Events

Barris rejoins Karen Schuessler Singers for Peacekeepers Concert

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In 2007, Ted Barris teamed up with the full Karen Schuessler choir in London to present an evening of choral music and readings on the subject of war and peace. The event proved so successful, that Karen and Ted plan to collaborate again at 8 p.m., on Saturday, November 17, 2012, at the Wesley-Knox United Church in South London. This time the theme of music and readings will be “peacekeepers.” The evening will be filled with the moving music of the Karen Schuessler Singers and stories of visuals from some of Ted Barris’s numerous books about Canadians in wartime.

Ted Barris interviews vet in St. Thomas, Ontario, 2011.

When: 8 p.m., Saturday, November 17, 2012

Where: Wesley-Knox United Church Church, 91 Askin Street, London, Ontario

Contact: Harry MacLean 519-473-1668, macve3gro@rogers.com

Events

Barris addresses Canadian Club in Bowmanville

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Ted Barris speaking

As part of its fall 2012 program, the Bowmanville Men’s Canadian Club has invited Ted Barris to address the membership on Wednesday, November 28, 2012, at Trinity United Church. He will speak about the job of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on one of his recent bestselling books, “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.” Copies of a number of Ted’s books will be on hand for sale and autographing.

When: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012.

Where: Trinity United Church, 116 Church Street, Bowmanville, Ontario

Contact: Clayton Read, fordarby@hotmail.com

Barris Beat

Call for honesty

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Margaret Wente says she is not a serial plagiarist.

My world of words has been turned upside down this week. One of our own has been accused of the worst sin in our profession – taking the ideas of another writer and presenting them as her own. According to Carol Wainio, an Ottawa-based blogger, in 2009 Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente wrote an editorial about something called enviro-romanticism. In her column, among other things, she wrote about non-governmental organizations.

“They believe traditional farming in Africa incorporates indigenous knowledge that shouldn’t be replaced by science-based knowledge introduced from the outside,” Wente wrote.

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Barris Beat

Canadian grooves

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Saturday morning mecca for LPs, Sam the Record Man, in Toronto.

Sam Sniderman changed my Saturdays forever. Back in the 1960s, instead of sleeping in, savouring my coffee, wasting my morning, I high-tailed it downtown to Yonge and Dundas streets, to the store under the spinning-record sign to spend my money on vinyl. Yes, every Saturday morning I raced to take advantage of Sam’s door-crasher specials.

“The best music and the best prices,” Sam Sniderman used to say in his advertisements. But more than that, he also said, “Buy Canadian music because it’s the best.”

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Barris Beat

Do not hurry autumn

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Plenty of autumn to soak up before we have to deal with the inevitable.

It didn’t take long. The trees have just started to turn. Outside town the low spots each morning are full of that chilly mist. The sandals have pretty much been moved to the back of the closet along with many of my short-sleeved shirts. But I wasn’t ready for this: I got a promotional circular from the place I usually take my car for oil changes.

“Get ready to winterize,” it said. “Cold weather’s just around the corner.”

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Events

Barris recalls the biggest homefront gamble of WWII

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Barris speaking at the Steven Leacock Festival.

Ted Barris addresses the Simcoe County Museum on Tuesday, November 13, 2012. During his visit, Barris will speak about perhaps the least known military aviation heroism of the Second World War. When Britain and free-Europe cried out for help to defend themselves against the German Luftwaffe, Canada responded by launching the largest, wartime, military air training scheme in history. It was known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan – created 73 years ago this year – and its heroes are the subject of Ted Barris’s bestselling book “Behind the Glory.”

When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 13, 2012.

Where: Barrie Library, Barrie, Ont.

Contact: Earl Elliott, earl.elliott@rogers.cm

Barris Beat

Changing the landscape

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The federal government’s view of the proposed “Haliburton-Uxbridge” constituency, does not include Uxbridge in the southwest corner of the map.

Ottawa, I have learned, has the power to do many things. The federal government can influence the nation’s economy, with Bank of Canada interest rates, stimulus funding and, of course, taxation. It can choose to send the country’s armed forces to war. Ultimately, it has the power to draft, debate and generate the laws that change the lives of all Canadians. But this week, when I opened up one of the Toronto daily newspapers, a special federal government insert dropped out. And I discovered the feds have even greater power than I thought.

“Canada’s electoral map is changing,” the cover of the insert said. “Read about the proposed new electoral map for Ontario.”

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Barris Beat

No place like home

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Uxbridge’s distinctive mini-Taj Mahal, erected by Thomas Foster in the 1935-36.

Over the weekend I travelled to Simcoe, Ont., to attend the 100th birthday of a veteran friend of mine. It was a wonderful celebration. Lots of friends and family dropped by to shake his hand, swap stories and enjoy his cake with a hundred candles on it. At some point during the afternoon, someone asked me where I was from.

“Uxbridge,” I said proudly.

“What’s Uxbridge like?” she asked. “Typical Ontario small town?”

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Barris Beat

Giant leaps for humankind

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U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 1969.

It was the summer I turned 20. It was also the summer of anti-war demonstrations on Canadian and U.S. university campuses. It was the summer of Chappaquiddick and then Woodstock. Then, in the middle of the night, on July 20, 1969, we heard those indelible words.

“One small step for a man,” Neil Armstrong said between bits of static on the TV feed from the moon. “One giant leap for mankind.”

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Barris Beat

Gift of art

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Stained-glass artists Sue Parkinson presents her work as a gift.

A few months ago, my wife and I were invited to a meeting in downtown Toronto. We thought it was about planning our European battlefield tour for next spring. So, we arrived at the Merit Travel agency on schedule. We were then escorted through a rabbit’s warren of office cubicles and into a boardroom and introduced to a member of the agency staff whom we didn’t know.

“This is Sue Parkinson,” we were told. “She’s got something for you.”

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