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Good times in BC and getting back on the horse

8/22/2014

I'm back from BC, and I had a great time, as always. There was an excellent turnout at the events, and the Q+A sessions were lively. Thanks to Raili Haapalainen at the Vancouver Public Library, Marie Paul at the Burnaby Public Library, Caitlin Jesson at Book Warehouse, Alan Zisman at Spartacus Books, and the New Star Books team for all their work to make these events so successful.

Along with visiting friends and family, I also spent some time working with my mom, Judy Truelove, on her book. Her writing has been published in Northern Light, Room, Branching Out, CV2, The Antigonish Review, PRISM international and Event. She also edited the first four drafts of the Robinson biography, and more or less taught me to write. She's currently working on a biography of E.M. Delafield, the celebrated English author. While Delafield's work is well known and retains its relatability today (it has been suggested that Bridget Jones is simply an updated version of the unnamed heroine of Delafield's Provincial Lady novels), my mom has uncovered a wealth of unpublished material about her personal life and the tumultuous world in which she wrote her most famous novels. It's a great story, and I really enjoyed batting ideas back and forth about how it might be told.

And, a lot of people have been asking what my next book will be. There are a few ideas floating around...stay tuned.

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Thanks, everyone!

12/11/2013

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I knew, of course, that book launches weren’t what I’d seen in the movies. There weren’t really fancy trays of hors d’oeuvres, and authors didn’t really wear berets and ascots. In real life, book launches took place in dingy basements with orange drink served in paper cups.

I’m joking. I’ve been to book launches, and they were lovely, although no one wore berets. I knew
the launch events for Svend Robinson: A Life in Politics would be incredibly special.

But they weren’t just special; they were overwhelming.

In Vancouver, where I was born, a lifetime’s worth of family and friends turned up at the Bill Reid Gallery downtown. There was so much happiness in the room. I got to meet Stephen Lewis, who was in town for the BC NDP Convention. We shook hands, and I thanked him for his advance review of the book. His first words to me boomed out: “Well, it was a bloody good book!” When Lewis took to the podium to speak, he repeated his praise. I’m not sure I can describe how honoured I was; suffice to say, I can never write another book now, because I can’t imagine how to follow up such an endorsement! Rolf Maurer of New Star Books spoke next, and he, too, was incredibly complimentary. When it was my turn to speak, I felt that what I’d planned to say, though heartfelt, was suddenly insufficient following such tributes. As I stepped on stage, I felt like everyone was with me a little in that feeling. But I enjoyed being up there. I genuinely meant all the thanks I had to give, and enjoyed giving them to people. I loved seeing my parents’ faces. I hope they felt that this achievement was theirs, too, because it is. When I thanked my wife, she flashed the ASL sign for “I love you.” Even in that crowd of people, it felt like a private moment between the two of us. Svend spoke next, and he was, as always, charming, funny and rousing. And then, the book-signing marathon began. It was fun sitting beside Svend. I felt like we were teammates in each other’s journeys; he, for cooperating so fully with the book, and I, for tracing his story and sharing it with others. Once and a while, as the line of people waiting to have their books signed continued, we looked at each other and just seemed to wordlessly say, “Wow – look how well this is going!”

And then David Suzuki got to the front of the line and handed me a book to sign. What could I possibly say to an icon I’d admired since I was in elementary school? Truly, one of the strangest things that will ever happen to me, I’m sure. The moment is now a blur. I think I called him David.

I don’t know when I’ll see so many loved ones in the same place again. I’ll treasure the memory
forever.

In Ottawa, we filled D’Arcy McGee’s, the legendary bar a block from Parliament Hill. Again, I was incredibly touched to see so many friends and family there. Michelle Douglas, the lesbian soldier who challenged the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the Canadian military, was also on hand to say a few words. We had a good crowd of MPs, too. When I was a political science
student, I used to go to D’Arcy’s hoping to chat with MPs. I was usually ignored. This time, a few MPs asked to have their pictures taken with me – an unfamiliar response in a very familiar setting. We sold out of books. It was crammed. It was loud. It was a great party.

