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Barris Beat

A trio is born

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The Three Musketeers

We got the call the morning after the official start of summer and the day before the actual due date. Our son-in-law phoned that Friday to say that our daughter was in the Port Perry Hospital maternity ward and contractions were coming fairly quickly. A couple of hours later – at 8:52 a.m., June 22 – her third baby was born. And we were grandparents for a fourth time. A few hours after that, we were in the hospital room, holding him, enjoying his first sounds and wondering.

“Have you decided on a name?” my wife asked.

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Barris Beat, Events

Barris speaks to Etobicoke Historical Society about the challenge of recording history

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Speaking at the Stephen Leacock literary festival.

At the regular meeting of the Etobicoke Historical Society in November, Ted Barris, the author of 16 bestselling, non-fiction books will deliver one of his most sought-after talks – his recounting of the “Victory at Vimy.” It’s a unique telling of the famous WWI battle at Vimy Ridge, that, he says, gave birth to Canada’s nationhood. Barris will offer insights and images gleaned from some of the individual accounts – old interviews, memoirs, letters and diaries of the Canadian Corps troops – he assembled in the research/writing of his book “Victory at Vimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9-12, 1917.”.

When: 7:30 p.m.,Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012.

Where: Montgomery’s Inn at Islington and Dundas, Toronto.

Contact: Nicholas Doran, director, 416-231-0438, dorans@direct.com

Barris Beat, Events

Barris returns to Shedden with Days of Victory theme

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Speaking to veterans at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allied armies in Europe, ending the Second World War in that part of the world. Canada had played prominently in the victory. But many of the great human interest stories have rarely been told. In his well-known raconteur style, bestselling author Barris offers visuals and accounts from his book “Days of Victory: Canadian’s Remember 1939-1945.” As usual, copies of his wartime Canadian books will be available for sale and autographing after the talk and Remembrance ceremony.

When: 9:30 a.m to 11:30 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012.

Where: Keystone Complex, Shedden, Ontario.

Contact: Michele Lant, Township of Southwold, 519-769-2010, mdrewitt@twp.southwold.on.ca

Barris Beat

Subtle but passionate Canadian

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Dave Zink, proprietor of Grenadier Militaria in Port Perry.

In the fall of 2001, a man dropped by the original location of the Grenadier Militaria store in Port Perry. It wasn’t long after the store had opened its doors for the first time. Although he didn’t know Dave Zink, the proprietor of the store, Dave Robinson asked a favour. A production (by the Borelians Community Theatre) needed military props and uniforms to authenticate an upcoming show. Robinson, then a history teacher at Port Perry High School, wondered if Zink might loan some of his unique artefacts to the production. Robinson couldn’t believe what happened.

“He said, ‘Yes,’” Robinson said. “And right away, I knew Dave Zink was a valuable asset to the community because he was so supportive.”

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Barris Beat

Summer on wheels

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Last week, I was heading out of town on one of the 400-series highways. It was a Friday afternoon. Traffic was slow. There were the usual volume holdups and the usual culprits – semis and commuter buses, but mostly cars towing boats, cars towing tent trailers, four-by-fours loaded to the gunwales with camping gear, and lots of RVs. One sported a bumper sticker that kind of summed up the moment.

“Don’t follow me,” it said. “I have no idea where I’m going.”

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Barris Beat

Government versus democracy

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To talk about sickness among salmon, in B.C. is to break the law.

It was Sunday afternoon. Our writers’ conference was wrapping up. About 200 of this country’s most celebrated novelists, poets and non-fiction writers had gathered for the weekend at a Vancouver hotel to discuss writers’ issues. But before our annual general meeting of The Writers’ Union of Canada broke up, one of TWUC’s founding members, Andreas Schroeder, rose to read a motion put forward by B.C. members of the union.

“Whereas Bill 37-2012 (about to be passed in the B.C. Legislature) will make it an offence for anyone to disclose the presence of a reportable animal disease (in B.C.),” Schroeder said. “Be it resolved that the union opposes the muzzling of both the press and public discourse.”

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Barris Beat

Jobs and dodos

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Jobs that go the way of the dodo bird are often the ones we rely on most.

The other day a canoeing partner of mine mentioned he’d faced a bit of dilemma. His cedar-strip canoe, which he and I had used one spring to paddle down the Black River in Muskoka, was in need of repair. Stored out in the open, the canoe had generally resisted the elements fairly well, except where the water had collected in the canoe gunwales and caused some of the wood to rot.

“I needed somebody to repair the damage,” he said. “Surprisingly, I found a guy near Huntsville. That’s what he did – repaired canoe gunwales.”

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Barris Beat

What are words worth?

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Some years ago, after presenting a talk on one of my books, I was setting copies of the book on a display table, in case someone wanted to buy one. A woman who’d been in the audience for this event – I think it was at a library – began flipping through a copy of the book. She asked me a couple of questions and then noticed the price on the flap of the dust jacket.

“Gee, that’s a lot… for a book,” she said.

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Barris Beat

Leading change with kindness

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June Callwood worked as a professional freelance writer for 66 years. "It's All About Kindness," a new book, offers reflections on her care and concern for others. Photo by David Henderson.

On days such as Victoria Day, and its anachronistic connection to life in 2012, I wonder about how change happens. Is it just the passage of time that helps us recognize that monarchs are people too? Is it just greater access to information that brings down a Berlin Wall? Is it just mellowing that makes a Toronto mayor realize gay lifestyle is a fact of life? Well, yes, time, knowledge and acclimatizing help. But change happens because some push to make it happen. Or, as writer June Callwood observed during a 2002 lecture:

“The profession of journalism enjoys its finest moments when it speaks against oppression and greed.”

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Barris Beat

It was a wonderful life

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Late on June 6, 1944, Lt. Garth Webb (standing at centre) and his 14th Field Regiment artillery crew paused to reflect on the highs and lows of their D-Day experiences.

The day before the big opening the French police built a security fence around it. Workers set up wooden benches for an audience of 5,000. Rain left the glass and titanium-clad building on the Normandy beach glistening like a polished jewel. And inside the museum itself Canadian army cadets removed the pins from nearly 44,000 poppies – the pinless Remembrance symbols would be dropped from an aircraft during the ceremony – symbolizing the number of Canadians killed in the Second World War.

“I was on this beach 59 years ago,” Garth Webb said during the opening of the Juno Beach Centre on the D-Day anniversary in 2003. “And it’s just as big a thrill to be here today.”

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