DOUBLE TAKES - TAKE ONE

  

Yesterday (October 20, 2016) Ron and I left home in our trusty Toyota and headed down island to Victoria where Ron was scheduled to tape two interviews for CBC Radio. The planets and the traffic lights seemed aligned as we breezed through Lantzville, Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Chemainus, and Mill Bay, stopping only in Duncan and the outskirts of Victoria for red lights. The weather was perfect and the natural beauty of the island stood out in all its autumn splendour­—dazzling skies, purple thunder heads, sunlight streaming through misty clouds, verdant fields, deep green forests and blue mountains “backdropping” red and golden maples. Granted, I was wearing a pair of polarized sunglasses which do heighten contrasts and deepen colours, but no, I had not put anything special in my morning coffee.

Our passage through the secure entrance to CBC was made simple by Bob McDonald, the host of “Quirks and Quarks,” who swiped a card over the electronic door lock and ushered us in. “Thanks, Bob McDonald,” said Ron, while I did a double take, and thought “So that’s who that is. I thought he looked familiar. But, wow! He looks so much taller, slimmer and more handsome in person than he does on our TV.”

We were promptly met by Gregor Craigie, the host of “On the Island” CBC’s Vancouver Island’s morning show. Ron and Gregor were scheduled to tape a segment for the program. Gregor showed us into a bright conference room where he invited us to make ourselves comfortable so that Ron could recover from the journey before they did the interview.

(Point of clarification: Ron needs to regain his land legs and reorient his senses after driving in a car. He does not need to recover from any terrors or white knuckles instilled in him by my driving. In fact, now, when we drive together, Ron and I have become a team: Pilot and Co-pilot. I’ll leave it up to you to decide who is which or which is whom.)

Before prepping Ron for their upcoming interview Gregor said “I started reading your book and couldn’t put it down. Having a stroke is not something I usually let myself think about, but I found your book fascinating.” After outlining the format for the taping Gregor led us into the larger of the two studios available on the premises for broadcasts. Although there was a window looking out into the entrance and the main office, being in the studio felt like being in a warm, dark cave. The walls and ceiling were covered in a black, foamy material, obviously designed to dampen any background noise. After showing Ron the proper distance to keep his mouth from the mike, Gregor asked his first question and the show was instantly underway.

After the interview, Gregor announced that a ten minute segment was going to be aired at 7:10 AM the very next day. So, by the time you read this post, the program has already gone out into the ether. However, if you are not a regular On the Island listener, you can hear the interview by going to CBC.ca/On The Island. Ron’s interview is posted under Friday, October 21, 2016.

After looking up names on CBC’s website to make certain I had gotten my spellings right, I came across a number of photos of Gregor Craigie, and I did another double take. “Wow!” I thought. “He looks so much taller, slimmer and more handsome in person than he does in the pictures on my computer screen.”

(To be con’t.)

GIVING THANKS

Thanks to Laurie Ricou for sending Ron this poem by Emily Dickinson:

The Brain--is wider than the Sky--

For--put them side by side--

The one the other will contain

With ease--and You--beside--

Also BIG NEWS: The Defiant Mind is #6 on the BC Bestseller list for the week of October 2!

BUZZ BOOK T42

DAY ONE

Ron and I have arrived in Washington, “The Evergreen State.” We have crossed through the Peace Arch, we have our travel insurance documents secure in the glove compartment, (who wears gloves anymore?) and we have just received a shock. Contrary to our erroneous assumption, Tacoma, the site of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fall Tradeshow, is SOUTH of Seattle, and not NORTH, where Everett appears to be. We will have to pass through the heart of downtown Seattle! This is an unsettling thought, given that traversing elevated urban freeway corridors, with six lanes of traffic going in one direction and six lanes going in another, is not what residents of Nanoose Bay BC are accustomed to driving in.

            But not to worry. There has been a collision on the freeway near Everett and traffic in all lanes, north and south, has slowed to a start-stutter-stop pace and we have ample leisure to contemplate routes and roots and exits. Eventually, four hours later, we work our through the American Dream cum nightmare and arrive at Exit 129 in South Tacoma.

I wonder what Chief Seattle would think of his land now. How would he translate “Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself”?

            At the Hampton Inn and Suites we are instantly greeted with a panoply of peoples. There is a convocation of a dozen or so black ladies of varying ages in colourful dresses celebrating something or other and groups of families conversing in Spanish. At the elevator we are greeted by eight youthful couples dressed to the nines (whatever that means). The men are in military dress regalia whose insignias and stripes I cannot decipher. The women are gorgeous in long gowns, high heels and elegantly coiffed hair.

            We enter the now vacant elevator, press 2 and wait expectantly. Nothing happens. Eventually we see the sign that tells us we need to use our room key to activate the elevator. Once inside our room, Ron stretches out on the bed and we channel surf, amazed to discover the number of college football games we could tune into.

DAY TWO

The Tradeshow is in the heart of downtown Tacoma in the lovely (dare I say chic) Hotel Murano. Ron and I have arrived at the hotel via the backroads—south Hosmer, south 72^nd, south Yakima, 15^th Street, and Broadway. We are calm, having avoided Interstate 5, travelling the quiet streets of residential Tacoma, which, if truth be told, look a bit down at the heels.

            We find Ron and Veronica Hatch of Ronsdale Press in the southwest corner of the Pavilion which houses the Tradeshow. They are with the other publishers who are representing British Columbia with a sizable presence—Orca Books, Harbour Publishing, The Heritage Group of Publishers, Greystone Books, Arsenal Pulp Press, Theytus Books and the Royal BC Museum. (Apologies to any publisher I have missed.)

            Ron takes his place on a chair in the middle of the aisle beside the sign announcing Buzz Book T 42, THE DEFIANT MIND – Living Inside a Stroke. Most publishers have selected one of their titles to be their Buzz Book for the show. It is up to booksellers to get their “passports” stamped each time they visit a Buzz Book. The completed passports will be entered into a draw for a $100 prize. For the next six hours Ron engages booksellers and librarians from Juneau and Skagway in Alaska; Enumclaw, Clarkton, Bellingham, Tacoma, Seattle, Port Angeles, Shelton, Yakima, Leavenworth, Friday Harbor, and Bainbridge Island in Washington; Sisters, McMinneville, Portland,  and Hood River in Oregon; Coeur d”Alene, Boise and Moscow in Idaho; and a sales representative from Arcata, California to mention most of the visitors who talk with Ron at Ronsdale Press’s booth. There is a lot of interest in his book because, as Ron states in his Preface:

            “Every forty seconds someone

              In North America suffers a stroke.

              Every four minutes someone in

              North America dies from a stroke.

              Stroke is the leading cause of disability

              in North America.”

            These days booksellers are keen to hold events to promote their stores in their local communities. Many of their communities have hospitals, colleges, universities, nursing schools, and so on. And since Ron has book and will travel, chances are good that we will be heading south of the 49^th in the spring, if not before. We will, however, do our best to avoid Interstate 5.