I didn’t know what to expect in Toronto. I haven't lived there and neither has Svend, and at one point I wasn’t sure we should do a launch in a city in which we weren’t as certain of our market. But I'm glad we did! We had an overflow crowd at the Frontier College headquarters, full of friends and family, and we sold out of books again. I was honoured that Stephen Lewis spoke again. I was happy to renew my connection to Frontier College, the respected literacy institution that also counts Svend as a former employee. The current staff and volunteers not only allowed us to use their beautiful head office, but they went above and beyond to help, spreading the word to their former staff (I got to meet a fellow alumnus who’d been a labourer-teacher in 1953), and provided fair-trade coffee and homemade snacks. I felt so proud of my association with the College, but was also humbled by the ongoing commitment so many former colleagues continue to demonstrate as volunteers.

What was most gratifying was that I truly got the sense that this book mattered, that it was really worth writing. In my remarks in Toronto, I opened up a little more about Svend than I did in Vancouver and Ottawa, and told him how proud I was to consider him a friend. And, while he’d said before how touched he was that I wrote a book about him, I think it really hit me for the first time just how much he appreciated it. I’m glad. He deserves it.

I hope to write another book someday. Whatever I end up writing about, I hope it’s something that matters, too.

There are so many people to thank. Many of their names are in the back of the book, but there are others who, since publication, have worked so hard to make these launches a success. I
am grateful to Stephen Lewis for his support, and I’ll never forget his kind words. I would also like to thank the Bill Reid Gallery, D’Arcy McGee’s, Phil Fernandez and Casey Sabawi of Frontier College for the incredible work they did to prepare and promote the Toronto launch, as well as Vanessa Wong, Mary Choy and all the other Frontier College volunteers and staff, my old friend Pamela King for MCing in Vancouver, my ever-talented sister Dana Truelove for MCing in Ottawa, Books on Beechwood, Glad Day Bookshop and John Taylor from the People’s Bookstore Co-op for selling books, Michelle Douglas for her kind words, Mike and Meagan Hatch for the
promotion tips and for helping to spread the word, Brett and Maria Kenworthy for putting Janine and I up in Ottawa, and their wonderful family for all the support, David Suzuki, Audrey McLaughlin and Libby Davies for reading advance copies of the book, Intuition Photography for the amazing photos, Peter O’Neil, Lynda Philippsen, Judy Rebick, Outlook TV and all the other media who
provided such great coverage, and of course, all the friends and family who came and who helped spread the word to everyone they knew.

And, of course, thank you to Svend Robinson for inspiring this book, and now, for his friendship, Rolf Maurer for making it all come together, and most of all, to Mom, Dad, Dana and Janine. Without them, none of this would have happened. Most of us stand on the shoulders of giants when we do good things. They are my giants.

Shots of all three launches can be downloaded for free here, courtesy of Intuition Photography.

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Interviewed by the Vancouver Sun

9/10/2013

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Yesterday, I was interviewed by the Vancouver Sun’s Peter O’Neil for a piece he’s doing on the Robinson biography. It should appear this Saturday, so keep your eyes open for it.

We met for sushi and a brief chat before heading over to the Postmedia headquarters on O’Connor. It’s an intimidating environment (giant TV screens showing multiple channels, busy people everywhere, and I kept expecting to see Jeff Daniels from The Newsroom burst in and start yelling at everyone), but Mr. O’Neil was a very nice guy who did what he could to put me at ease.

Taking part in an interview from the other end of the microphone has given me a whole new respect for the politicians, spokespeople and others who do this on a daily basis. It’s tough. You have to strike a balance between offering articulate, concise, but memorable soundbites and fully answering their questions, and at the same time ensuring that you get your own message across, too. And you only have a few seconds in which to craft these answers.

