Ontario, I wanted to look and behave like Steve McQueen… But I thoroughly resembled Piggy from Lord of the Flies. I was basically a Clark Kent without a phone booth. Back in the 1950s and 60s, my hometown of Georgetown did not have a..
Constable Ted Scott: Crossing the tracks, Georgetown, Ontario, circa 1960 Growing up in the Swanick subdivision of Georgetown, Ontario, in the late 1950s and early 1960s was rich in experiences of all sorts, including numerous rituals that are indelibly branded in my depleting bank of memories. One such ritual entailed “crossing the tracks.” I went..
Goldfinch in stark winter: a Tanka poem Photo credit Lorne Coughlin Goldfinch, puffed out… Protection or foolish pride? Too recognizable… We are so far from golden, But seem compelled to puff. Tanka poetry Tanka poems follow a set of rules. They all have five lines and each line follows a pattern: the first line has..
Grade three blues: Georgetown, Ontario, 1960-61 Many of us experience life, and especially childhood, as a sort of punctuated equilibrium, where “earth-shattering” events intersect stretches of uneventful time. My childhood in Georgetown experienced a seismic shift in Grade 3 in 1960-61 for two reasons: firstly, I unilaterally changed my name from Robert or Rob to..
A story from my book titled My Time with You Has Been Short but Very Funny /Le temps passé avec vous fut bref mais tordant Part One: Bully for you, Georgetown Ontario, 1959-1964 When I was about seven years old and attending Chapel Street Public School in Georgetown, Ontario, I routinely began to throw my..
Tellwell triplets: Giving birth to the same book three times My publishing experience with Tellwell Talent has been unique: I’ve witnessed three radically different versions of the “same” book emerge squalling and wailing into the literary universe and collaborated with three different “midwives.” Home | Tellwell Publishing My book is available in English, in French,..
Choosing the right club In 1964, when I was 12 years old, our family moved from Georgetown to London Ontario. This permanent change of scene came as a devastating blow, complete with the typical leaving behind of school and friends, entailing the requisite adjustment to a new, bigger city culture. In Georgetown, my greatest joy..
Anne and Angelina It was around 9 a.m. on the morning of May 15, 2013, in Quebec City, with spring barely having sprung, as is typical in that chilly Nordic provincial capital. Our phone jangled, and a familiar, mellifluous voice purred at the other end of the line. The caller was Jacquie Czernin, the host..