HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-10-24, Page 29UBAR 'N' SPICE
At Last, Things. are Looking Up
,, Things at last seem to be
too ing up for ' Canadian
write s, after generations of
neglect by their own coun-
trymen.
With a few notable excep-
tions, it used to be that to be a
writer in Canada ' was almost
on a par with being an Un-
touchable in India. If you Were
not openly scorned, you were
quietly ignored, which was
worse.
The big, publishers, most of
them British or American, with
an affiliate in Canada, shied
away from Canadian Writers as
though they had the plague, at
the same time fostering in-
significant American and
British writers..,
One of the exceptions was
Stephen Leacock, who made a
lot of money and became a
well-known character in this
country, after his first book had
been accepted by a British
publisher. .
Typically, Leacock was
ignored, if not despised, by the
people of Orillia, Ont., when he
was alive. He had a summer
home there. Many Orillians
detested him because he poked
wicked fun at some of their
leading citizens in his Mariposa
tales.
Not so today. Some sharp
people finally realized that
Leacock was commercially
viable •as a tourist attraction.
Nowadays you'd think
Leacock had walked downfrom
a mountain with stone tablets,
into Orillia. It is thein -thing to
belong to the 'Leacock Society.
There'is a Leacock Museum,
with a full-time curator. There
is • a Leacock annual award for
humour, a Leacock medal, a
Leacock weekend culminating
in'��a-huge dinner at which the
saint is, .paidproper homage.. -
I'll bet the old guy is doubled
up in his grave, laughing.
It was all so Canadian, in its
approach to writing, that it
would befunny, if it weren't a
little sad. Canadians are
builders. They'll spend billions
on railroads and transconti'nen--
•tat highways and canals and
` dams. But when it comes to
culture, the approach is always
- a two-bit one.
A_few dedicated souls formed
the Leacock Society. They had
no money. But every year,
they'd persuade a- few people to
act, as judges, and, these idiots
would pick outthe funniest
book published in Canada that
year. I know: I was one of those
Phone
524-8132
DAY
OR
NIGHT
Agent for 24:hr.
FILM DEVELOPING
idiots for about four years,,
which {.have me some insight
into Canadian humour. Most of
the books submitted were about
as funny as a broken leg.
Let's say you are Eric Nicol
)f Vancouver (a very 'funny
,writer, by the way). This would
be about " 15 years ago. You are
informed by wire that you have
won the Ledcock Award for
Humour and are asked to at-
tend the Leacock Dinner
receive the Leacock Medal
(worth about 60 cents in a
pawnshop), and make a witty
speech which will take you
hours to write. The dinner is
absolutely free, but you pay
your own way from and back to
Vancouver.
Today of course, it's dif-
ferent. The dinner price has
gone up from $2.50 to $7.50
and the drinks from 45 cents to
whatever. I believe that at long
last, some brewer has actually
put up $1,000 to .go, with the
Medal. Big deal.
So much for that. I digress.
During the long, painful aridity
of the '20s, 30s and '40s, the
names of Canadian writers
were not exactly household
words. - --- --- -..
A few writers toiled on in the
Canadian `desert. Morley
Callaghan, a fine writer with
an international reputation,
plugged away. When he
produced a new novel, it would
be avidly snatched up by as
many .as. six or seven_ hundred
of his fellow countrymen. To
make. a living, he had to do
hack work in journalish, radio,.
and later -TV.
Ironically, _ Callaghan, at
about the age of 70, was, given
two whopping great cash prizes
by a brewer and a bank for his
contribution to Canadian
literature. He was also awar-
ded •'a Canada Medal or
something like that, which he
refused, in. disgust., And good
for him.
Then, after the war came, not
a spate, but at least a surge, of
new writers, bold writers: Hugh
Garner, Mordechai Richter,
Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat.
They knew they were good, and
they demanded recognition.
And money. And they got it;
though it was like prying
diamonds out of a rock.
After them came another
rash of writers: Alden Nowlan,
Al Purdy. Robert Kroetch,
Margaret Atwood. A few
courageous „ independent
publishers gave them a voice.
They sell. Now the younger
ones are corning on, pell-mell.
After years in a cultural desert,
oases are 'springing up
everywhere. - -
This entire .diatribe was
triggered by an announcement
sent out to English department
heads from an outfit called
y, b
DON'T.
.BURN
CANADA'S
FORESTS
Kodachrome
FILM PROCESSING
'Kodak
FOR ALL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC NEEDS
CAMPBELL'S
y BIi.L SMILEY
Platform for the Arts. It will
send "poets, novelists, jour-
nalists and playwrights" right
into our classrooms to read and
discuss their works with the
students. Good show. At only
$30 each. Yet they can pay
these people $75 a day and ex-
penses, owing to government
grants.
,One paragraph in the letter
fascinates me. "Please indicate
whether you would like a poet,
prose writer, or playwright to
visit your school. Choose one,
two or all three separate
tours."