You need to trust that the reporter isn’t out to get you, or else you can’t focus on anything but playing defence. Hopefully, in conducting interviews myself, I earned that trust. During the interviews for the Robinson biography, I was more nervous than the interviewees were. Although I asked some pretty tough questions, that slight nervousness probably forced me to adopt a gentler tone. Maybe next time I won’t be as gentle, but if that’s the case, I hope I remember this experience and the trust that needs to exist between an interviewer and interviewee.

So, how did it go? I’m not totally sure. It’s all a bit of a blur. I think it went well. I’ll find out on Saturday!

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3 of the toughest...

8/28/2013

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Some interviews are like university lectures, others are like storytelling, and a few are like conversations with a friend. Then, there are those that are more like chess. Brian Mulroney, Herb Gray and Olivia Chow were all very gracious interviewees, and were certainly willing to provide their points of view. However, they are all master politicians, and if I wanted to get at anything more controversial, I was going to have to dig a bit...

1. Brian Mulroney:
He told me a lot, but usually in generalities. He did share some specifics (a private conversation with Ronald Reagan, for example), but I'm pretty sure anything he shared with me, he'd planned to in advance.

2. Herb Gray:
As Jean Chretien's deputy Prime Minister, Gray was known to opposition MPs as "The Gray Fog" because of how difficult it was to trap him into saying anything controversial. Let's just say I can relate.

3. Olivia Chow:
Of the three, Chow was the only sitting politician, which put her in a very different position. She and Jack Layton were among Robinson's closest friends, and she was quite willing to share stories of their friendship. But when it came to political matters, she had to be a lot more careful.

I'm grateful to all three for taking the time to be interviewed. In each case, I came away with some great stuff that eventually made its way into the book.

There are some surprising revelations in this book, and some involve prime ministers. But they definitely weren't gift-wrapped and handed to me; they had to be gleaned from interviews with others. If I had any dreams of interviewing, say, a former prime minister and having a major, headline-making Frost/Nixon moment...well, it'll have to wait until the next book.

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3 of the best interviews...

8/20/2013

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I truly enjoyed the interview process for the Robinson biography. I got to meet some very interesting people - some whose names I'd heard since childhood. Here are three of the most memorable:

1. Ed Broadbent:
Broadbent is still a legend in the NDP. Until the 2011 election, he was the leader who'd brought the NDP the closest to power. I would have been happy to get a few minutes over the phone with him. But, to my surprise, he suggested that we meet at a pub on Elgin Street. He sat down, set his bike helmet beside him (he biked over - not bad at age 75), and ordered a tea (I had non-alcoholic beer). The conversation that followed was, I think, at a higher level than almost any other interview I conducted. Most people shared Svend stories. Broadbent did, too, but he also explained how he approached party politics, caucus solidarity and the role of an MP from the perspective of a political scientist. What is the role of an MP? To represent constituents? To represent party policy...as determined by the leader and caucus, or by the grassroots? To act according to their own conscience? I only wish Edmund Burke had been there.

2. Bill Graham:
The Chretien-era Minister of Foreign Affairs was another ideal interviewee - very friendly, totally honest and entirely non-partisan. Dissent in his own caucus? He went there. Criticism of his own caucus colleagues? Sure, in some cases. Had Graham been a former backbencher, that might have been easier. But he was a key cabinet minister, and at one time the interim Liberal leader. In politics today, the leader often IS the party - which makes the behind-the-scenes look at the Liberal Party that Graham offered that much more compelling.

3. Patrick Boyer:
Boyer was a Tory MP during the Mulroney years, and a leadership candidate to replace Mulroney after his retirement. He provided some of the most thorough and thoughtful answers to my questions. Not only that, but he was marvellously descriptive and has a wonderful way with words. And, there was the surprise he dropped on me about what happened behind the scenes in a Mulroney caucus meeting...but you'll have to read the book for that!

I am enormously indebted to all of the interviewees, but these three stood out. Next time, I think I'll blog about the ones that were a little more...challenging!

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Good times in BC and getting back on the horse

Thanks, everyone!

Interviewed by the Vancouver Sun

3 of the toughest...

3 of the best interviews...

Graeme TRUELOVE

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