A Visit to Peterborough and Lakefield and Photos

Last weekend, I visited some friends who have recently moved to Peterborough, Ontario.  They gave me a tour of the area.  Above is a photograph of the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent Canal.  On Friday, November 8th, a crisp autumn day, we explored the Trent-Severn Waterway.

The city of Peterborough is situated on the Otonabee River, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) northeast of Toronto.  With a population of around 79,000, it is the largest city on the Trent-Severn Waterway and the regional centre for the Kawartha Lakes cottage country.

On Friday, I also viewed Lakefield College School, just outside of Peterborough, where Britain's Prince Andrew graduated in 1978.

The following day, Saturday, November 9th, was cool and drizzly.  On that day, I toured the Canadian Canoe Museum, one of Peterborough's major attractions.  I saw Pierre Trudeau's canoe and his famous buckskin jacket.

Below are some more photos of the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Peterborough Lift Lock.

Below is the clock tower in Lakefield, Ontario. Construction on the tower began in 1912 and the building served as the Lakefield Post Office for many years.  Lakefield is located just north of Peterborough on the shores of Lake Katchewanooka.

Below is a photo of Queen St., the main thoroughfare in Lakefield.

Below are some photos of Peterborough's Trent University.

Champlain College, Trent University

I went to the Riverdale Park and Zoo. There is no admittance fee as it is funded by the Peterborough Utilities Commission.

Below is a Burmese Python that I saw at the zoo.

- Joanne

An Open Letter to Ford Nation

Dear Ford Nation

Let me be frank.  I am at a loss as to how to get through to you.  On the subject of your hero, Rob Fob, you are so delusional and misguided that it's highly unlikely that anything will ever change your minds.  You seem to think the mayor is just a victim of the evil left-wing media, especially that pinko Toronto Star.  Yes indeed, the left-wing media are out to get Rob Ford.  They are always hounding him.  Why can't they just leave him alone?  It was they who made him go to a crack house.  It was they who made him smoke crack cocaine.  It was they who made him spew racist and homophobic epithets.  They are responsible for his "drunken stupors" and boorish behaviour.

I get it.  You like Rob Ford because you identify with him.  You think he's just like you, flawed and unpolished, the kind of guy with whom you'd like to go out for a beer and talk about football.  His mistakes only endear him to you. - but stop and think!  Does that really make him a good mayor?

I really don't know what it would take for you to withdraw your support for Ford's policies or to persuade you to vote against him in next fall's election - provided he remains in office.  The sad truth is that you, my friends, are as bull-headed as the man himself.  In the faint hope, however, that something will sink in, here are some points for you to ponder.

• Rob Ford is not fit to be mayor of the fourth largest city in North America.  Anyone else who behaved as he has would be promptly fired.  Imagine what would happen to you if you continually showed up for work in a state of inebriation.  Imagine if you refused to admit you had a problem or declined to seek treatment.  Sadly, the mayor is in complete denial, as is his family.  His mother thinks his biggest problem is his weight. His brother Doug wants Toronto's police Chief Bill Blair to resign for doing his job and investigating the mayor's activities.  His sister Kathy, who referred to herself as a "former addict," does not consider Rob to be an addict.  Not one of them believes that their Robbie needs to take a leave of absence to sort out his problems. Not one of them feels he should remove himself from office.

• Mayor Ford claims that he loves Toronto.  I'm sure he does, but not enough to do what's best for the city and its people.  The mayor has become a terrible liability and his problems have become such a distraction that the city cannot move forward as long as he is in office.  He says there is work to be done, but he himself is preventing it from being done.  

• Mayor Ford lied to you.  He lied to the people of Toronto.  He lied to his supporters and non-supporters alike.  The mayor openly denied using crack cocaine and denied the existence of the video showing him doing so.  He finally admitted to partaking of the drug once, about a year ago, when he was in a "drunken stupor." (By the way, drunkenness is not an excuse for all sorts of reprehensible behaviour).  Then he confessed that he had made mistakes and apologized profusely, but only because he had no choice. If the police had not gained possession of the infamous crack cocaine video, he never would have apologized for his behaviour or conceded that, yes, he had smoked crack. He only came clean because he was caught.  Ford also denied being an addict although crack is highly addictive.  If he is not habitually doing drugs, how do you explain all those clandestine meetings with alleged dealer Sandro Lisi?  What was in those bags Lisi was giving the mayor?  Do you really think that he was providing Ford with packages of Smarties or M&M's?  

• Rob Ford's antics have made Toronto the laughing stock of the world.  He has made news around the globe, from Britain to China.  He has provided fodder for U.S. television hosts such as Jon Stewart who referred to Toronto voters as "enablers." Another American host, Jimmy Kimmel, showed a video called "How to Tell if your Mayor is Smoking Crack."  He declared that its purpose was  to "protect other major cities from going through the same kind of embarrassment that Toronto is experiencing right now." Yes, "embarrassment" is definitely the word.  Just think what the world will think of us if Rob Ford manages to be re-elected next October.  The damage he has done to Toronto's reputation is incalculable.

• The circus surrounding the behaviour of Mayor Ford may cost Toronto financially, according to Gabor Forgacs, a professor at the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerrson University.  Forgnacs stated that cities "are always striving to align their reputation with their image."  The Ford saga, he said, has damaged Toronto's image as a city of culture and diversity.  This may cause investors to think twice before doing business in our city.

• Mayor Ford's policies, they are simplistic and deceptive.  He mouths catchy slogans such as "No more gravy train," "lower taxes," "subways, subways subways" and "the war on cars."  He repeats those phrases incessantly and you, Ford Nation, nod in agreement like trained seals. Here's what the mayor isn't telling you. The services required by a world-class city have to paid for somehow. Either taxes must be levied or services must be cut.  If important services are cut, then people suffer, especially low income people.  Cutbacks result in lost jobs and if people are unemployed, they don't spend money to boost the economy.  They also pay less income tax, causing the amount of money in government coffers to decrease   When this happens, the quality of life inevitably deteriorates.  The private sector cannot or will not  fill the void.   

