Category Archives: writer

Virginia and Roger

I have lost friends, some by death… others through sheer inability to cross the street. In this madly slap-dash way we’re living, with twisted wires limply cascading from our ears and the steady thrum of recorded voice pressing against our … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on December 17, 2012 by | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

To Min love Lucy

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

Postcard to Miss M. Judd, 2 Clifton Road, Folkstone. August 5, 1914:  Dear Min. I am so glad you are having a nice time. Isn’t the war dreadful? My brother and his chum have volunteered for the front, starting this … Continue reading →

Posted in death, memorial, writer | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A more hopeful tomorrow

Posted on March 31, 2012 by

PART FIVE: CONCLUSION OF MONUMENTAL WOMEN Finally, one day, I received a welcome response to my inquiries: a nice, tight break down of names, sites, plaques, and reasons for designation. According to this list, there are approximately 150 historical markers … Continue reading →

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“I think of Susanna Moodie’s grave”

Posted on March 26, 2012 by

PART FOUR: MONUMENTAL WOMEN In a press release about The Famous Five put out by the National Council of Women of Canada, there is a statement about how little women’s history is taught in our schools and that The Famous … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, memorial, obituaries, poetry, writer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Monumental Women

Posted on March 8, 2012 by

To celebrate International Women’s Day, I’m unearthing a story I wrote five years ago and stretching it to fill a few blog posts. Because I want to stretch the celebration of the day. I published this  essay in Herizons, a … Continue reading →

Posted in death, obituaries, writer | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Poetry dust up.

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

At what age did I abandon poetry? I know why but not sure when. Why was to earn a living and that meant giving up the treasured moments I once enjoyed while inside verse, either my own little words or … Continue reading →

Posted in obituaries, poetry, writer | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Her Pen Like a Broom

Posted on February 17, 2012 by

This posting comes direct to you from Toronto’s Only Cafe, venue of the monthly Draft reading series. Last weekend I was invited to read excerpts from my unpublished manuscript about my life as a cleaning lady cum obituary writer. The … Continue reading →

Posted in obituaries, writer | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Beyond the shutters

Posted on January 4, 2012 by

“Everything we say about death, is actually about life,” Kyoki Mori writes in an essay about her mother’s suicide, included in the new anthology The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death. How does this single line resonate in my life and … Continue reading →

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Tiny kernels of narrative

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

Years ago I  belonged  to a small writing group, and the leader of our group,  a woman called Gwen Reidman, advised us to read obituaries because they carry, like genes packed tight in their separate chromosomes, tiny kernels of narrative. … Continue reading →

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Brave New World

Posted on November 25, 2011 by

That–the title above I mean, that is more than the title of a novel by Aldous Huxley. It’s also the name of my just-purchased (during the sales of “Black Friday”) Kindle baby. Okay, I’ve done it, I’ve sold out books. … Continue reading →

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