Okay, chaps. Send us a poet,
and I. don't want Ethel Kartof-
felt°i of Hayfdi-k',Centre.-Send a
handsome guy with a smashing
beard. And one blonde
playwright with a large bosom.
That'll keep the `students of
both sexes happy. As for a jour-
nalist, send along any old one.
I'll handle him or her. In this
field, you can scarcely
distinguish between the sexes,
anyway.
Say. _At a second look, that
whole tour looks pretty good, at
$75 per diem and expenses. I'm
a journalist,, of • sorts, if .you
want to stretch a point or three.
Maybe I'll quit teaching and
join the tour.
Jv.
0
GODERICH SIGNAieSTAR, THURSDAY, `OCTOBER 24, 1917.1- A(
UCW mosey raising schemes
questioned by rally speaker
Mrs. • Emily Marquis of others into the under�tancling
Toronto, a member of Steward- of sharing our gifts with
ship Services of the United -others," she said.
Church, told 125• delegates to ' "Why do v,e have :uppers?
the 13th* East. Huron Regional Qften because the Board of
Rally of Huron -Perth Stewards. come to us and say
presbyterial ,held, in Egmond- th'ey need money for 'the
ville Tuesday that she -has 'building. fund or surnething else e
grave,, misgivings about the in the Church," she stated.
money raisingprogram*. of the MrsMarquis suggested th
United ChurWomen.. ' -, UC:W` would raise the vision of
She said sheis annoyed When the entire church membership
men, and women as well, make if it said in revp/,nse, "Let's sit
dis paraging remarks about down together 'and assess the
bazaars and suppers. value of the ('hurrh rn this
"The UCW is the rummage community ... Row effective are
sale,. ham and scallop suppers, we in this place? What morals
flower arrangements. Very lit- and standards are higher in
tle is said about the fact it this community because of our
seems to be (and to the shame Church here?"
of the Church0t•he one and only ' She asked what iswrong
group that does any kind of' with the approach when it is
organized depth study ... Bible
study, mission ' understanding;
the caringaharing study," Mrs.
Marquis said. .
"Because we are a group who
necesr»ary to cry so desperately
for' funds to carry on or is it
because there is not enough
Study and understanding of the
importance of projecting the
cares, who studied, who really gospel.
want to know what the mission Mrs. Marquis wondered if
. of the church is all about, our church members are too willing
sense of stewardship, the'' for- to approach membership "with
ces us "in many vulnerable apathy rather than the glowing
positions. It forces us, for one heart. "Do we latch on 'to ex -
thing, 'to become missit►naries cuses to stay,iway from church
right where we are ... defining' ....froze assuming the privilege,
the mission and helping to lead • opportunity, responsibility • of
membership?"
She urged the delegates to
"Never feel you must apologize
for being a member of the
Christian 'church or of • any,
o'r'ganization in' iL But to feel
this sense of pride demands.
something from each of us ...
stewardship."
She said this was living as a
Christian anct giving what a
person has - "It may be the
treasure 'of our time - the
treasure of our ability and
mind and heart, the treasure of
material possessions, even as
small a thing as Our money."
Mrs. Leonard Strong
pt'a jded over the rally ;which
had the theme "With Glowing
Hearts.,"
More than '220 blind
Canadians talk to hams across
the world through 'their
arnateur radio stations. Special
classes'are held each year by
The Canadian National 'In-
stitute for the Blind in co-
operation with more than 100,
amateur, radio clubs in Canada.
Sighted hams act as instructors
and sponsors who assemble,
modify and , install equipment
in the homes of blind hams who
pass' their government tests.
5B
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1.9 •
DAYS ARE GETTING SHORTER
,LEAVES ARE FALLING .
FALL IS HERE AND WE HA VEROUNDED UP SOME BARGAINS
FOR THE SEASON ft
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Create a soft, inviting atmos-
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AUXILIARY NIGHT LATCH
The Burglar Baffler — with 5
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ELECTROHOME HUMIDIFIER
An -excellent bargain at this -price. Deaigned
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has a-4 gallon capa-
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unit uses the Hurnidi-
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3
88
O'CEDAR JUMBO
SPONGE MOP
Extra large sponge
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makes short work
Of, •spills and floor
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Zop2y-ter
INTE•RIVIATIC LAMP LYTER
This 24-hour automatic plug-in
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Police and insur-
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SPRING -BRACED
LAWN BRUME RAKE
Efficient sweeping, action will rid
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addition
oodaddi'tion to your
garden took collet:
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2
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New, colorful and strong. .
Heavy gauge steel•construc-
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Your dealers will endeavour to keep a quantity of
each advertised item in stock to meet all reasonable
cust:oiner demands, In the event that the supply o•f
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.will require five days to obtain the items, at no extra
charge, from their warehouse. If any items are un-
available, your dealer, reserves the right to substitute
mems of equal or ,better quality `61 the same price.,
•
master charge
this fall.
689
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