Posts in the Barris Beat category:

Barris Beat

Curb-onomics

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One man’s trash…

It just looked like a pile of paper from the outside. And I guess because it was paper, it sort of weighed a lot. But the plastic bag I used to haul all that paper to the curb had probably previously hauled groceries from a local store so it could take the weight. And if you looked inside that bag, you’d have seen a number of famous people – John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and the Apollo 11 astronauts – all captured on the front pages of old newspapers with headlines such as:

“Kennedy Assassinated,” lamented the Globe and Mail in 1963.

“Churchill Mourned,” announced the Toronto Star in 1965.

“Man Steps On The Moon,” read the Toronto Telegram on July 21 1969. And the newsprint of the Tely, some of you will remember, was coloured pink! (more…)

Barris Beat

A willingness to work

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In the 1950s, this is the kind of work ethic that got John Zentana and his family into Canada.

He was only 18, back in 1955. He didn’t speak a word of English when he and his parents arrived from Italy. And his skills were few; he knew how to sharpen knives, so his father could butcher what livestock the family had raised for food. But when John Zentana arrived in Canada, none of that mattered. The basic criterion for entry to this new country was simple.

“Are you all prepared to work?” immigration authorities asked.

“Anything,” John’s father promised. (more…)

Barris Beat

Left to their own devices

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The boys’ visit to the Cosmos.

A few months ago, you may recall, I was rationalizing walking my grandsons to school. I tried to make the point that it was both time and exercise from which both the boys and I could benefit. Well, this week those chickens came home to roost. I got the call.

“Need some summer escape time,” the daughters announced.

“And?”

“And the boys are yours for a day!” (more…)

Barris Beat

Democracy and the flames of economy

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Book burnings by the Nazis in 1933 – Wikipedia.

When I left on a short holiday, about 10 days ago, this fall’s municipal election in my home own looked rather dull. While the mayoral contest and the regional council races were shaping up to be competitive, the number of candidates running in our wards left several virtually uncontested and even on the verge of proclaimed winners. Within the span of my holiday, though, the picture changed radically. To quote a friend of mine:

“It’ll be democracy, after all!” (more…)

Barris Beat

Truth in the eye of the beholder

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World Daily News Report photograph, which the source readily admits is fictitious.

I think it was sometime last winter when one of my hockey buddies and I got talking about one of my favourite topics – history and history-making. He knew that I’ve always been curious to check out different, off-the-beaten-path stories. Suddenly, the latest one on his mind came to him and he blurted out the gist of it.

“Did you see the latest World War II story?” he asked. “They found a U-boat up the Niagara River near the Falls.”

I thought about it for a second, then said quietly, “I’ll bet you read that on the internet.”

“Yup. And there were pictures,” he added for verification. (more…)

Barris Beat

Media godparents

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Rescuers attempting to reach those trapped in a cave-in at Moose River, Nova Scotia, in 1936.

Their enemy was water above and below the ground. And gravity, since the water and rock underground were sealing off any escape. Days passed and nothing seemed to happen, at least not on the surface anyway. Underground, it was different. People were holding on, conserving, surviving. Then, when communication was finally made, it seemed like a miracle.

“Hello, hello!” the voice shouted from underground. “Do you hear me up on the surface?” (more…)

Barris Beat

Not only journalists die

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Calgary Herald (Postmedia) reporter Michelle Lang in Afghanistan.

I’ve never worked in a war zone, the way some from Canada have. I’ve never pursued the crime beat so seriously as to encounter violence face-to-face. I’ve never been physically assaulted while carrying out my work as a journalist. The closest I’ve come to confrontation occurred back in the 1980s, when an oil company representative trying to keep the physical and media lid on a drilling-rig blowout in the Alberta oil patch, told me to remove myself from their property.

“Leave,” the company spokesman said, “or I’ll have you arrested!” (more…)

Barris Beat

A taste of Canada

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Günter Kiel in full flight telling us about his favourite place – Dresden.

We were meeting for the very first time. I wanted to give my new acquaintance a gift that reflected where I came from and made a friendly first impression. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a souvenir. It was a lapel pin with the Canadian flag on it.

“Here,” I said, “please have a symbol of Canada – our flag pin.”

My acquaintance, one of the guides on our recent tour to Eastern Europe, looked back at me and said, “But I’m German,” meaning, “Why would I wear a pin that doesn’t represent who I am?”

I had to admit that Günter Kieb, our guide in Dresden, Germany, was absolutely correct. Why would a middle-aged German wear the emblem of Canada? Some hours later, however, when I was thanking Mr. Kieb for his service to us that day, I reminded him (and our touring group) that he had seemed perplexed by my Canada flag pin. “Not a problem,” I said. “But how about this?” And I pulled a small flask-shaped bottle from my backpack and gave it to him.

Günter’s eyes widened with delight. “Canadian whisky?” he asked.

“No. Better,” I laughed. “It’s maple syrup!” (more…)

Barris Beat

History that speaks volumes

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Veronika Shavikova

Several years into the Second World War, a young teacher in a small Czechoslovak town made a decision. It nearly cost him his life. Oldrich Patrovsky, who taught primary grades so he could support his family, in 1942, watched Jewish neighbours uprooted and transported away. He chose to help some of them escape the Nazi dragnet. He was arrested and incarcerated inside the 18th century military fortress at Terezin. It’s a place in the former Czechoslovakia that the Nazis had transformed into a prison for political prisoners and a transit camp to redirect Jewish prisoners to death camps in Eastern Europe.

“His crime was being ‘a friend of Jews,’” Patrovsky’s great-granddaughter told me this week.

(more…)

Barris Beat

The lessons of walls

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A suitcase lost in a pile beyond an evil wall.

Behind glass at a busy museum in Poland, there’s a tattered leather suitcase sitting silent, but speaking volumes. Time and use have worn the brown polish off the corners of the bag. The latch has rusted. This piece of luggage, now nearly two generations old, has lost much of its shape and identity. Nevertheless, time has not erased perhaps the most important feature of this museum piece. Painted on the exterior is the name of its owner in 1940:

“Marie Kafka. Prag XIII-833,” the white, painted-on letters indicate. (more…)