• As for Ford's so-called war on cars, let me just say that cities are primarily for people, not automobiles.  We need to improve public transportation in Toronto so that there will be less gridlock and less pollution.  Secondly, Mayor Ford does not seem to know the difference between a street car and light rapid transit.  Here's what Ford and his allies have cost the city with their insistence on subways.  Toronto is already on the hook for $85 million because city council cancelled the fully funded seven-stop Scarborough LRT in favour of a 3-billion, three-stop subway extension  That's not all, though.  The cost of scrapping the LRT will increase further due to the cancellation of a storage facility and payments to advisers.  Does this make any sense whatsoever?  Are Ford's policies really saving you any money?

• Mayor Ford declared that he has nothing left to hide.  I don't think so, not by a long shot.  There will be more revelations and more embarrassment for the city of Toronto as long as this shameless, stubborn man clings to office.  We still don't know the contents of the second video.

• Rob Ford is filled with inner rage, as evidenced by a profanity-laced video  in which he threatens the life of an unidentified person.  I shivered when I watched that video.  It is absolutely chilling to watch. I cringed when I viewed it.  Ford chalked it up drunkenness but it is far more than that.  Drunk or sober, it appears that the man has anger issues and could be a danger to himself and others.  The Ford story is not a comedy.  It is a tragedy.  The mayor is a human time bomb.  Unless he gets help, he is going to explode.  Instead of encouraging him to remain in office, why don't you urge him to get the help he so desperately needs?  

I leave you with this thought.

. . . we need to stop supporting leaders with whom we personally identify, with whom we might want to go out for a pint or 10; we need to insist upon leaders with the self-knowledge and sense of shame that allows them to lead and thereby allows us to get on with our often messy lives.

- Daniel Baird

Toronto Star column

November 10, 2013

Sincerely,

Joanne

Rob Ford: Should he resign?

Rob Ford's politics are repugnant to me.  I've made no secret of my distaste for Ford's ideas.  I abhor his ultra-conservative ideology and his good ol' boy approach.  Yet, as much as I wish he weren't Toronto's mayor, the man was democratically elected by the people of this city. Although I disagree with almost everything he says and does, I have never wanted him removed from office unfairly. My hope has been that he would be voted out of office in next year's municipal election.

Now, however, I think Mayor Ford has crossed the line.  Given yesterday's extraordinary events, he should resign or at least take a leave of absence until he sorts out his problems.  It appears that the mayor is in need of professional help and I am not the first person to express those sentiments.  Even though Ford is in denial, he has shown many of the signs of someone with a substance abuse problem.  Toronto is sorely in need of leadership and Ford is incapable of providing it.  His antics have become a distraction, preventing this great city from moving forward.

Yesterday was a Halloween to remember (or forget) for Canada's largest city.  Toronto is receiving world-wide attention for all the wrong reasons.  Rob Ford has simply become an embarrassment and a liability to the city he professes to love and wishes to serve.  Unfortunately, the mayor has no intention of leaving office and claims that there is no reason for him to resign.  He acts as if it's business as usual  and that all the dirt can be swept under a rug.  It can't, as Mr. Ford will eventually discover.  The chickens will come home to roost and he will be held accountable for his behaviour - if not by the law then by the electorate.

Yesterday, Toronto police Chief Bill Blair confirmed that Mayor Ford has been under police surveillance for some time.  The Chief also revealed that the infamous video tape in which Ford appears to be smoking crack cocaine and allegedly spouting racist and homophobic remarks, exists and that the police have it in their possession.

Blair stated that Alexander "Sandro" Lisi,  Mayor Ford's friend and sometime driver, was charged with extortion related to the video.  Lisi, 45, is an alleged drug dealer. According to police documents, Ford and Lisi had more than 100 seemingly clandestine meetings.  Police surveillance succeeded in capturing the two men with a mysterious package of which the contents remain unknown - for now.

None of this will change the attitude of Ford's loyalists, they will stand by their man through thick and thin.  It doesn't matter that he has lied to them and to the other citizens of Toronto.  As Toronto Star columnist Royson James put it, "A hardcore subset of residents, dubbed Ford Nation, care only that Ford is intent on keeping taxes down and care nothing about his moral compass."

In the eyes of Ford Nation, the mayor is quite a guy.  He arm wrestles with Hulk Hogan and, oh yes, he hosts great barbecues.  Don't forget, by golly, that he's going to ensure that the Scarborough subway is built. Just don't ask how it's going to be done without raising taxes.  No! No! No!  Don't go there! Leave the mayor alone. Rob's a regular guy, not some aloof intellectual. He's not one of those snooty downtown elites. You won't catch him riding a bicycle or reading Canadian literature.  

Ford Nation believes that the media has been hounding their man, especially the Toronto Star. Although Mayor Ford has nothing but disdain for the Star, the paper's investigative reporters deserve high praise for bringing the story of the "crack cocaine" video to light.  It was due to their diligent work that the police investigation into Ford's activities was undertaken.  Accused of having a vendetta against Mayor Ford, the news organization went before the Ontario Press Council and stated its case calmly and clearly. Yesterday, the paper was vindicated.

Sadly, Toronto's chief magistrate is his own worst enemy.  It's about time he took responsibility for his own actions and stopped blaming the media for all his woes.  Mayor Ford should note that all four daily newspapers have called for his resignation, including the Ford friendly Toronto Sun. Thank goodness for a free media.  Without it, how would people learn the truth about their elected representatives?


- Joanne

Robert Louis Stevenson, Lighthouses and Fanny

Robert Louis Stevenson

Lighthouses have always fascinated me.  I had the opportunity to visit many of them when I toured Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula  in the summer of 2001 and I also visited the famous lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia back in the 1990s.  It was, therefore, interesting for me to learn that Robert Louis Stevenson, author of such classics as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, came from a family of lighthouse designers.  In fact, 14 lighthouses dotting the coast of Scotland were built by Stevenson's ancestors.

Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 13, 1850, the only child of Margaret Isabella Balfour, the daughter of a minister of the Church of Scotland, and Thomas Stevenson, a prominent lighthouse engineer.  Thomas's brothers, Alan and David, were also lighthouse builders.

Thomas Stevenson was an expert in optics as applied to the illumination of light houses.  He designed many lighthouses in and around Scotland with his brother David and with David's son, David Alan Stevenson.  A man of great accomplishment, Thomas was also a meteorologist.  He invented the Stevenson screen, an enclosure that shelters meteorological instruments from rain and heat radiation.

Thomas Stevenson (1818-1887)

Robert's paternal grandfather (also named Robert Stevenson) was a civil engineer and the designer of the Bell Rock Lighthouse on the Inchcape, off the coast of Angus, Scotland.  The Bell Rock Lighthouse has the distinction of being the world's oldest sea-washed lighthouse.  The quality of the masonry work on this lighthouse is of of such high standard that it has not been replaced in more than two centuries.  Since 1988, the operation of the Bell Rock Lighthouse has been automated.  Canadians should note, however, that its lamps and reflectors were replaced in 1843 and are now in display in the lighthouse at Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland.

Bust of Robert Stevenson (1772-1850)

Bell Rock Lighthouse

                                                                   Attribution: Derek Robertson


Robert Louis Stevenson was a thin, sickly child.  He suffered from lung ailments and nearly died of gastric fever in 1858.  Despite his ill-health and weak constitution, he frequently accompanied his father on official visits to the lighthouses on the Scottish coast.

At about the age of 18, Stevenson dropped his baptismal names of  "Lewis Balfour" and began referring to himself as "Robert Louis."  His close friends and relatives, however, addressed him as "Louis."  In 1867, he entered the University of Edinburgh with the intention of following the family tradition and becoming a lighthouse engineer.

In 1868, as a student engineer, Robert Louis Stevenson travelled to the Scottish coastal villages of Anstruther and Wick.  Prone to ill health since childhood, Robert was not the most robust fellow. Although he tried to be an engineer, he didn't have the stamina required for the outdoor work. More importantly, his heart was not in it.   His preference was for a career in literature.  He could no longer ignore his passion and his great talent for writing.  Around 1870, much to the disappointment of his father, Stevenson abandoned lighthouse building in order to become a writer.

In Underwoods, his 1887 poetry collection, Stevenson reflects on his decision to turn away from the family tradition.

Say not of me that weakly I declined
The labours of my sires, and fled the sea,
The towers we founded and the lamps we lit,
But rather say: In the afternoon of time
A strenuous family dusted from its hands
The sand of granite, and beholding far
Along the sounding coast its pyramids
And tall memorials catch the dying sun,
Smiled well content, and to this childish task
Around the fire addressed its evening hours.

It is obvious from the these line of poetry that Stevenson did not make light of his decision to leave the family profession.  He even wrote a book called A Family of Engineers in which he chronicled the Stevenson family tradition.  Thomas Stevenson, for his part, accepted his son's wishes with sadness and resignation.

According to Life of Robert Louis Stevenson by Alexander Harvey, "Thomas Stevenson, after his first outburst of natural and profound regret, countenanced the literary ambitions of his only son, and gave up with a sigh his one paternal dream.  Nevertheless, the notion that his Louis should grow into maturity without even a nominal profession - literature being inconceivable as the avowed calling of a respectable person - was opposed to a strict Calvinist’s sense of duty to a son."

In order to placate his father and have a "nominal profession," Stevenson reluctantly switched his area of study to law.  Although admitted to the Scottish bar in 1875, he never actually practised law or became involved in the legal profession.  Instead, he went to France.

It was in Grez-sur-Loing, an art colony south of Paris, that Robert Louis Stevenson met the love of his life. She was an American named Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne whom Alexander Harvey describes as "a small, dark young woman with clear-cut delicate features, and endless sable hair. Indianapolis-born Fanny was the wife Samuel Osbourne, a veteran of the American Civil War. They had married when Fanny was just 17 and had three children, although their son Havey died of tuberculous in Paris on April 5, 1876.  The family eventually settled in Virginia City, Nevada where Samuel began cavorting with saloon girls.

Angry at the repeated infidelities of her husband, Fanny had come to Grez with her two young children, Isobel and Lloyd, to study art.  Stevenson became enamoured with the American. Against the advice of friends and without the knowledge of his family, he urged her to leave her philandering spouse and pursued her relentlessly.  Fanny eventually divorced Osbourne and she and Stevenson wed in San Francisco in May of 1880.  For years, the couple searched in vain for a place to settle that would be conducive to Robert's health.  In 1890, they finally purchased a large estate in Upolu, one of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific.

Fanny 

Robert Louis Stevenson passed away on December 3, 1894 at his home in Vailima, Samoa. While opening a bottle of wine, he collapsed and then died of a probable brain hemorrhage.  He was 44 years old at the time of his death.  His wife Fanny passed away in Santa Barbara, California on February 10, 1914. She was 73 years old at the time of her passing.

Below is s photo of Stevenson's home in Vailima, Samoa, showing him on the veranda.

END NOTES

* Robert Louis Stevenson's stepdaughter Isobel (known as Belle) became a successful playwright. She died in 1953.  His stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, was an novelist who died in California on May 22, 1947 at the age of 79.

* Although Stevenson did not remain in the family profession, he remained deeply affected by lighthouses as is evidenced by the following poem he wrote.

The Light-Keeper
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The brilliant kernel of the night,
The flaming lightroom circles me:
I sit within a blaze of light

Held high above the dusky sea.
Far off the surf doth break and roar
Along bleak miles of moonlit shore,

Where through the tides the tumbling wave
Falls in an avalanche of foam
And drives its churned waters home
Up many an undercliff and cave.


