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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-10-11, Page 14.10441•14 2006 • The Huron Expositor News ille author pens his latest book John Melady takes an in-depth look at the Suez Crisis in Pearson's Prize Susan Hundertmark MIMED As a university student in 1956, John Melady watched anxiously as events surrounding the Suez Crisis unfolded, wondering if he and his classmates would be conscripted to go to war. "Anytime Britain was involved, we (Canada) would sign on the dotted line and away we went. But the government of the day kept us out of Suez as (Prime Minister Jean) Chretien kept us out of Iraq," remembers the Egmondville author. • Melady's latest book, Pearson's Prize, revis- its the Suez Crisis on its 50 -year anniver- sary. A decade after the end of the Second World War, Egyptian President Gamal Nassar nationalized the Suez Canal and Britain, France and Israel attacked him. Russia Pineridge Snowmobile Club Snowmobile Driver Training Course Oct. 28, 2006 and Nov. 25, 2006 Thompson's Mill, Hensall 8am - 4pm Must be 12 years of age or older Must pre -register by calling 519-229-6401 after 6pm. Limited space available. supported Egypt and Soviet Premier Krushchev threatened nuclear war if the United States got involved. Lester B. Pearson, then -Canada's Minister of. External Affairs, won the Noble Peace Prize for his efforts proposing a United Nations peace- keeping force (UNEF) to be sent to Egypt. "I wrote the book because it's an event in the history of this country that people should know about," says Melady. And, while the book does not make compar- isons between the Suez Crisis and present day. events, Melady says there are similarities between Britian's_ Prime Minister of the day, Anthony Eden and' U.S. President George W. Bush. The Seaforth Business Improvement Association & The Huron Expositor present the 2006 IIIAUNTED HOUSE Get in the Halloween spirit and dress up your house in its scariest outdoor decorations. You could win one of these spooktacular prizes: Plus, the top scariest homes will be pictured in The Huron Expositor Halloween edition on November 1st! Call Wi 519-5210240 before, October 20 to register your home in our Haunted Howse Contest. Houses will be judged before October 27, 2006 a i;w (gi (o);) 09 goo fi49 "Bush had to have his war in Iraq and Eden had to have his war in Egypt. Bush hated Saddam and Eden's worst enemy was Nassar," he says. Melady says. after seeing the poverty in Egypt firsthand, he understands why Naar would want to end French and British control of the Suez Canal to benefit his own people. "It really was the end. of Britain's time as an empire, . when the bal- ance of power shifted to the U.S. and Russia. We came so close to there being an atomic war in Egypt and that would have been .a cat- astrophe," says Melady. He says Pearson's role as a global peace- keeper through compli- cated political circum- stances is qne of • Canada's glowing moments. "It's something we can look back on with pride,", he says. "Things were so volatile and suddenly they work out a solu- tion - that stuff impressed me at the time." Melady, who met Pearson once during an election campaign in the 1960s, says he's always been impressed by Pearson's unassum- ing, down-to-earth character and ranks him as one of the great Canadian prime ministers. "He took the job seri- ously but he had no ego that was apparent when I talked to him. He was a diplomat first and a politician a distant second," says Melady. "Most Canadians my age have a mental. image of a man in his 60s, a little rotund, a little disheveled who spoke with a lisp. They told him (when he won the Nobel Susan Hundertmakr photo John Melady, of Egmondville, holding his latest book entitled Pearson's Prize. prize) that he saved the world but Pearson never :would have said that," -he .says, remark- ing on Pearson's mod- esty. Melady interviewed Pearson's son and daughter, who are now in their late 70s, for his book and learned about the huge amount of stress Pearson was under during the Suez Crisis. "He lived on an air- plane going back and forth to the U.N. and. he was prone to air sickness," says Melady. From Pearson's chil- dren, he learned that the $40,000 U.S. Pearson won for the Nobel Peace Prize was invested by his wife. And, Melady has a hard time describing how he felt when he viewed the gold medal Pearson won as part of the Peace Prize. "Awe isn't the word but..)there it is, that's what this man was given. It's a round as a coffee mug and a quar- ter of an inch thick," he says. After researching the beginnings of Canada's role as an internation- al peacekeeper, Melady says he has misgivings about Canada's current role in Afghanistan. "Our approach in Afghanistan is certain- ly different. If it's peacekeeping, it's pret- ty aggressive. But, I also don't have any solutions," he says. Melady says reaction to his book on Lester B. Pearson has been positive, with major libraries around the world, including the University of Hong Kong, ordering copies.