Sunday is Remembrance Day and our country will fall silent at 11 a.m. in successive time zones to honour those who made the supreme sacrifice in defending our democracy. Of course we include fullest respect for those who returned wounded in mind and/or body. War is hell and we cannot but hold in high esteem those who have shown the courage to fight our country’s battles in armed conflict. True North has been running a series in our Canuck Facts column by Randy Ray that features 11 things you may not know about November 11. You’ll find all of them below.
In a lighter vein but with deepest respect, why can’t the makers of the artificial poppies produce them with a pin that will keep them on the lapels or wherever we choose to display them. I’ve lost three so far. Last Saturday walking in Ottawa’s Dow’s Lake area a couple approached, each with a poppy proudly displayed. I said how do you keep from losing them? They smiled and said, “We don’t. They keep falling off. We just replace them.”
True North is dedicated to the exploration of the world of ideas, Canada’s writers are the ones who secure our history and our present for us and for future generations. When I think of literature I include every form of human expression — and that certainly takes into account movies and television. I recall that delightful sitcom called Barney Miller. It was about a local police station. A popular, gentle television success. Soon after the show closed the lead actor who played Barney Miller was interviewed. When the interviewer said that the show was lucky to get such a compatible group of actors together, “Barney” said, “No it was not us. It was the writers. It was the writers who made the show work so well.” That was the first time I had heard an actor credit anyone but himself.
Today we are lucky to learn something about the lives of two Ottawa writers, Rosaleen Dickson and Richard Kaulbars, who have made considerable creative contribution to Canada in print and on television. Solid information that sheds some light on how a writer’s mind works and about the process of production that lies behind what you read and watch. Of course there’s plenty more information and entertainment in today’s issue of True North.
Meanwhile, please don’t keep True North a secret. If you’re satisfied that True North is fulfilling its mandate tell others. If you're not, please tell us and we’ll do our best to improve.
Take it easy, but take it.
Looking forward to next week.
Carl Dow
Editor and Publisher
True North Perspective
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