I Remember Horsebuns by Rafe Mair North Saanich: Promontory Press, 2015 $14.95 978-1-987857-25-2 Reviewed by Ron Dart First published Oct. 19, 2016 More fox than hedgehog Isaiah Berlin, in his oft quoted, “The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy’s View of History” (1953), took as his guiding theme a passage from Archilochus: “The…
Read more #28 Rafe Mair’s fox-like rambles
by Mark Stanton and Allan Twigg Jim Douglas called himself “just a book pedlar.” At age 15, he started in the book biz in Edinburgh delivering books to bookstores by peddling his bicycle. He became the most influential publishing presence in B.C. during the 1970s and early 1980s. Here [below], The Ormsby Review is pleased…
Read more #25 Remembering Jim Douglas
Mike Agostini: The Usain Bolt of 1954by Glinda Sutherland *Introduction: The Bannister-Landy Miracle Mile at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver in 1954 is the subject of perhaps the most famous photo ever taken in BC, capturing that poignant moment when Landy looked over his shoulder as he was being passed by Bannister. The world’s first…
Read more #24 Mike Agostini: The Usain Bolt of 1954
MEMOIR. 1973: Bumbling down the Blue Danube, and the Red Danube, with Cornelius Burke by Howard Macdonald Stewart First published in instalments, October-November 2016 * The Ormsby Review is pleased to present a memoir by Howard Stewart, born in Powell River in 1952 and a long-term resident of Denman Island. When Stewart was twenty, in…
Read more #21 Bumbling down the Danube
ESSAY: Arts of the Dreamer: Dane-zaa Communities Remember Charlie Yahey by Robin Ridington First published September 24, 2016 * First Nations literature, as indeed all literature, begins with oral narrative. Writing has never entirely replaced orality as a narrative genre, even in cultures that have produced written documents for millenia. For many First Nations, oral…
Read more #20 Master orator Charlie Yahey
ESSAY: The Reddest Rose: Trade Unionist Harvey Murphy by Ron Vurzuh First Published: September 22nd, 2016 * Harvey Murphy is not a name that echoes loudly throughout the annals of 20th-century British Columbia labour history. In fact, the tireless trade union organizer, negotiator, and active Communist Party of Canada (CPC) bureaucrat has almost disappeared from…
Read more #19 The Reddest Rose
First Published: September 17th, 2016. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, on May 25, 1935, William Patrick (Bill) Kinsella invoked the assisted dying provisions of Bill C-14 and died at Hope, B.C. at 12:05 p.m. on September 16, 2016. He had been a type 2 diabetic for most of his adult life. W.P. Kinsella was born in…
Read more #17 W.P. Kinsella (1935-2016)
First Published: April 27th, 2015 — compiled by K. Jane Watt In 1944, Sylvia Thrupp expressed her belief that knowledge of local history is “essential for any one who professes to have a realistic approach to the political problems of the day.” Consequently UBC historian Sylvia L. Thrupp penned an article [below] in which she…
Read more #15 Thruppence for your thoughts
First Published: October 14th, 2014 — compiled by Allan Twigg Born in 1880 on a farm in Indiana, Alys McKey began flying in 1912 in Los Angeles after answering an ad: “Wanted: young lady to learn to fly for exhibition purposes.” The ad was created by Fred Bennett and John Bryant of the Bennett Aero…
Read more #11 Pioneers: Alys McKey Bryant
David Thompson’s cartography, his endurance, his consistent respect for Aboriginal peoples, his pathfinding, his versatility in at least six languages and his prodigious literary legacy qualify him as the most under-celebrated hero in Canadian history. First Published: August 10th, 2015 — compiled by Allan Twigg The second in a planned three volumes of David Thompson’s…
Read more #9 David Thompson
First Published: April 12th, 2015 — compiled by Allan Twigg B.C.’s maven of children’s literature, Judith Saltman, has designated Ann Blades’ self-illustrated Mary of Mile 18 (1971) as the “breakthrough” illustrated title by a B.C. writer for children. The published-from-Montreal story is based on Blades’ experiences as a novice teacher in northern B.C. Her second…
Read more #8 Ann Blades
“Should any of you boys visit the Sandwich Islands, look up the burial place of my college mate.” Botanist John Goldie (1793-1886) reflecting on David Douglas’s grave First Published: April 04th, 2014 — compiled by Allan Twigg One of the most prominent of the roving fraternity of nineteenth-century plant hunters who scoured North America for…
Read more #7 How the Douglas fir was named
First Published: April 09th, 2015 — compiled by Allan Twigg In Shore to Shore: The Art of Ts’uts’umutl Luke Marston, Suzanne Fournier profiles First Nations artist, Luke Marston, who created the sculpture at Brockton Point (at left), and describes his journey to Portugal to research the work. The title “Shore to Shore” references Marston’s great-great-grandfather,…
Read more #6 Suzanne Fournier
In 1872, a sturdy man, nearly 70, steps onto his front porch, jump rope in hand. He skips for a time, then heads inside to pen a note to his daughter away at school in England to chase away “the cobwebs of colonial training.” He is James Douglas, former governor of Vancouver Island and new…
Read more #5: James Douglas doted on Martha
First Published: April 08th, 2015. — compiled by Allan Twigg * In 1902, when he was a nine-year old in Galt, Ontario, Hubert Reginald Evans began his career as a professional writer by composing a limerick in praise of Lipton’s tea for a contest. The now-forgotten verse earned him $1. Hubert Evans later became a…
Read more #4 Hubert Evans
Richard Mackie and BCBookLook are teaming up to provide a new vehicle for serious writing about B.C. The Ormsby Review will be named after Margaret Ormsby, the venerable historian who often met with Richard Mackie for tea and talk during her retirement near Vernon. First published September 16th, 2016 * Note: The Ormsby Review was…
Read more #1 Welcome to The Ormsby Review