Fred's Blog
  • Fred's Blog
  • Writers Open House
    • Shane Joseph 2025-1
    • Ronald Mackay 2025-1
    • Jeremiah Gilbert 2025-1
    • Jeremiah Gilbert 2025-2
    • Malcolm Welshman 2025-1
    • Roger Knight 2025-1
    • Sue Wald 2025-1
    • Ronald Mackay 2025-2
    • Cherie Magnus 2025-1
    • Cherie Magnus 2025-2
    • Cherie Magnus 2025-3
  • Writers Open House Guidelines
  • Amazon Author Page
  • Info
  • 2024 Showcase Guidelines
  • 2024 Memoir Showcase
    • Elora Canne 2024-1 (M)
    • Sue Wald 2024-1 (M)
    • Patricia M Osborne 2024-1 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2024-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-1 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2024-2 (M)
    • Malcolm D Welshman - 2024-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-2 (M)
    • Denis Dextraze 2024-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-3 (M)
    • Sue Wald 2024-2 (M)
    • Denis Dextraze 2024-2 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-4 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp 2024-3 (M)
    • Don Hughes 2024-1 (M)
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2024-1 (M)
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2024-2 (M)
    • Sue Wald 2024 -3 (M)
    • Syd Blackwell 2024-1 (M)
    • Denis Dextraze 2024-3 (M)
    • Jackie Lambert 2024-1 (M)
    • Jackie Lambert 2024-2 (M)
    • Jeremiah Gilbert 2024-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-5 (M)
    • Sue Bavey 2024-1 (M)
  • 2024 Fiction Showcase
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2024-1 (F)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2024-2 (F)
    • Shirley Read-Jahn 2024-1 (F)
    • Shirley Read-Jahn 2024-2 (F)
    • Sue Wald 2024-1 (F)
    • Shane Joseph 2024-1 (F)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-1 (F)
    • Carly Standley 2024-1 (F)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2024-3 (F)
    • Ronald Mackay 2024-2 (F)
    • Liliana Amador-Marty 2024-1 (F)
  • 2023 Showcase Guidelines
  • 2023 Memoir Showcase
    • Shane Joseph 2023-1 (M)
    • Shirley Read-Jahn 2023-1 (M)
    • Roger Knight 2023- 1 (M)
    • Sue Bavey 2023-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2023-1 (M)
    • Kelly Reising 2023-1 (M)
    • Robyn Boswell 2023-1 (M)
    • Syd Blackwell 2023-1 (M)
    • Sue Bavey 2023-2 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2023-2 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2023-1 (M)
    • Robyn Boswell 2023-2 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2023-3 (M)
    • Judy Middleton 2023-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2023-1 (M)
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2023-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2023-4 (M)
    • Syd Blackwell 2023-2 (M)
    • Valerie Poore 2023-1 (M)
    • Jackie Lambert 2023-1 (M)
    • Carrie Riseley 2023-1 (M)
    • Sue Bavey 2023-3 (M)
    • Jacqui Martin 2023-1 (M)
    • Dvora Treisman 2023-1 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2023-2 (M)
    • Jackie Lambert 2023-2 (M)
    • Mitos Suson 2023-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2023-5 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2023-6 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2023-3 (M)
    • Jacqui Martin 2023-2 (M)
    • Martha Graham-Waldon 2023-1 (M)
  • 2023 Fiction Showcase
    • Shane Joseph 2023-1 (F)
    • Ronald Mackay 2023-1 (F)
    • Ronald Mackay 2023-2 (F)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2023-1 (F)
    • Ronald Mackay 2023-3 (F)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2023-1 (F)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2023-2 (F)
    • Ronald Mackay 2023-4 (F)
  • 2023 Highlights
    • Syd Blackwell 2023-1 (H)
    • Tammy Horvath 2023-1 (H)
    • Shirley Read-Jahn 2023-1 (H)
    • Syd Blackwell 2023-2 (H)