* Author Bella Bathurst has written a book about Robert Louis Stevenson and his family's lighthouse building.  It is titled The Lighthouse Stevensons: The extraordinary story of the building of Scottish Lighthouses by the ancestors of Robert Louis Stevenson.  The hardcover edition was published in 1999 by HarperCollins.  A paperback version came out in 2007.

- Joanne

John F. Kennedy's romance with Danish journalist Inga Arvad

Inga Arvad

Jack saved Inga's letters through the war.  He saved them when he was in Congress.  He saved them when he married Jackie, when he entered the White House, when he had his children.  Inga obviously meant more to him than any other woman he had known, and he visited her with some frequency long after they had broken up.

          - Barbara Gibson and Ted Scharz
          From The Kennedys: The Third Generation


As the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination on November 22, 1963 approaches, the life of the 35th President of the United States is becoming increasingly topical.  I've been reading a book titled The Kennedys: The Third Generation by Barbara Gibson and Ted Schwarz.  Gibson was Rose Kennedy's personal secretary and was privy to the goings-on of three generations of the storied Kennedy clan. Until I began reading her book, I was completely unaware of JFK's relationship with a suspected Nazi spy named Inga Arvad.  I found myself intrigued and decided to delve further into the story.

Inga Arvad was born Inga Maria Petersen on October 6, 1913 in Copenhagen, Denmark.  In 1931, she changed her last name to Arvad.  The tall, blond journalist was selected a beauty queen by a Danish newspaper and, according to Barbara Gibson, she also "won a beauty contest in France, which she apparently entered for the fun of it."  A well-educated woman, Arvad studied in Brussels, London and Paris.  

Inga was married and divorced before she reached the age of 20.  She wed her first husband, Egyptian diplomat Kamal Abdel Nabi, in 1931 when she was only 17 years old.  Her second husband was Hungarian film director Paul Fejos whom she met while playing a small role in a movie being filmed in Denmark.  They married in 1936.  Inga was still married to Fejos when she travelled to the United States in 1939 and during her affair with John F. Kennedy in 1941 and 1942.  She did not divorce Fejos until June of 1942.

Prior to World War II, Inga Arvad accepted a job as the Berlin correspondent for a Danish newspaper. As a young journalist, she interviewed Nazi leaders Hermann Göring and Josef Goebbels.  Inga scooped her colleagues by reporting that Göring was soon to wed German actress Emmy Sonnemann. Inga was a guest at the nuptials which took place on April 10, 1935 and she was introduced to many high level Nazis.  She was even granted interviews with Adolf Hitler.  In 1936, Inga attended the infamous Berlin Olympics and sat in in Hitler's private press box and was photographed with the Nazi leader. The Führer was reported to have described her as a perfect example of Nordic beauty.  Of Hitler, Inga wrote, "You immediately like him . . . The eyes, showing a kind heart, stare right at you."

Hitler with Inga Arvad

When war broke out in 1939, Inga left Europe and immigrated to the United States.  She first settled in New York where she enrolled in the graduate program at the Columbia University School of Journalism. She then relocated to Washington, D.C. where she found employment as a syndicated columnist for the Washington Times-Herald profiling government officials.  JFK's elder sister, Kathleen, was also a reporter at the Times-Herald and assisted Inga with her "Did You Happen to See . . ." column.  It was through Kathleen that Jack met the alluring Inga Arvad.

Jack Kennedy was a 24-year-old U.S. Navy ensign and Inga, at 28, was four years his senior. They began a romantic relationship around November of 1941.  When the FBI discovered that Arvad was involved with an American naval officer who was a member of the Kennedy family, they stepped up their investigation of the Scandinavian journalist through wiretapping her telephone, tracking her movements, intercepting her mail and entering her apartment.  At the time, Captain Seymour A.D. Hunter, JFK's superior officer, was quoted as saying that the U.S. Navy regarded Inga Arvad as a Mata Hari.

Inga may have been a Nazi spy but there is no concrete evidence that that was the case.  While it is true that Hitler and his henchmen lavished her with a great deal of attention, Arvad was a society writer and never overtly expressed agreement with Nazi politics.  In fact, she claimed that she despised Hitler's policies and only met him for interviews.  It is possible that the Germans had hoped to persuade her into performing acts of espionage for them and that she refused. According to Barbara Gibson, Inga immediately fled when the Nazis approached her to retrun to Paris and spy for them and that she temporarily left journalism because she feared that her credibility as a reporter was at risk.

The affair between Inga Arvad and Jack Kennedy cooled after January of 1942 when Kennedy was reassigned to a desk job in South Carolina.  By March, when he was sent to active duty in the Pacific with a PT-boat squadron, the writing was on the wall.  They had no chance of a future together.  The Kennedy clan would never accept Arvad as a suitable wife for JFK.  She had already been married twice and was not of the Catholic faith.  Jack required a spouse who would be an asset to his future political career.  That woman, of course, turned out to be Jacqueline Bouvier, who had also worked at the Washington Times-Harold as an "inquiring photographer," snapping on-the-street photos of people and asking them questions about current happenings.

By 1945, Inga had moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a screenwriter for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and occasionally filled in for Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham.  In May of that year, she became engaged to Robert Boothby, a British Member of Parliament whom she had met in L.A.  Arvad, however, broke off the engagement because she did not want to harm his political career due to her past association Nazis and Hitler's complimentary words about her.

Inga Arvad eventually became a citizen.of the United States and married 55-year-old American cowboy actor Tim McCoy in February of 1947.  McCoy was also an U.S. Army intelligence officer and an authority on American aboriginal folklore and customs.  They met in 1946 when Inga was a fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar magazine.  The couple had two sons, Ronald and Teremce, and remained together until Inga's passing.  

Inga Arvad steadfastly refused to write a book detailing her relationship with John Kennedy. After working with Tim McCoy's travelling rodeo and wagon show, she helped her spouse run a horse farm near Nogales, Arizona. Inga died of cancer at their Nogales ranch in 1973.  She was 60 years old at the time of her death. Her husband, Tim McCoy, passed away on January 29, 1978 at the U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona.  He was 86.  

