Monthly Archives: April 2020

are finding out the truth of Jean-Paul Sartre’s famous quote that “Hell is other people”. (No Exit)

I first encountered Phil Ochs via Terry B., a grade 12 Winnipeg guitarist-friend in early 1967, who shared some of the biting satire of his folk songs (“Draft Dodger Rage”, “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, “Love Me, I’m a Liberal”) about … Continue reading →

A “secretst man”, indeed, with his hidden guilt and shame of betraying his Arab friends and allies as he tried to facilitate a free independent Arab state after WWII. How he became world-famous and yet shunned the limelight and beat … Continue reading →

Planning what to have with whatever limited groceries, especially with declining availability and purchase of fruits and vegetables. It’s tough and the empty shelves of sugar, salt, and chocolate products also tell a future tale of increased obesity from a … Continue reading →

will be living in poverty thanks to coronavirus. And the American jobless has reached the level of the Great (1939) Depression. With some authorities predicting a summer or fall restart, we can expect many businesses to not reopen even if … Continue reading →

CKUA. They have a wide range of music genres throughout the day and minimal advertising.

“Too many lives to lead and not enough time” –Randy Bachman, The Guess Who, “Undun” Although I had written some poetry and song lyrics in my teens and twenties, I did not write my first published serious poem until Connections … Continue reading →

(About as close to a mentor as I ever got, Glenn started my writing/publishing career. I had the honour to publish his “Winter Weather Forecast” in Inside Poetry and to do the eulogy at his funeral many years later.) In … Continue reading →

about freedom, making up our own fun, play, responsibility (who will feed, walk, let out the dog?), nonverbal communication, loyalty, friendship, love, appreciation, illness, and death.

‘There’s nothing half so real in life as the things you’ve done,” she whispered, ‘inexorably, unalterably done.’–Margaret Ayer Barnes Hard to believe I wrote and edited 28 student textbooks and 22 teacher’s guides in a span of 38 years of … Continue reading →