  • 2022 Memoir Showcase
    • Shane Joseph 2022-1 (M)
    • Roger Knight 2022-1 (M)
    • Leslie Groves Ogden 2022-1 (M)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2022-1 (M)
    • Shirley Read-Jahn 2022-1 (M)
    • Patsy Hirst 2022-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2022-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-1 (M)
    • Sharon Hayhurst 2022-1 (M)
    • Syd Blackwell 2022-1 (M)
    • Syd Blackwell 2022-2 (M)
    • Patsy Hirst 2022-2 (M)
    • Roger Knight 2022-2 (M)
    • John C. Rogers 2022-1 (M)
    • Thomas Laver 2022-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-2 (M)
    • Sue Bavey 2022-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2022-2 (M)
    • Lally Brown 2022-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-3 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2022-3 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2022-1 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-4 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2022-4 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2022-2 (M)
    • Jackie Lambert 2022-1 (M)
    • Valerie Poore 2022-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2022-5 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2022-3 (M)
    • Mike Cavanagh 2022-1 (M)
    • Mike Cavanagh 2022-2 (M)
    • Malcolm Welshman 2022-1 (M)
    • Nick Albert 2022-1 (M)
    • Denis Dextraze 2022-1 (M)
    • David McCabe 2022-1 (M)
    • Lizbeth Meredith 2022-1 (M)
    • Jill Dobbe 2022-1 (M)
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2022-1 (M)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2022-2 (M)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-5 (M)
    • Jennifer Rae 2022-1 (M)
    • Jennifer Rae 2022-2 (M)
    • Mitos Suson 2022-1 (M)
    • Patsy Hirst 2022-3 (M)
    • Jennifer Rae 2022-3 (M)
    • Therese Marie Duncan 2022-1 (M)
    • Carolyn Muir Helfenstein 2022-1 (M)
    • Carolyn Muir Helfenstein 2022-2 (M)
    • Kelly Reising 2022-1 (M)
    • Ronald Mackay 2022-6 (M)
    • Syd Blackwell 2022-3 (M)
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2022-4 (M)
    • Denis Dextraze 2022-2 (M)
    • Patsy Hirst 2022-4 (M)
  • 2022 Fiction Showcase
    • Shane Joseph 2022-1 (F)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-1 (F)
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2022-1 (F)
    • Keith Moreland 2022-1 (F)
    • Lindy Viandier 2022-1 (F)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-2 (F)
    • Robert Fear 2022-1 (F)
    • Lindy Viandier 2022-2 (F)
    • Janet Stobie 2022-1 (F)
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2022-3 (F)
    • Philippa Hawley 2022-1 (F)
    • Daisy Wood 2022-1 (F)
    • Valerie Poore 2022-1 (F)
    • Lynn C. Bilton 2022-1 (F)
    • Sue Bavey 2022-1 (F)
  • 2022 Showcase Guidelines
  • 2022 Guest Blogs
  • 2021 Authors Showcase
    • John L. Fear 2021 - 1
    • Sue Bavey 2021 - 2
    • Valerie Poore 2021 - 3
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2021 - 2
    • Mitos Suson 2021 - 1
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2021 - 1
    • Donna O'Donnell Figurski 2021 - 1
    • Dolores Banerd 2021 - 1
    • Lynn C. Bilton 2021 - 1
    • Sverrir Sigurdsson 2021 - 1
    • Sharon Hayhurst 2021 - 1
    • Liliana Amador-Marty 2021 - 1
    • Sue Bavey 2021 - 1
    • Karen Telling 2021 - 1
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2021 - 1
    • Liesbet Collaert 2021 - 1
    • Susan Mellsopp 2021 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2021 - 6
    • Shirley Read-Jahn 2021 - 1
    • Jackie Lambert 2021 - 1
    • Valerie Poore 2021 - 2
    • Carolyn Muir Helfenstein 2021 - 3
    • Jennifer Rae 2021 - 1
    • Chris Calder 2021 - 1
    • Valerie Poore 2021 - 1
    • Mike Cavanagh 2021 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2021 - 5
    • Roger Knight 2021 - 3