Inga Arvad and Tim McCoy

END NOTES

* John Kennedy's nickname for Inga Arvad was "Inga Binga."  She called him "Honeysuckle."

* Coincidentally, the full name of Inga Arvad's third husband was Timothy John Fitzgerald McCoy.

* The letters between Inga and JFK are housed in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum just outside of Boston.  Check out the link below.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPP-004-052.aspx


- Joanne

Joanne's Journal: October 6, 2013

JOANNE'S JOURNAL
Edition No. 13


QUOTE OF THE DAY

October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”   

- Rainbow Rowell
From Attachments



ON THIS DAY

The great English novelist, Charlotte Brontë, published her masterpiece, Jane Eyre, on October 6, 1847. The eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived childhood, Charlotte was born on April 12, 1816 in Thornton, West Yorkshire, England.  Her sisters, Anne and Emily, were also novelists and their father, Patrick Brontë, was an Anglican cleric.

In June of 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate.  Soon after the wedding, she became pregnant and her health quickly declined.  She experienced severe nausea and fainted frequently. Charlotte Brontë died with her unborn baby on March 31 1855.  She was 38 years old.

 Charlotte Brontë

Congratulations to country music stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw as they celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary.  The couple were married in Louisiana on October 6, 1996.  They are the parents of three daughters: Gracie Katherine McGraw, Maggie Elizabeth McGraw and Audrey Caroline McGraw

Faith Hill

Hollywood film star Carole Lombard was born on October 6, 1908 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Her real name was Jane Alice Peters.  She is best known for her roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s and for her marriage to Hollywood leading man Clark Gable.  The couple wed on March 29, 1939 during a break from the filming of Gone with the Wind in which Gable starred as Rhett Butler.

If Lombard were still alive, she would be celebrating her 105th birthday today.  Sadly, she died in a plane crash at the age of 33.  The accident occurred on January 16, 1942 while the actress was en route home to California after attending a World War II rally to raise defence bonds in her home state of Indiana.  Her aircraft crashed into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, 32 statute miles (51 km) southwest of Las Vegas.  All passengers on board were killed, including Carole, her mother, Bessie Peters, and Clark Gable's press agent and friend, Otto Winkler.  After Lombard's death, a distraught Gable enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces.

Carole Lombard

Another Hollywood great, Janet Gaynor, was born on October 6, 1906 in the Germantown neighbourhood of northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Her birth name was Laura Augusta Gainor and she became one of the most popular actors of the silent film era.  In 1928, Gaynor earned the distinction of winning the very first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: : Seventh Heaven (1927), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans(1927) and Street Angel (1928).  She is best known for her starring role in the original 1937 version of A Star is Born opposite Fredric March.

Janet Gaynor was severely injured in a 1982 traffic accident in San Francisco when her taxicab collided with a van driven by a drunk driver.  Gaynor's husband, Paul Gregory, and her friend, actress Mary Martin, were also passengers in the taxicab but were not as seriously injured. Another passenger, Mary Martin's manager Ben Washer, was killed in the crash.  Janet never fully recovered from the accident and died on September 14, 1984 in Palm Springs California at the age of 77.

Janet Gaynor

Famed Victoriann poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson died on October 6, 1892 in Lurgashall, Sussex, England at the age of 83.  Tennyson, the fourth of the twelve children of a clergyman, wrote poetry as a child.  In 1827, he left home in Somersby, Lincolnshire to study at Trinity College, Cambridge University.  At Trinity College, he became involved with an undergraduate literary club called "The Apostles."  The club was led by Arthur Hallum, with whom Tennyson struck up a close friendship.  When Hallam died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage  in 1833, Tennyson was so strongly affected, that he paid tribute to his friend in a lengthy poem called In Memoriam A.H.H.   

In Memoriam A.H.H. was written over a period of 17 years and was completed in 1849.  The poem was a favourite of Queen Victoria and provided great comfort to her after the passing of her husband Prince Albert.  It contains the oft-quoted line, "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all."  

In 1850, after the death of William Wordsworth, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland.   That same year, he married Emily Sellwood and they had two sons, Hallam and Lionel.

Tennyson

Baseball great Cy Young pitched his final game on October 6, 1911 when he was 44, ending his illustrious 22-season career as a member of the Boston Rustlers.  The game took place at Washington Park in Brooklyn, New York and Young lost the game to the Brooklyn Dodgers.  It was his third loss in a row.

During the span of his career, however, the legendary right-hander recorded an impressive 511 wins.  His 511th and final win took place at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.on September 22, 1911.  He threw a 1-0 shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cy Young died on November 4, 1955 at the age of 88.  Born Denton True Young on a farm in Gilmore, Ohio, Cy played his first professional game for the Cleveland Spiders on August 6, 1890, leading the Spiders to victory over the Chicago White Sox.  Hie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

Cy Young

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists in Cairo on October 6, 1981 at the annual victory parade.to commemorate Egypt's crossing of the Suez Canal. Fundamentalist army officers dismounted from a troop truck during the parade and three grenades were thrown at Sadat.  Additional assassins dismounted from the truck  and fired their assault rifles into the stands.

The soldiers were carrying out a fatwa approved by Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was later convicted in the United States for his role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  The Egyptian leader was targeted for agreeing to a peace agreement with Israel.

Anwar Sadat won the 1978 Nobel Peace, along with Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin, for negotiating peace agreements between the two nations at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David just outside of Washington.  The Camp David Accords were signed on September 17, 1978 and witnessed by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Born on Christmas Day 1918, in Mit Ab al-Kawm, Egypt, Anwar el-Sadat served in the military before participating in the 1952 military coup that led to the overthrow and exile of King Farouk. He held the office vice president of Egypt before becoming the country's president in 1970.

Sadat

William Keith Kellogg, founder of the W.K. Kellogg Company, the maker of breakfast cereal, died on October 6, 1951.  Kellogg died of heart failure in Battle Creek, Michigan, the place of his birth. He was 91 at the time of his passing.  During the last years of his life, his eyesight failed due to glaucoma.

