Village Squire, 1978-02, Page 36PEOPLE
ou couldn't really call it coming home,
but for Cliff Robb, it's been something of a
homecoming. Mr. Robb is back at his old
stand at CKNX radio and television after
more than a dozen years in the big time of
CBC in Toronto as a producer of farm
programing. But the big time political
infighting and some big time medical
problems made him long for the quieter life
again and so the Kingston -native ended up
.back in Wingham where he left in 1966 to
move to the C.B.C. And, he says, he's very
happy to be back in the friendly, small
town atmosphere.
Meanwhile there's a London native who
appears in no hurry to come home at all.
Kate Nelligan is quickly becoming a
Canadian show business legend even
though she's never here. The 26 -year-old
Londoner has been busy for the past
several years in that other London, the one
in England where as she is the toast of the
theatre world doing the unheard of in
appearing in shows at both the prestigious
theatres in England, The National Theatre
and the Royal Shakespeare Company at
Stratford on Avon. She's become a
television star on C.B.C. Yet she's left
standing orders in rather colourful
language with the Royal Shakespeare
Company that she will not conduct
interviews with any Canadian newspapers.
Among those who have been refused
interviews are Maclean's magazine, The
Toronto Star, The Toronto Globe and Mail
and the London Free Press.
But at the same time Miss Nelligan
deems to be hurt by the lack of interest in
her commenting that "Canadian television
organizations' don't know I exist. They
should start reading their international
newspapers...It's rather discouraging . to
think that in one's own country you're not
appreciated."
The high life hasn't always been the best
life as Ronnie Hawkins, one of the first big
rock stars in Canada has learned several
34,VILLAGE SQUIRE/FEBRUARY 1978.
times over. His recent scheduled appear-
ance in London had to be cancelled due to
what was described by his booking agent
as a near heart attack suffered last fall.
Hawkins was a big hit in Canada with hits
such as "40 Days" in the 1960's and was
responsible for turning the old London city
hall into an entertainer complex. His
riotous lifestyle was a Canadian show
business legend. It was after an all-night
party following a Toronto performance that
he suffered chest pains and was admitted
to hospital where his doctor characterized
his condition as exhaustion.
Stratford's . William Hutt is host of
C.B.C.'s latest attempt to spark new
interest in radio drama. The series began
on Jan. 2 with a radio version of The Many
Faces of Love starring London native
Hume Cronyn and his wife Jessica Tandy,
who starred with Hutt last year at Stratford
Festival. The series is called Festival
Theatre, appropriately enough and is
heard on alternate Monday nights on
C.B.C. FM. Cronyn and Tandy are
presently starring on Broadway with The
Gin Game.
Not many farmers have the honour of
having a whole television show devoted to
their work, but recently Ross, Charles and
George Proctor of the Belgrave area had a
half hour documentary on their Bodwin
Farms Limited operation broadcast on
CBC's Country Canada series. The families
farm some 1500 acres and are into cattle.
swine and poultry. The show was a "tell it
like it is" tale of modern farming.
Few are the people who have the
patience and skill to be an artist but fewer
still are they who would overcome the
handicaps that Alfie Dale of Seaforth
faced. Some 13 years ago Alfie dove off a
swimming raft at Cheslie Lake near Owen
Sound. broke his neck and has been
paralyzed from •the neck down ever since.
He had been married just six weeks earlier
to his v: ife Loreen.
But today. by holding a drawing
instrument in his teeth. Altie has become
an accomplished artist. sketching fishing
boats. antiques. landscapes. trees and his
favourite subject. churches.
His artistic talents have really only
developed since the accident, thanks in a
good part to the encouragement of his wife.
"It takes a lot of practice to develop a
steady stroke." he says. He makes the
notes which his v. ife.packages in groups of
10 and sells to various gifts shops and
organizations that use them for fundrais-
ing. The Alfie Dale success story is being
used by the March of Dimes this year to
illustrate, how handicapped people can be
helped to help themselves.
Enjoy
Good
health
foods
Teas & Coffees
Food Supplements
Herbal Remedies
Flours
Cereals & Seeds
Cooking Oils
Dried Fruit. & Nuts
Peanut Butter
Confectionaries.
RADIANT LIFE CENTRE
RE
57 Albert St. Clinton, Ont.
[519] 482-3128