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Barris Beat

Papal opportunity

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Pope Kiril Pavlovich Lakota , in publicity photo from movie “The Shoes of the Fisherman” 1968.

I remember the Pope. He was Polish, but he wasn’t Józef Wojtyla. Not Pope John Paul II. This was a man named Kiril Pavlovich Lakota. He had been a political prisoner – Number 103592R – in a Soviet gulag. He was scooped up by the powers that be and sent on a mission, a mission to ascend the thrown of the Catholic Church and to then negotiate an end to the Cold War with China. What? You don’t remember that Pope? Well, he was in all the newspapers, magazines and movie trailers in 1968. And he looked an awful lot like Anthony Quinn.

“You gave me absolute power,” actor Quinn says as Pope Kiril, “You must submit to my use of it.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Words R us

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In 1966, Walter Cronkite made the cover of Time magazine. But he still couldn’t pronounce “February.” Photo Robert Vickrey.

I know Walter Cronkite did it and that made it OK. Walter Cronkite, the CBS TV news anchor from the early 1960s until 1981, was once considered “the most trusted man in America.” But just because he was most trusted didn’t make him the most correct. He still couldn’t pronounce the name of the second month on the calendar. All those years ago he still closed his show this way:

“And that’s the way it is, this Thursday, Febuary 7, 1963,” he’d say in his sign-off. “This is Walter Cronkite for CBS Evening News. Good night.”

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Barris Beat

Life on the death beat

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Sandra Martin, the obit Queen. Photo by Nigel Dickson.

I had a visit with the Queen this past week. Not Elizabeth II. No one with any royal blood really. But she has certainly worn a crown, of sorts, as the best at what she does. In fact, she has won gold and silver recognition in her profession. She is a writer, a writer of one of the oldest forms of journalism and among the most actively followed sections of published newspapers – the obituary.

“Her subjects (are) the famous as well as the unknown,” said a press release promoting her most recent book. “Sandra Martin is the obit Queen of Canada.”

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Barris Beat

Send in the lip synchers

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Beyonce sort of singing the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Photo Spin.com

Monday’s inauguration of the U.S. president seemed quite a success. Barak Obama had come from behind to win the November election. He had survived the fiscal cliff debacle. Now all he had to do was put his hand on a Bible and repeat the oath of office to begin his second term. And unlike the flub of the oath line during the 2008 inauguration, it seemed to go flawlessly. Then, Kristin duBois, a master sergeant from the U.S. Marine Band, spilled the beans.

“We all know Beyonce can sing,” she told ABC News, “We all know the Marine Corps can play (the anthem.) We do not know why she decided to go with the pre-recorded music.”

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Barris Beat

Idle voice no more

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Elmer Ghostkeeper lived the “Idle No More” philosophy before it was official. Photo by Cliff Skarstedt.

It’s about 30 years ago now that I met Elmer. Born in 1947, he was about my age. Like me he’d grown up searching for a place in the world to make a difference. He’d gone to elementary school in the Canadian North, to college to become an engineer and to university to study anthropology and political science. In the 1960s, he poked around Europe hoping to figure things out. Then he found his calling.

“My dad had taken sick and nearly died,” he said. “I decided it was time I returned home to get to know my parents.”

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Barris Beat

Credit from a mentor

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Ned Powers, as editor of the Star-Phoenix, taught that people and community make the best stories. Photo courtesy Thistledown Press.

January was particularly cold in 1972, the year I arrived in Saskatoon. On average it was minus-30 that month. Nonetheless, that was the month I made an important career-altering phone call. For the previous three years I had worked feverishly as a student at Ryerson training myself to become a gainfully employed broadcaster. I had landed my first post-diploma job in Saskatoon, working in educational TV. But, to stretch my writing skills (and make a few extra bucks), I had also pitched a few ideas to the Saskatoon city newspaper, The Star-Phoenix.

“We’ll give you a try,” the pleasant voice on the other end of the phone said. “Cover the University of Saskatchewan appearance of Mitch Ryder. We’ll see how it goes.”

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Barris Beat

Getting involved

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Columbine High School shooting survivor, Craig Scott, talks about the cultural issue facing his generation of 20-somethngs. Photo Reading Eagle.

The other night after my teammates and I finished our hockey game up at the arena, several of us changed and gathered at the bar for a Christmas drink. It’s that once-a-year moment when most of us, who have little to do with each other except share Sunday night adult recreational hockey, sit down in the lead up to Dec. 25. We hadn’t been sitting more than a few minutes when the talk shifted to the topic that’s been on everybody’s mind all week.

“Unbelievable, eh, that shooting in Connecticut,” one of the guys said.

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Barris Beat

Lost art of listening

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Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, during the Arab Spring revolution, when a dictator had to listen or else. Photo SourceFed.com

About a year ago, I was invited to speak to the Writers’ Community of York Region. As the date of the talk approached – last Sunday, Dec. 9 – I began to prepare my presentation. Normally, for these kinds of talks, I rely on my collection of personal anecdotes, remembrances and war stories – literally and figuratively – to get me through the event. Then, I remembered why I had been invited.

“This is a group of writers,” the speaking convenor had said. “So they’ll be interested in your research and writing… You might want to address the challenges of being a journalist and non-fiction writer.”

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Barris Beat

It takes a musical village

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Whitney Ross-Barris headlined Toronto’s Lula Lounge, Dec. 5, launching her first jazz CD, “Everybody’s Here.”

It might have been the night she opened in the musical “Oliver” as the character Fagin and sang, “You have to pick a pocket or two.” Then again, it could have happened when she played the White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland.” They were both staged when our daughter attended public school. On one of those occasions she asked us for some last minute advice.

“Imagine I’m at the back of the auditorium, Whitney,” I said to her. “And sing out, so I can hear you from there.”

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Barris Beat

Value of votes

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Bruce Evans volunteered to restore freedoms in Europe – such as the freedom to vote.

A close veteran friend of mine died this week. Bruce Evans, winner of the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award, served in the Second World War with the 1st Hussars tank regiment. He landed in Normandy and was wounded on D-Day 1944; but he rejoined the 6th Armoured Regiment in time to help liberate Holland in 1944-45. His reason for serving was simple.

“It wasn’t patriotism that drove us,” Evans said. “Our job was to … liberate Europe,” and he was always mindful of the regiment’s motto, “today not tomorrow.”

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