The son of early Seventh-Day Adventists, young Will quit school at the age of 14 and found employment as a stock boy.  He became a travelling broom salesman in his late teens,  As a young man, he went to work at the Battle Creek Sanitarium (known as the San), where his older brother, John Harvey Kellogg, was physician-in-chief.  Will acted as bookkeeper and manager of the hospital and was in charge of non-medical tasks.

The San was founded on Seventh-Day Adventist principles, one of which is vegetarianism.  For many years, Will assisted his brother in research to improve the vegetarian diet for the patients. One of their goals was to find a digestible substitute for bread.  They accidentally discovered a method of processing cooked grain into flakes when Will, who was experimenting in the San's kitchen, let stand a batch of boiled wheat.  When he returned, the wheat had transformed into flakes.  It was a "eureka" moment.  Wheat flakes and corn flakes were then introduced at the health spa where they proved very popular.

The Kellogg brothers marketed their corn flakes but had a bitter falling out when Will  expressed a desire to add sugar to the flakes to improve their taste.  John Harvey adamantly disagreed because he felt that the sugar was unhealthy.  As a result, the brothers parted ways and Will left the sanitarium at the age of 46.  He entered the cereal business on his own in 1906 when he founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. The company initially produced only toasted cornflakes but eventually branched out into other products.

Kellogg,, a philanthropist, established the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1930 with millions of dollars of his own money.  The foundation donates large amounts to social causes, particularly child welfare,

ROSES AND THORNS

ROSE:  To Bob Newhart, one of my favourite television comedians, for winning his first Emmy Award at the age of 84.  After seven nominations spanning 51 years, Bob finally took home the prize in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Congratulations, Mr. Newhart!

THORNS

THORN: To University of Toronto professor David Gilmour for his remarks during an interview with Hazlitt, an online magazine by Random House Canada. Gilmour told Hazlitt that "I’m not interested in teaching books by women. Virginia Woolf is the only writer that interests me as a woman writer, so I do teach one of her short stories. But once again, when I was given this job I said I would only teach the people that I truly, truly love. Unfortunately, none of those happen to be Chinese, or women."  He also declared that he hasn't found any Canadian literature worth teaching.

Gilmour later apologized for his comments, saying he was joking and that his remarks were taken out of context.  He also claimed that he did not give the interviewer, Emily M. Keele, his full attention because he was talking to a colleague in his office at the same time.  Hazlett, however, has indicated that it stands by Keele's work.

Gilmour's excuses don't cut it.  If he were joking when he made his ridiculous comments, why did he wait until he was under fire to explain and apologize. Furthermore, why would he allow himself to be interviewed while speaking to a colleague at the same time?  The man should know better. He is a Governor General's Awarding-winning author (He won in 2005 prize for English language fiction for his novel A Perfect Night to Go to China).  It is unfortunate that Professor Gilmour has embarrassed both U of T and himself.

THORN: To Texas Senator Ted Cruz and his fellow Tea Party Republicans for leading the disastrous charge to shut down government services in the United States over the debt ceiling. Cruz is on a crusade to prevent Congress from funding the Affordable Health Care Act, which Republicans have dubbed "Obamacare."  Perhaps he and other hard line Tea Partiers are afraid that President Obama's health care initiative will prove to be popular with Americans and that they will not want to give it up.

Cruz, 42, is the son of a Cuban oilman and an American mother, was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Perhaps he should look to the country of his birth.  He should ask Canadians if they would be willing to give up their provincial health cards, especially those who can't afford to pay for hefty medical bills.  Rest assured that not very many would want to expose themselves to financial ruin if they or or a family member should suffer from a debilitating illness or injury.

Ted Cruz is apparently eyeing a 2016 bid for the presidency.  If he should ever win, our neighbour to the south will find itself in dire straights.

Ted Cruz

RIDDLE ME THIS

What did the bull say to his child as the boy left for school?

ANSWER:

Bye, son.

HOCKEY

Patrick Roy is sure stirring things up as the new coach of the Colorado Avalanche.  Roy had a tremendous career as a goalie for the Montreal Canadiens and the Avalanche.  If he's going to a successful NHL coach, however, he's going to have to control that legendary temper of  his.  Otherwise, he's going to be facing many fines and suspensions in the future.  The hall of famer doesn't have to give up his passionate nature. He just has to modify his behaviour somewhat.


BASEBALL

I only wish the Toronto Blue Jays were in post-season play this year.  It was however, another lost year for my favourite baseball team.  I don't know how the marketing strategists will sell this team for the 2014 season.  Fans feel disappointed and let down.  The Jays have not been in postseason  play since 1993 - 20 long years.

To his credit, GM Alex Anthopoulos tried wheeling and dealing to produce a winning team.  He tossed the dice and threw snake eyes.  I don't question A.A.'s effort.  I question his judgement.  He should be allowed one more season to get it right.  As for his trades last winter, I wish he had stopped after the Miami deal.  The Jays would certainly be a better team with Travis D'Arnaud as their catcher than the newly betrothed J.P. Arencibia.  I wish J.P. the best with his coming marriage to country singer Kimberly Perry but I hope he winds up with another team.  A fresh start closer to his Tennessee home would probably invigorate his career and allow the Blue Jays to find a replacement.

* What's with the long beards on so many baseball players, especially those on the Boston Red Sox?  I guess it's a gimmick or a way to draw attention to themselves.  I can't believe that they genuinely think the Smith Brothers - ZZ Top look is attractive.

* Who do I want to win the World Series this year?  I'm cheering for the Detroit Tigers.  They haven't won the Fall Classic since 1984 under then-manager Sparky Anderson.

*  It's no wonder that Major League Baseball is falling behind in popularity to NFL and college football in the United States.  In order to accommodate television, the postseason games finish so late that children can not stay late enough to watch the later innings of the games.  If there are extra innings, some of the most exciting moments are lost to youngsters.  Baseball may be making a great deal of revenue from television advertising but it is forfeiting the next generation of fans.


