Events

Barris speaks at RCAF 429 Wing Christmas banquet

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GREAT_ESCAPE_JACKET_FINAL_FRONT_EThe RCAF 429 Wing welcomes returning guest, Ted Barris, to speak to the Wing’s Christmas banquet. On Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, broadcaster, journalist and author Barris will talk about and present visuals from his brand new book, The Great Escape: A Canadian Story. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood blockbuster movie The Great Escape, (with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, etc.). But as Ted will demonstrate drawing from his book, the most famous WWII POW breakout was not a story of British heroes and Yankee know-how. The Great Escape was very much a story of Canadian leadership and courage. It’s more exciting than the Hollywood movie. And it’s all true!. As always, he will have copies of his books for sale and autographing.

When: 5:30., Friday, December 13, 2013.

Where: The Briars, 55 Hedge Road, R.R. 1 Jackson’s Point, Ontario

Contact: David McCarthy, 905-640-5678, dmcc@rogers.com

Barris Beat

Getting a grip

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Sometimes the message of road signs never sinks in.
Sometimes the message of road signs never sinks in.

All evening long, I kept hearing the warnings. I had driven as far southwest on Highway 401 as it goes – in fact, I think I got to Kilometre Number 1 – in Windsor. I knew when the event at which I was speaking, on the Windsor side of the Detroit River, wrapped up, I faced the four-hour drive home to Uxbridge. At 10 p.m. I got in my car, started the engine and heard the weather forecast.

“Environment Canada has issued a weather statement,” the announcer said. “Wet snow or blowing snow will make driving conditions treacherous.”

“That’s OK,” I thought to myself. “With my snow tires on, everything should be fine.”

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Barris Beat

Remembering a JFK moment

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President John F. Kennedy asked everyone to contribute, serve and accommodate.

Like many, I have watched the retrospectives on TV and read the features in the weekend papers about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago this week. I can remember where I was and how devastated I felt. But, while most are focusing on the tragedy of Nov. 22, 1963, I prefer to look at the triumph of Sept. 26, 1960. There on our modest black-and-white TV screen appeared the two giants of American politics in a Chicago studio with moderator Howard K. Smith in between.

“The television and radio stations of the United States,” Smith began the evening telecast, “are proud to provide a forum for discussion of issues in the campaign between the two major candidates for President of the United States.”

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Barris Beat

Physics and history

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Pilot Officer Frank Sorensen, 1942, served in the RCAF, including several years inside the Stalag Luft III POW camp in Poland.

I’m sure my teachers taught it during a day I was absent from high school. But somewhere in there I missed that important life lesson that came from physics class.

“For every action in the universe,” Isaac Newton said around 1687, “there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

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Barris Beat

Creating for nothing. Not!

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Magazine publisher Ritchie Yorke, left, hobnobbed with the biggest rock stars, including John Lennon of the Beatles. He wasn’t nearly as friendly with his writer-contributors.

I’m often asked what it’s like being a freelancer – someone who creates often without knowing whether the work will ever be published. Suffice to say, it’s a speculative jungle out there. I know. As a newspaper and magazine writer for some 40 years, I’ve been eaten alive whole more than a few times. A bit of background:

In the late 1960s, I enrolled at Ryerson (before it was a university) in the Radio and Television Arts program. While working towards my diploma (1968-1971) I craved a taste of the real writing world, so I began submitting ideas for features to magazines and newspapers.

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Barris Beat

When flood waters recede

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A Bow River bridge nearly submerged during the June 2013 flood in Calgary (National Post photo).

On the third floor of a building in the southwestern quadrant of this major city on the Prairies, sits a non-discript office. Nothing special about its look or identification. Just another downtown Calgary workplace. However, inside resides one of the most precious resources, the city discovered last summer, that helped thousands of its citizens weather perhaps the city’s least predicted natural disaster – the 2013 flood of the Bow River.

“[As many as] 2,159 free counselling sessions were delivered,” the Distress Centre in that Calgary office reported. “Online crisis chats increased 739 per cent,” during the flood.

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Barris Beat

Pre-Remembrance forgetfulness

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Landing craft from the troopship circle en route to Normandy beaches – June 6, 1944.

The conversation began much the way many of my chats with men of a certain age do. I got his birth date. The man told me he was born in January 1923. He quickly pointed out he’ll be 91 in the New Year.

Next, I asked about where he’d grown up and because he’d lived through the Second World War, where he’d served. He explained he’d been with the East Yorkshire Regiment on D-Day as part of the Operation Overlord invasion force.

I asked Geoff Leeming if he would be our honorary veteran at the Uxbridge Oilies Remembrance Tournament on Nov. 9 at the arena.

“Fine,” he said, “but you know I didn’t serve in the Canadian Army. It was the British Army.”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” I said. “You’re a veteran in my books.”

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Barris Beat

Closest to the premiers

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A few weeks ago, as I showered, shaved and made my way to work, CBC Radio’s local Toronto morning show invited audience comment. Host Matt Galloway wondered: “Where do Torontonians go, to find absolute silence?”

In a matter of a few seconds, I had an answer and texted it to him: “Sealed inside the rare books section at the Robarts Library, right down to the white gloves so your hands don’t rustle pages.”

I hadn’t thought about Ontario’s 17th premier in a long time. But when Galloway posed the question, I quickly remembered research I had conducted back in the early 1970s. I needed to find excerpts from particularly rare books and the only source was the then brand new John P. Robarts Research Library at the University of Toronto. By coincidence, this past week, I’ve been reading my colleague Steve Paikin’s new book, “Paikin and the Premiers.” Among other things, Paikin reminded me that Premier Robarts gave this province much more than a quiet research library.

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Events

Durham Genealogical Society invites Barris for Great Escape talk

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Ted Barris has spoken to the Durham Genealogical Society before. But on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, Barris returns, to talk about and present visuals from his brand new book, The Great Escape: A Canadian Story. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood blockbuster movie The Great Escape, (with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, etc.). But as Ted will demonstrate drawing from his book, the most famous WWII POW breakout was not a story of British heroes and Yankee know-how. The Great Escape was very much a story of Canadian leadership and courage. It’s more exciting than the Hollywood movie. And it’s all true!. As always, he will have copies of his books for sale and autographing.

When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 5, 2013.

Where: Oshawa Public Library, corner of Bagot and Centre streets, Oshawa, Ontario

Contact: Joyce Lintner, 905-728-5686, jlintner@sympatico.ca

Events

Uxbridge Legion Remembrance features Barris talk on Great Escape

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Ted Barris returns to Uxbridge branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, to speak to the Remembrance banquet. On Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, he’ll offer a short talk about and present visuals from his brand new book, The Great Escape: A Canadian Story. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood blockbuster movie The Great Escape, (with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, etc.). But as Ted will demonstrate drawing from his book, the most famous WWII POW breakout was not a story of British heroes and Yankee know-how. The Great Escape was very much a story of Canadian leadership and courage. It’s more exciting than the Hollywood movie. And it’s all true!. As always, he will have copies of his books for sale and autographing.

When: 6 p.m.., Saturday, November 9, 2013.

Where: Royal Canadian Legion, Br. 170, 109 Franklin Street, Uxbridge, Ontario.

Contact: Barb Hughes, 905-852-7046.