“A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because… Read More
My wife, Martha Muzychka, is celebrating her birthday today, and it’s one of those “milestone” birthdays. She’s 65. We got a jump on things on Saturday, when I threw a party for her and an… Read More
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the… Read More
“I think that people in the field were magnificent. And they got the stories, and I put troops at risk to get their stories on every night. But the copy people and the editing people… Read More
Several times a year, I have a calendar item that says “Canadian Tire.” I’m not off to the hardware shop; it’s a wink to a funny story I heard from the woman who keeps my… Read More
“Unpersecuted, unjailed, unharrassed writers are trouble for the ignorant bully, the sly racist, and the predators feeding off the world’s resources.”— Toni Morrison I’ve been making my way this week through the wonderful book Toni… Read More
“The future you have, tomorrow, won’t be the same future you had, yesterday.”— Chuck Palahniuk Everyone’s favourite American nihilist novelist (he wrote Fight Club, natch) popped out this observation into a 2007 book called Rant,… Read More
Earlier today, I placed an order at the venerable Fred’s Records here in St. John’s for the forthcoming album from Meshell Ndegeocello, the American bassist, producer, singer and lifelong boundary-pusher. Synonym doesn’t come out until… Read More
For most of the last stretch of my career, I was a senior producer with CBC News in St. John’s, and for much of that time, I frequently sent out a note to colleagues in… Read More
“You can always count on people to do the right thing once it’s cheaper than doing the wrong thing, eventually.” — Alex Falcone I heard this nugget of wisdom through one of the posts by… Read More
“We were tired of making coffee and not policy.” — Robin Morgan The feminist writer, editor and author Robin Morgan died in New York Saturday, just days after her colleague and fellow activist Gloria Steinem…. Read More
I’ve been taking photographs of this bench — it’s on a cliff just around the corner from Sandy Cove, on Newfoundland’s Eastport Peninsula — for years now. We all have a happy place or three,… Read More
Most of the songs I listen to are conventional — that is, they have lyrics. I might even sing along to them as I putter about the house, or drive anywhere. But I’ve always had… Read More
I will be joining Adam Walsh (on the right in the pic above) on Friday afternoon for the monthly trivia show on CBC Radio’s The Signal. I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to hold… Read More
“Forgiveness. Which is maybe where love and justice finally meet. Peace, at last.” — Tony Kushner The playwright Tony Kushner put these words near the end of his epic Angels in America, in the mouth… Read More