Here, my dear readers, is an early Christmas and Hanukkah present: an amazing and beautiful story.   I’ve written here before about my pen pal Barbara who died during a heart operation when she was

The dark days of November are here – snow and sleet with an occasional glimmer of sun luring me outside to be sure it’s real. And yet despite the cold and dark, on this terrible

Forgive me if I gloat – I’m not used to being so … so right on, so au courant. It was thrilling this morning, reading the New York Times, to discover what was chosen by

I’ve been pondering an issue on the Canadian political landscape that’s wreaking havoc in the Liberal party – why did Michael Ignatieff, writer and intellectual, suddenly decide to muscle into the political arena that had

It snowed the other night.  Toronto was wintery yesterday, and no one was happy about it except the snow removal guys who arrived with their hearty banter and extremely loud scraping machine at 4.15 a.m., to clear

I spent time this morning looking closely at a map of Paris, locating the address where I’ll be living next year.  Hard to believe but true: I have arranged to take the spring 2009 term

I’ve just seen an excellent film – “Happy-go-lucky,” from the director Mike Leigh.  I knew of Leigh many years ago because he started in the theatre, writing plays after intense periods of improvisation with his

The Giller Prize for best Canadian fiction was given out last night.  Like every year, I was at home in front of the TV, Cinderella in rags with cinders in her hair, watching the literati elite

My friend Bruce has just sent the following link to a funny video about the aftermath of the election: Obama supporters having difficulty adjusting to an incomprehensible new world.   http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/243330.php This has been the

I did reprint Obama’s victory speech here, but it was too small to read.  It’s a masterpiece, writers – I urge you to find and read it.  Oh, and Mr. B. Obama, Sir – you