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Global Civic Public Salon Address
Address to the Global Civic Public Salon 3 April 2013 My mother passed away seven years ago this past Sunday. And I was having lunch with Sam and Lynn a couple weeks back and told them a bit about her and my father, and the crazy, unlikely story of how they met. And Sam said:…
Read MoreThe Nomad and the Refugee: a trip home in 70,000 kilometers, 18 years and 217 days
My mother passed away Mar 31, 2006, almost exactly seven years ago at the time of writing. Memories of her are still with me powerfully. And the story of how she met my father is one of those genesis-legends that I now understand to have shaped me crucially: my love of Vancouver, my affinity for…
Read More1 Ordinary Cook, 35 Impossible Recipes: Outtakes from a week in the culinary trenches
My article about cooking incredibly difficult food from the most insane cookbooks of the year is running over at Cooking Light. 1 Ordinary Cook, 35 Impossible Recipes (“Can a home cook learn anything from the supercompmlicated cookbooks of the world’s most celebrated chefs? We asked Timothy Taylor to dive into the deep end and throw…
Read MoreHappy Hunting
Buster, Buster. A lot of people have been through the loss of a pet. I’ve been through it before. Now, as of this past Tuesday January 29th, I’m going through it again. His name was Buster. He was a Chocolate Labrador. In just under 12 years, he became so involved in the life of my…
Read MoreHome Again Home Again Jiggety Jog
I set out to find wild elephants. That was my big idea. I pitched the story that way. I left on the plane with only that in mind. I got much more. In a couple months, the article about my trip to the Yunnan Province in southern China will run in EnRoute Magazine. I don’t…
Read MorePilgrimage Redux
Gone for a few weeks to China on a gig for EnRoute Magazine. Spotty to nonexistent internet while I’m gone. Taking: 2 blank notebooks, 5 pens, a knapsack, and zero preparation. Returning with: 2 full notebooks, a crucially necessary new attitude, and photos of elephants. Enlightenment is an outside possibility.
Read MoreA Navy SEAL on the Full Circle of Vengeance
A Facebook friend, Canadian television host Carolyn Weaver, posted a link to a fascinating 60 Minutes episode in which CBS correspondent Scott Pelley interviews “Mark Owen” (pseudonym), a retired Navy SEAL who was in the room when Osama bin Laden was killed in his compound in Abbottobad, Pakistan. Owen has just published a book about his…
Read MoreEncountering versus Constructing
I’m asked quite frequently to lecture on nonfiction long form journalism, of which I do a lot. The picture here and below is a sub-lecture in itself. I remain bad for forests in what I do, because for these more intense features – like the one I’m presently writing about Fred Herzog for Canadian Art, I find it…
Read MoreCreative Chaos Now Available in Paperback
Two things are happening right now that have an intense and resonant connection. 1. The Blue Light Project is published in paperback at the same time as being selected as a contestant for a reality-television-styled vote-based Bookie Award. 2. The Red Gate artists’ collective has found a potential new home, but needs City of Vancouver…
Read MoreThe Stock Market with French Flaps
The Blue Light Project has been nominated for a CBC Bookie Award. Thanks to the CBC producers who included me on a list with Patrick deWitt, Esi Edugyen, Brian Francis and Elizabeth Hay. Those are amazing writers! I’m truly honored. That said, it’s fascinating that this particular novel would be nominated for this particular…
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