How London Little Theatre Changed My Life: 1967-1969 In the fall of 1967, I found myself in a grade 11 class called “Enriched English,” a designation reminiscent of chemically-enhanced bread. The principal of Oakridge Secondary School in London, Ontario had shunted me into the course out of desperation mixed with pity: I had been so..
A hair-raising elegy: Growing up in Georgetown at Wright Smith’s Barbershop, 1960-1964, and beyond I don’t remember my first haircuts as a child growing up in small town Ontario. My memories of hair- raising adventures date back to about 1960, when I was around eight years old. A new barber arrived in town, Mr. Wright..
Remembering my mother, in honour of her birthday… March 27,1918 Angelina Elizabeth “Jill” McBryde (née Reiser) 1918-2001 Resident of Georgetown from 1955 until 1964 An active member of the St. John’s United Church congregation, my mother also worked as a secretary for the Reverend Ian Fleming from about 1961 until 1964. Her office looked onto..
Them’s the breaks: Industrial arts and gym classes, London, Ontario 1964-1969 My father treated life as a series of random, unfortunate accidents. “Them’s the breaks,” he invariably intoned whenever some catastrophe would befall our little family. “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.” One’s body is a graveyard for memories, a repository of good breaks, bad..
Rink rats, ice flooding, and Zambonis: Georgetown to Quebec City and beyond, 1952-2025 “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” William Faulkner Part One As a child growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, I was a wannabe rink rat. But I was a more of a rink mouse really, without the requisite whiskers to..
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..
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..
*Being alone with Dad (Georgetown Ontario, 1955-1964, and beyond) The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated… – a popular misquote of Mark Twain A family is a tyranny ruled over by its sickest member… – a paraphrase of George Bernard Shaw **In the photo, my father is third from the left. This is..
Butting in and butting out: Childhood, adulthood, and cigarette smoke (Georgetown, Ontario and beyond) (38) smoke smoke smoke that cigarette Tex Williams with Lyrics – YouTube From earliest childhood, I was constantly engulfed in a toxic cloud of cigarette smoke, and growing up in Georgetown, Ontario in the 1950s, I was mad keen to butt..
Tarpon Springs, Florida 1959…and 65 years later When I was seven years old, our family made a trip from Georgetown, Ontario to Tarpon Springs, Florida, on the train. (My father worked for the CN railway, so we had a family pass.) Tarpon Springs, Florida – Wikipedia We made this odyssey to visit our mom’s favorite..