Barris Beat

Quiet victor

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Nelson Mandela emerges from Robben Island prison in February 1990.
Nelson Mandela emerges from Robben Island prison in February 1990.

The morning the world changed, I had tumbled from my warm bed, found a cup of coffee to help me on my way and driven from the countryside to the old CBC Radio building on Jarvis Street, next to CBC corporate head offices in downtown Toronto. By 5 a.m. I had cleared my head and my throat to deliver one of my first newscasts for the CBC Network that morning. Little did I know within the first hours of my shift, I would be part of something momentous.

“Here is the CBC News,” I said at the top of each hour that morning to begin the five-minute hourly newscast. But that day I also got the chance to announce repeatedly as the top story, “Nelson Mandela, the black African leader imprisoned for treason since 1963, has this morning left notorious Robben Island prison, a free man.”

(more…)

Barris Beat

Preparedness or paranoia

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Neither the sight nor the sound any homeowner wants to hear - a burst water pipe in the basement.
Neither the sight nor the sound any homeowner wants to hear – a burst water pipe in the basement.

As I drove up the ramp onto Hwy. 401 near Kingston, following a talk I’d given last Saturday night, I thought I’d call my wife (on a hands-free device) and let her know I was en route home. I phoned once at 10 p.m. I tried again at 10:30 and every half hour after that. But there was no answer. I stopped calling around midnight, figuring she might have gone to bed. But when I got home, she was up. Or, actually she was down… in the basement.

“A pipe broke and has been leaking water down there all day,” she told me. “We had several inches of water in the basement.”

(more…)

Events

Barris joins Fred Hacker in Midland, Ontario, celebration of Great Escaper Tommy Thompson

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

GREAT_ESCAPE_JACKET_FINAL_FRONT_EOn Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, the popular Midland (Ontario) Cultural Centre series “A Day in the Life” will celebrate the life of RCAF airman Alfred Burke Tommy Thompson. Continuing his unique interviewing tradition, Fred Hacker will sit with Tommy Thompson’s son to reflect on his father’s life and times. To add to the festivities, Hacker has invited Ted Barris to join the conversation. Broadcaster, journalist and author Barris will offer perspectives from his brand new bestselling 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, Wednesday, December 11, 2013.

Where: Midland Cultural Centre, 333 King St., Midland, Ontario

Contact: Fred Hacker, fhacker@hgrgp.ca

Events

Barris offers a bit of theatre in Great Escape tale

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

GREAT_ESCAPE_JACKET_FINAL_FRONT_EThe Theatre Museum of Canada has invited Ted Barris to speak to a special gathering at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. While his topic focuses on his new bestselling book, The Great Escape: A Canadian Story, Barris offers Theatre Museum members the fascinating tale of the role the full-service theatre at Stalag Luft III played in the most celebrated POW escape of the Second World War. 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. In particular, at the Arts & Letters Club appearance, Ted will present images and stories associated with the Stalag Luft III theatre and the escape itself. 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: Tuesday, December 10, 2013.

Where: Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto, 416-597-0223

Contact: Michael Wallace, Director, Theatre Museum of Canada, mwallace@theatremuseumcanada.ca

Events

Barris speaks at RCAF 429 Wing Christmas banquet

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

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

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
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.”

(more…)

Barris Beat

Remembering a JFK moment

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
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.”

(more…)

Barris Beat

Physics and history

Written by Ted Barris on . 2 Comments
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.”

(more…)

Barris Beat

Creating for nothing. Not!

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
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.

(more…)

Barris Beat

When flood waters recede

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
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.

(more…)