I’m a writer in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. I’m taller than I look.
Friday, June 5, 2026
“I was a voracious reader, but you would be mistaken if you took that as evidence of my quality.”— Mordecai Richler The phrase “voracious reader” can be a loaded one, often without meaning to be…. Read More
Thursday, June 4, 2026
“I guess I don’t subscribe to the twee school. I remember trying to lose our copy of Thomas the Tank Engine before I had to read it again. Life is a more dimensional and interesting… Read More
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
What kind of person was David Feder? I learned a story this morning, when I was watching the recording of his funeral, which was held Tuesday in St. John’s. When he was recovering from one… Read More
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
“Where we have strong emotions, we’re liable to fool ourselves.”— Carl Sagan Carl Sagan uttered these words in the groundbreaking TV series Cosmos, which aired on PBS in the fall of 1980. Sagan’s documentaries, and… Read More
Saturday, May 30, 2026
It might seem unusual, but I’ve been leaning into the main rule of improvisational comedy as a way of helping my mom, especially in moments when her Alzheimer’s disease is posing a challenge. A few… Read More
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Language can get in the way when you travel to another country, and that apparently can involve some Americans who would prefer to speak English their own way, thank you very much. We were at… Read More
Sunday, May 3, 2026
“I’m not somebody who ever has regrets — I’m a great believer in doing things with the best of intentions, and then you learn rather than regret. There are lots of things I’ve learned by… Read More
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
We set out for Spain on a Monday and got there on a Tuesday; an overnight flight from Montreal will do that. It was early in the breakfast hour in Barcelona when we arrived, and… Read More
Sunday, May 24, 2026
“I hate it when actors use the word ‘journey.’ That’s not a f–king journey, winning a Spirit Award. Escaping from Ukraine is.” — John Waters I’ve been a fan of John Waters and his trashy-chic… Read More
Friday, May 22, 2026
“The other creatures with which we share this world have their rights too, but not speaking our language, they have no voice, no vote; it is our moral duty to take care of them.”— Roger… Read More
Sunday, May 17, 2026
“As we all understand, you can take a man’s show, you can’t take a man’s voice.” — David Letterman I expect to see a lot of Stephen Colbert in the headlines this week, as the… Read More
Monday, May 4, 2026
“The press can be surprisingly easy to co-opt. But remember the Woodward-Darman law, which dictates that a friendship between reporter and source lasts only until it is profitable for one to betray the other.”— Maureen… Read More
Thursday, May 21, 2026
“Never apologize, never explain — didn’t we always say that? Well, I haven’t and I don’t.”— Marianne Faithfull Those words appear in the first of Marianne Faithfull’s memoirs, Faithfull: An Autobiography, which was published in… Read More
Friday, May 1, 2026
“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom, in the pursuit of truth as in the endeavor after a worthy… Read More
Thursday, April 23, 2026
“I had friends, for sure. Lots of them. But I still really enjoyed, mostly, being alone and going home and getting under the dining room table after school. And there was this long cloth over… Read More
Monday, April 20, 2026
“I think I learned years ago that you don’t get songs that have that long stride and that pivot-hinge ability if it’s too much diary entry.”— Leslie Feist Feist made this observation about her songwriting… Read More
Thursday, January 15, 2026
I’ve been making a full-time living as a writer since 1985, when I moved to Ottawa to work as a reporter. I was in my early 20s, and I was hooked. I continued to work… Read More