    • Carolyn Muir Helfenstein 2021 - 2
    • Joanne Guidoccio 2021 - 1
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2021 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2021 - 4
    • Carolyn Muir Helfenstein 2021 - 1
    • Shane Joseph 2021 - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp 2021 - 2
    • Denis Dextraze 2021 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2021 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2021 - 3
    • Roger Knight 2021 - 2
    • Margaret South 2021 - 1
    • Denis Dextraze 2021 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2021 - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp 2021 - 1
    • Roger Knight 2021 - 1
    • Shane Joseph 2021 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2021 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2021 - 1
    • Adrian Sturrock 2021 - 1
    • Cherie Magnus 2021 - 1
  • 2021 Showcase Guidelines
  • 2021 Guest Blogs
  • 40 years ago today
  • 2020 Authors Showcase
    • Vernon Lacey 2020 - 1
    • Carolyn Muir Helfenstein 2020 - 1
    • Liliana Amador-Marty 2020 - 1
    • Alison Alderton 2020 - 1
    • Lizzie Jewels 2020 - 1
    • Robyn Boswell 2020 - 4
    • Lally Brown 2020 - 1
    • James Robertson 2020 - 2
    • Ronni Robinson 2020 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2020 - 6
    • Denis Dextraze 2020 - 5
    • Syd Blackwell 2020 - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp 2020 - 2
    • Robyn Boswell 2020 - 3
    • Val Poore 2020 - 1
    • Mike Cavanagh 2020 - 3
    • Helen Bing 2020 - 3
    • Neal Atherton 2020 - 1
    • Susan Joyce 2020 - 1
    • Leslie Groves Ogden 2020 - 1
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2020 - 4
    • Elizabeth Moore 2020 - 2
    • Denis Dextraze 2020 - 4
    • Patty Sisco 2020 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2020 - 5
    • Syd Blackwell 2020 - 1
    • Frank Kusy 2020 - 1
    • Malcolm Welshman 2020 - 1
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2020 - 1
    • Susan Mellsopp 2020 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2020 - 4
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2020 - 3
    • Denis Dextraze 2020 - 3
    • Robyn Boswell 2020 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2020 - 3
    • Helen Bing 2020 - 2
    • Roger Knight 2020 - 3
    • Amy Bovaird 2020 - 1
    • Patricia Steele 2020- 1
    • Elizabeth Moore 2020 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2020 - 1
    • Mike Cavanagh 2020 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2020 - 2
    • Denis Dextraze 2020 - 2
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2020 - 2
    • Roger Knight 2020 - 2
    • Mike Cavanagh 2020 - 1
    • Robyn Boswell 2020 - 1
    • Irene Pylypec 2020 - 1
    • Denis Dextraze 2020 - 1
    • James Robertson 2020 - 1
    • Andrew Klein 2020 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2020 - 1
    • Roger Knight 2020 - 1
    • Tina Wagner Mattern 2020 - 1
  • 2020 Guest Blogs
  • 2020 Showcase Guidelines
  • 2019 Authors Showcase
    • James Robertson 2019 - 6
    • Val Vassay 2019 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 6
    • Dawne Archer 2019 - 1
    • Susan Mellsopp 2019 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 6
    • James Robertson 2019 - 5
    • Sarah Owens 2019 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 5
    • Dolores Banerd 2019 - 1
    • Val Vassay 2019 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 4
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 5
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 4
    • James Robertson 2019 - 4
    • Robyn Boswell 2019 - 3
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 3
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 4
    • Adrian Sturrock 2019 - 2
    • Jill Stoking 2019 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 4