- Joanne

Have the Leafs become goons?

Hockey goon Colton Orr

In his 211th professional fight, Montreal's George Parros went down for the count on Tuesday night, missing Maple Leafs enforcer Colton Orr with a wild haymaker and awkwardly hurling himself face-first into the ice as the bloodthirsty Bell Centre crowd, so thrilled with its new goon, roared.

- Damien Cox
Toronto Star, Wednesday, October 2, 2013

It's early October and the NHL season has just begun.  The Maple Leafs have a talented team but they are behaving boorishly. On Sunday, September 22, Phil Kessel, who has just signed an eight-year contract extension with the club worth $64 million dollars, slashed away at Buffalo Sabres goon John Scott during a preseason game at the Air Canada Centre. On Tuesday October 1st (the same day he signed his lucrative contract extension), Kessel received a slap on the wrist from the NHL for his actions. He was suspended for only three preseason games but not a single regular season one.  As Greg Wyshynski put it in his online Puck Daddy post, "The National Hockey League on Tuesday endorsed the use of a swinging stick for self-defence, ad then for further retribution against an assailant."

During that fight-riddled game against Buffalo, Leafs forward David Clarkson jumped the boards to take part in a brawl.  The 29-year-old was suspended for 10 regular season games.  After receiving his suspension, Clarkson stated, "I sometimes make decisions with my heart, not my head.  I saw a teammate that I felt was in trouble, and my reaction was to help."

David Clarkson should think more with his head in the future, at least while he's on the ice.  Not only that, but if the brawl hadn't broken out in the first place, no player would have found it necessary to defend a teammate.  Brawls would soon cease if the NHL dealt more harshly with those who initiates them.  Why not send a fighter to the dressing room immediately and suspend him for multiple games?  Send a message that thuggery will not be tolerated.

To its credit, though, the NHL did fine Buffalo Sabres coach Ron Rolstan an undisclosed amount of money for being partially responsible for the melee (he sent out goon John Scott).  There should be more fines against coaches for contributing for brawls and they should be fined considerable amounts of money.  In the meantime, Buffalo forward Corey Tropp is out of the Sabres lineup indefinitely while being evaluated for a possible concussion.  Tropp suffered a broken jaw and his head was bloodied during a fight with Toronto forward Jamie Devane.  It was that altercation that sparked the ensuing melee.

David Clarkson was contrite about not being available to his team for ten regular season games, but not for fighting.  He was actually proud of himself for adhering to "the code."  Then there was Tuesday night's ruckus between George Parros and Colton Orr. If the Leafs keep this up, they will be labelled The Bay Street Bullies.  Is this what the National Hockey League has come to in 2013?  Are hockey fans so depraved and bloodthirsty that they are clamouring to see someone beaten to a pulp or die?  Is such raw violence all that they crave?  Will the league put an end to it?  Alas, Gary Betmann's NHL refuses to do so.  It is more interested in making money and attracting U.S. fans by promoting the game as a brutal sport.

As Damien Cox pointed out yesterday in his excellent Star column, "The more buckets of blood, the more the NHL promotes this stuff, catering to the lowest common denominator."  The media aren't any better. Many sports commentators insist that it's part of the game and that it's necessary and unavoidable. Television sports highlights are filled with hockey fighter.  They are constantly rerun while announcers gleefully provide a blow by blow description of the event.

As for the players, they steadfastly adhere to and defend their so-called precious "code."  Where is the NHL player with enough courage to stand up and say that fighting doesn't have to be part of the game?  Where is the player or coach with the gumption to admit that the NHL could put a stop to it but doesn't want to do so?  Instead, player after player delivers the same old party line.  It's always been a part of the game, they say ad nauseum.  We have to stick up for our team mates, they say.

Here are the words of George Parros' teammate, Montreal defenceman Josh Gorges.

(Parros) put himself on the line, he sacrificed himself.  If you asked George tomorrow, he'd say just because he got hurt you don't take fighting out of hockey.

You can bet that if Parros had died, Gorges would have repeated that same mantra at the funeral - only he would have said, "If George were still with us, he'd say just because he died you don't take fighting out of hockey."

As for Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, here's what he had to say about the Corr-Parros donnybrook.

He (Parros) defended his teammates.  It's hard for the players to emotionally get back to the same level (afterwards).  It's an event nobody feels very good about.

Well, coach, if you don't feel very good about it, why do you encourage it?  That's right - encourage.  You don't just condone this type of behaviour, you encourage it.  You preach this brand of so-called hockey to the rooftops.  If a player doesn't comply, he ends up in your doghouse.  He is branded a coward and a chicken by Don Cherry and his ilk.

Can't something be done?  What about the NHL Players' Association?  Aren't they concerned about players getting serious concussions or becoming maimed or even dying?  Sadly, it seems the NHLPA is more interested in protecting the jobs of goons.  By the way, I prefer the word "goon" to "enforcers" or "tough guys."  Let's call a spade a spade!

- Joanne

Shakespeare in the Age of Twitter

Language, we are told, is fluid, and constantly evolving - and not always for the better.  To illustrate my point, I have taken Shakespeare's famous "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy from Hamlet and modernized it using current speech patterns.  I have also reduced the speech to 140 characters (including spaces), the limit allowed on Twitter.

So, with apologies to The Bard himself and to Sir Laurence Olivier (who must be rolling over in their graves), Number 16 presents the Twitter version of Hamlet's existential ruminations - and yes, I have carefully checked the number of characters.  The total is exactly 140.

2B or not 2B: Totally the? Nobler to suffer or die & by dying to, like, sleep 4ever. Wish to end it but fear unknown. No1 returns from dead.

You see, it can be done.  By the way, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark was written about 1599 to 1601 and published in quarto edition in 1603.

- Joanne

Opposing the Quebec Charter of Values is NOT Quebec-bashing!