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 3
    • Cherie Magnus 2019 - 1
    • Roger Knight 2019 - 3
    • Susan Mellsopp 2019 - 2
    • Robyn Boswell 2019 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 3
    • Catherine Berry 2019 - 1
    • James Robertson 2019 - 3
    • Nancy McBride 2019 - 2
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 3
    • Susan Mellsopp 2019 - 1
    • Mike Cavanagh 2019 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 2
    • Nancy McBride 2019 - 1
    • Malcolm Welshman 2019 - 1
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2019 - 1
    • Patty Sisco 2019 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 2
    • Adrian Sturrock 2019 - 1
    • Tina Mattern 2019 - 1
    • James Robertson 2019 - 2
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 2
    • Roger Knight 2019 - 2
    • Liliana Amador-Marty 2019 - 1
    • Celia Dillow 2019 - 1
    • Helen Bing 2019 - 1
    • Syd Blackwell 2019 - 1
    • Ronald Mackay 2019 - 1
    • Robyn Boswell 2019 - 1
    • Kelly Reising 2019 - 1
    • James Robertson 2019 - 1
    • Roger Knight 2019 - 1
  • 2019 Showcase Guidelines
  • 2019 Guest Blogs
  • Competitions
  • 2018 Travel Highlights
  • 2018 Travel Stories
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 5
    • Apple Gidley 2018
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 5
    • Helen Bing 2018 - 3
    • Julie Watson 2018
    • Anisha Johnson 2018
    • Philip East 2018
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2018 - 2
    • Mike Cavanagh 2018 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 5
    • Malcom Welshman 2018 - 2
    • Celia Dillow 2018
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 5
    • Lee P. Ruddin 2018
    • Cat Jenkins 2018
    • Anierobi Maureen Ogechukwu 2018
    • Dede Montgomery 2018
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2018 - 2
    • Parishka Gupta 2018 - 2
    • Angie Clifford 2018
    • Emma Yardley 2018 - 4
    • Roger Knight 2018 - 2
    • Mark Boyter 2018 - 2
    • Laurel Casida 2018
    • Mike Cavanagh 2018 - 2
    • Alison Galilian 2018
    • Colleen MacMahon 2018
    • Zahra Makda 2018
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 4
    • Susmitha Subramanya 2018
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 4
    • Aleksandra Krysik 2018
    • Swarnabha Dutta 2018
    • Delores Topliff 2018 - 2
    • Sourabha Rao 2018
    • Valerie Fletcher Adolph 2018
    • Swatilekha Roy 2018
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 4
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 4
    • Mary Mae Lewis 2018
    • Parishka Gupta 2018
    • Helen Bing 2018 - 2
    • Madeline Sharples 2018
    • Joe Dodkins 2018
    • Andrew Klein 2018 - 2
    • Roger Knight 2018
    • Rob Johnson 2018
    • Anu Devi 2018
    • Lu Barnham 2018
    • Amy Bovaird 2018 - 2
    • Helen Bing 2018
    • Emma Yardley 2018 - 3
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 3
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 3
    • Alan Passey 2018
    • Ben Stamp 2018 - 3
    • Susan Mellsopp 2018 - 2
    • Alyson Hilbourne 2018
    • Sunny Lockwood 2018 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 3
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 3
    • Brigid Gallagher 2018 - 2
    • Martha Graham-Waldon 2018
    • Mark Boyter 2018
    • Kristen Caven 2018
    • Neyda Bettencourt 2018
    • Robyn Boswell 2018 - 2
    • Logan Wood 2018
    • Ben Stamp 2018 - 2
    • Emma Yardley 2018 - 2
    • Wenlin Tan 2018
    • Tom Czaban 2018
    • Claudia Crook 2018 - 2
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018 - 2
    • Dolores Banerd 2018
    • Piyumi Kapugeekiyana 2018
    • Stephanie Dagg 2018
    • Gabrielle Chastenet 2018
    • Bonnie Jean Warren 2018
    • Rasa Puzinaite 2018
    • Patricia Steele 2018
    • Ronald Mackay 2018 - 2
    • Syd Blackwell 2018 - 2
    • Louise Groom 2018
    • Malcom Welshman 2018
    • Delores Topliff 2018
    • Claudia Crook 2018
    • Robyn Boswell 2018
    • Amy Bovaird 2018
    • Emma Yardley 2018
    • Ben Stamp 2018
    • Jesus Deytiquez 2018
    • Ria Chakraborty 2018
    • Brigid Gallagher 2018
    • Jules Clark 2018
    • Nancy McBride 2018
    • Susan Mellsopp 2018
    • David Greer 2018
    • Lindsay de Feliz 2018
    • Aditi Nair 2018
    • Mike Cavanagh 2018
    • Frank Kusy 2018
    • Andrew Klein 2018
    • Ronald Mackay 2018
    • Syd Blackwell 2018
    • Sunny Lockwood 2018
    • Robert Fear 2018
  • 2018 Guest Blogs
  • 2017 Travel Highlights
  • 2017 Travel Stories
    • Matthew Dexter - 2
    • Sandra Walker
    • Rishita Dey
    • Lisa Baker
    • Patricia Steele - 2
    • Sue Clamp
    • Debbie Patterson
    • Jill Stoking - 2
    • Robyn Boswell - 2
    • Cherie Magnus
    • Mark Boyter - 2
    • Rita M. Gardner
    • Alex Curylo
    • Graham Higson
    • Jill Dobbe - 2
    • Amy Bovaird - 3
    • Elizabeth Moore - 3
    • KC Peek
    • Lucinda E Clarke
    • Nancy McBride - 2
    • Frank Kusy - 2
    • Yvonne Kilat - 3
    • Mike Cavanagh - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp - 5
    • Mather Schneider
    • Syd Blackwell - 5
    • Gundy Baty - 3
    • Elizabeth Moore - 2
    • Jill Dobbe
    • Heather Hackett
    • Bob Manning - 2
    • Mark Boyter
    • Jackie Parry
    • Matthew Dexter
    • Amy Bovaird - 2
    • Gundy Baty - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp - 4
    • Susan Joyce - 2
    • Syd Blackwell - 4
    • Yvonne Kilat - 2
    • Bob Manning
    • Elizabeth Moore
    • Yvonne Kilat
    • Olivia-Petra Coman
    • Susan Mellsopp - 3
    • Gundy Baty
    • Syd Blackwell - 3
    • Paul Spadoni
    • Phil Canning
    • Jill Stoking
    • Robert Fear
    • Anna Coates
    • Kelly Reising
    • Syd Blackwell - 2
    • Susan Mellsopp - 2
    • Sine Thieme - 2
    • Alison Ripley Cubitt
    • Angie Clifford
    • Philippa Hawley
    • Nancy McBride
    • Robyn Boswell
    • Mike Cavanagh
    • Amy Bovaird
    • Susan Mellsopp
    • Patricia Steele
    • Susan Joyce
    • Peggy Wolf
    • Sine Thieme
    • Syd Blackwell
    • Frank Kusy
  • 2016 Travel Highlights
  • 2016 Travel Stories
    • Robyn Boswell
    • Elizabeth Moore - 5
    • Susan Joyce - 3
    • Bob Manning
    • Jackie Parry - 2
    • Mike Cavanagh - 2
    • Lisa Fleetwood
    • Mark Boyter - 2
    • John Rayburn - 5
    • Mark Boyter
    • John Rayburn - 4
    • Elizabeth Moore - 4
    • Mike Cavanagh
    • Graham Higson
    • Philippa Hawley
    • Jill Stoking
    • Nancy McBride - 2
    • Susan Joyce - 2
    • Lucinda E Clarke
    • Elizabeth Moore - 3
    • John Rayburn - 3
    • Jill Dobbe
    • Richard Klein
    • John Rayburn - 2
    • Jackie Parry - 2
    • Elizabeth Moore - 2
    • John Rayburn
    • Jackie Parry
    • Elizabeth Moore
    • Kelly Reising
    • Susan Joyce
    • Nancy McBride
    • Stewart Brennan
    • Frank Kusy
  • Behind the Scenes
  • 2015 Travel Highlights
  • 2015 Travel Stories
    • Val Vassay
    • Doug E. Jones
    • Matthew Dexter (2)
    • Beth Haslam
    • John Rayburn (4)
    • Susan Joyce (2)
    • Jackie Parry (2)
    • Lucinda E. Clarke (2)
    • Jill Dobbe
    • Francene Stanley
    • Richard Klein (2)
    • John Rayburn (3)
    • Julie Haigh
    • Frank Kusy (2)
    • Nancy McBride (2)
    • Anne Durrant
    • Lucinda E. Clarke
    • John Rayburn (2)
    • Nancy McBride
    • Sarah Jane Butfield
    • Jackie Parry
    • Kelly Reising
    • Gareth Nixon
    • John Rayburn
    • Jeremy Parris
    • Matthew Dexter
    • Susan Joyce
    • Richard Klein
    • Frank Kusy
    • Robert Fear
  • Daily Diary
    • February Archive
    • March Archive
    • April Archive
    • May Archive
    • June Archive
    • July Archive
  • Reviews