Quebec Preimier Pauline Marois

Nationalism is an infantile disease.  It is the measles of mankind.

- Albert Einstein

Not surprisingly, the Parti Quebecois government  is using its proposed Charter of Values to drive a wedge between French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians.  Many anglophone Canadians, such as myself, oppose this proposed charter not because we are anti-Quebec but because of some very sound reasons. Unfortunately, ultra-nationalist Quebeccers and the PQ are doing everything in their power to use this issue to whip up unrest and resentment between anglophones and francophones.  It's a very clever ploy and they are taking full advantage of it.

To criticize a policy of the Quebec government is not to demean or defame the people of Quebec. Neither is it interfering in the affairs of Quebec.  As an Ontarian, I would certainly not feel offended if Quebeckers criticized a policy of the Ontario government.

So what is so wrong about the charter?  First and foremost, the Quebec Charter of Values goes against the spirit of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  All Canadians have a right to freedom of religion in this country.  That freedom is severely restricted if religious symbols and head coverings can not be worn while working in the public sector.

In his column in the August 31, 2013 issue of Maclean's magazine, Colby Cosh bemoans the lack of English language writers who have defended Pauline Marois's policy.  Cosh then sets about defending the policy himself.  He proclaims that it is "just plain goofy to argue that a state cannot devise rules for the dress, the conduct, or the speech of its workers, and particularly of those workers who have responsibilities for education or advice, as teachers, daycare workers and nurses do."

Cosh does agree with me in one respect.  He admits that the true purpose of putting forth the proposal of a Charter of Values is "to invite the kind of outrage that English Canadian opinion leaders and federalist sages in Quebec have hastened to display."  In this case, however, the outrage is warranted.  (By the way, I strongly object to the term "English Canadian" in reference to all anglophone Canadians.  The term should only be used to describe those of English descent. All others are English-speaking Canadians).

Former Quebec premier Bernard Landry recently predicted that one day Canada will "deeply regret" embracing its policy of multiculturalism and proclaimed that three is no room for it in Quebec.  He also castigated the English language press for its coverage of the Parti Quebecois' minorities charter.  “Quebec is multiethnic, but not multicultural,” Landry proclaimed in an interview on Global TV's The West Block with Tom Clark.

Bernard Landry

                                   http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en

Well, given the Parti Quebecois' record, that's not very reassuring.  Remember the night when former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau blamed the pro-sovereignty camp's narrow loss in the October 1995 referendum on "money and the ethnic vote."  The PQ was unmasked when a bitter Parizeau stepped onto the stage at the Montreal Convention Centre and spoke those words.  Its narrow-mindedness and xenophobia was clearly revealed.  Parizeau resigned as premier the next day and his chief aide, Jean-Francois Lisée, later admitted to the CBC that he realized they were in trouble when he heard Parizeau use the French word "nous" ("we" or "us") to refer to native francophones only.

As for Bernard Landry, an August 28, 2013  letter to the editor of the Montreal Gazette, did a very good job of attacking his argument against multiculturalism.  In his letter, Gerald Silverman of Côte-St-Luc, Quecbec, made the following comments.

If Mr. Bernard Landry wants to delude his fellow Quebecers who have never visited New York City or Chicago, about his vision of their values, he should really get his facts straight.
NYC has officers wearing kippahs and others who wear Sikh head coverings. Their municipal offices are full of U.S. citizens of all persuasions, including South Asian women whose makeup includes traditional markings on their foreheads.

Mr. Landry wants us to behave in the manner of several countries of the world who display a constant disrespect for diversity and traditions other than their own. Personally, I would rather align our behaviour with countries like the U.S., Britain, Israel, Germany and many others who are confident enough in their heritage and customs that they allow their citizens and even their employees in the public sector to respectfully keep to their heritage and religious obligations while performing their duties.

One of the most outspoken critics of the proposed Quebec charter has been Calgary's popular mayor, Naheed Nenshi.  Nenshi stated, "What we’re looking at under this charter of secularism is intolerance. Plain and simple. We’re not talking about government neutrality. We’re actually physically saying to some children that because of the faith that you and your family follow, there are some jobs that you’re not eligible for.”

Naheed Nenshi

Nenshi is exactly right.  The proposed Charter of Quebec Values, would create thousands of second class citizens in the province of Quebec.  Many religious groups would feel excluded from jobs in the public sector.  Immigrants choosing to live in Quebec would feel unwelcome and undervalued.  Enforcing this charter is going to be complicated.  How is it going to be policed and how much is it going to cost to police it?

For example, the charter seeks to ban public service employees from wearing "ostentatious" crosses or crucifixes.  Who is going to decide whether a cross is "ostentatious?"  Will someone measure it to see if exceeds a specific size?  Will it be weighed on a scale to determine how heavy it is?

The introduction of the Quebec Charter of Values would ensure that an Orthodox Jew, a Muslim woman wearing a hijab or a male Sikh in a turban would not be able to be able to work in the private sector or sit in the Quebec National Assembly.  It's a policy of exclusion, pure and simple.

The issue is not about Quebec-bashing.  It's about injustice.  As Nenshi put it, "“I do think we have to use whatever podiums we’ve been given, whatever voice we have, to speak out against injustice."  The young, dynamic municipal leader did not mince words.  He described the PQ's charter as "social suicide."

Bernard Landry claims that Quebec welcomes immigrants but wants them to integrate.  I too believe that immigrants should integrate but I also believe that they should not be required to hide their heritage and their religious faith.  The government of Quebec is really advocating a policy of assimilation, not integration. It's a policy that goes against Canada's reputation as an enlightened country.  This is a nation that opens its doors to law-abiding people of all background and all religions.  It is not a nation that closes doors.  This is a nation that has benefited immensely from the contribution of people of all faiths.

For the record, I love Quebec and the people of the province.  I strongly oppose a particular policy of the government of Quebec, a policy based on the politics of fear.  Quebecers deserve better than to be  manipulated for political purposes.  All Canadians deserve better than the politics of division.

- Joanne