​AN AUDACIOUS AUDITION by Syd Blackwell


​I entered the reading room at Canada House in Trafalgar Square in high anticipation.  I asked the desk clerk for newspapers from Vancouver.  She told me all available copies of the Vancouver Sun were being used.  She silently gestured towards a girl seated alone at a table.

The girl was actually holding the bundle of newspapers, bound with one of those old-style wooden clips, in front of her face as I approached the table.  I gently pulled down the top of the papers, looked in her eyes, smiled, and quietly said,
“I don´t know who you are, and I don´t really care, but I care passionately about those newspapers you are holding.   What would it take for you to give them all to me right now?”


*  *  *
​
When I left Canada, nearly four months before, I did not think about hockey at all.  Why would I?  I had a one-way ticket with stopovers that would eventually land me in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  I had never been outside Canada except brief visits to two US states.  The rest of my plans were unplanned except that I needed to be in Europe before my Euro-Rail Pass expired.  I had time.

I had time because my life had come undone.  It had happened early and quickly in the previous school year, but we both had contracts to fulfill for the same employer.  There would be no running away.  We would live apart but in the same small town.  We could not avoid each other. 

My task was to find out who I was.   I thought I had a pretty good idea up until she asked me to leave.  I had a university degree and six years of success as a teacher in spite of competing with the largest influx of graduates to ever hit the job market.  I had paid off our student loans.  And, I was married.  What was missing?

Quite a lot actually, but that understanding would come later.  Much later.

My year of finding out who I was began rather badly.  I immersed myself in my job and stayed at the school most days until I had completed preparations for the next day.  This was necessary because the rest of my day would be at home wallowing in self-pity fueled by alcohol.

For more than two months, this pattern continued.   Old social acquaintances had disappeared, and I did not make room for new ones.  I was a recluse outside of school hours.   I had gained no insights, no understandings, no visions.

One evening in that dark, depressing December two other teachers came to my small rental house.   They were on a mission.   They had been acquaintances, but not in our social circles when I was with my wife.  However, they had heard about our separation and had noted my extended reaction to it.   They had come to tell me that I was not solving anything being a recluse.  They told me they did not have any answers for my marriage, but if I was going to continue to drink, it should not be alone.  Somewhat reluctantly, I accompanied them to a local bar.

The lights, the noise, the activity were all in stark and shocking contrast to my dimly lit living room.  I was not at all sure I should be there.  But, the crowd at the table we joined that evening greeted me warmly and did not ask invasive questions.   I found myself relaxing.  By the time I went home, I had no thoughts whatsoever about who I was or should be, but I felt better.

As the new year broke, I found myself with new friends and social opportunities.  I returned to playing badminton, darts and crib, activities that had been abandoned in the bleak autumn.  I felt pleasure and acceptance in the bars, at the parties, in the social life.   Thoughts of my marriage problems were dimming daily.

However, as the second half of the school year progressed, my teaching became an issue.  My passion was outside of school.  I craved my new social life like a drug and without passion my teaching was hollow.   I knew that I had to effect a change.  I had been a good teacher, but I was not then, and did not know when or even if I would be again. 

One night in February, after a vigorous badminton session in a school gym, my new friend Steve and I went to the pub for a few brews as we did after most badminton nights.  Steve was a steam engineer in the natural gas plant up the highway.  He was Malaysian by birth but had followed an older brother to Canada many years before.  We had, of course, previously talked about my broken marriage.  As we sipped our beers, he told me he had to go back to Malaysia in November for a visit.  He told me his mother had cancer and wanted him to come home for a long visit before she died. Then he asked, “Why don’t you come with me?”

I took another sip from my beer, set it down on the table, and said, “Sure.”

In that instant I had seen the answer to my teaching.  I needed to stop being a teacher for a while at least.  I needed a different perspective of life.  I had no idea where my decision would lead, but it instantly felt good.

In May, I tendered my resignation from the school district.  I could have asked for and likely procured an unpaid year leave-of-absence, but I had no strong feeling I would be ready to return to teaching in a year.   At the end of June, I moved to Vancouver where I would live until our departure in late November.


*  *  *

I grew up less than one block from the skating rink.  Yet, I did not learn to skate until I was an adult.  However, that did not at all reduce my passion for hockey.   It´s Canadian, eh.  

The team I originally supported was the Montreal Canadiens, hated rivals of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Nearly everyone in Canada in those days of a six-team National Hockey League chose to support one or the other of the only two Canadian franchises.  When the league expanded and a new franchise was obtained by Vancouver in 1970, my allegiance switched instantly to my home province team.  They were horrible but I loved them dearly and daily scoured newspapers and periodicals, listened to radio, and watched TV sports reports, trying to glean information on my Vancouver Canucks in those pre-internet days.  I was a rabid fan.

However, in November 1976, as Steve and I journeyed to Malaysia via Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand, I do not think hockey entered my mind at all.   Perhaps, in the less hectic pace of interactions with Steve´s extensive family in Malaysia, hockey may have briefly entered in my thoughts again, but there was absolutely no news available about hockey in the heat of Southeast Asia.

Eventually, Steve got married and flew home to Canada with his new Malaysian wife and I was on my own journey.   Occasionally I think I found hockey league standings posted in old issues of US Today.  My appetite for hockey was still there but there were no morsels for my need. 

Some months later, I boarded a flight in New Delhi bound for London.  I knew I would be in London for a while.  I had health issues from my travels and needed some rest time.  I was also looking forward to having time to visit the reading room at Canada House in Trafalgar Square where I knew they had Vancouver newspapers.


*  *  *

​Without breaking eye contact with this weird bearded intruder who had so rudely interrupted her newspaper reading, she paused before replying, “Would you take me out to a play tonight?”

“Yes,” I immediately answered, quite relieved she had not reacted with anger or violence to my intrusion. 
Quite relieved that my audacious action seemed on the verge of success. As she put the bundle of papers down on the table, I noticed she was young and not bad looking. 

“When and where shall we meet?”  I quickly asked, expanding on this unforeseen opportunity.

“I suppose you will be here for a while,” she sardonically observed glancing at the papers.  “I will come back in a couple of hours.”  And, she was gone without another word.

I did not know her name, nor did she know mine.  I had stolen her newspapers for a promise that I could easily avoid or renege on.  I also had no idea if she would actually return.  Before I embedded my mind in hockey, I wondered for an instant what play she would decide we should go see.  I was hoping she would return.

Almost exactly two hours later she came back.  It was just past noon.  She said, “Come on, let´s go for a walk.”   While we walked we exchanged names and briefly recounted how we got to London at this particular time, all the while feeling more comfortable and at ease with each other.  It turned out we were walking to the theatre to buy tickets for that evening´s performance of The Rocky Horror Show.  It was a long walk but most enlightening.  It was a beginning of four intense and interesting days.

The Rocky Horror Show, a live performance with some of the original cast, in a London theatre was, as the Brits so frequently say, brilliant.  So was Stevie, an impressive portrayal of the British poet, Stevie Smith, by Glenda Jackson, with always able support from Mona Washbourne, that we saw two days later.  And Equus which we saw a day after that.

We saw a movie or two, we must have visited a few of London´s famous sites, we undoubtedly ate meals, but mostly we walked and talked.   We walked a lot of London streets.  We seemed to only take the Underground when we went home each night to our separate and more distant lodgings and when we returned to an agreed spot the next morning. 

She was only twenty-one (I was thirty), from Victoria, British Columbia, and just finishing six months of backpacking alone around Europe with a few days in London.  I wasn´t even close to being ready to do a similar trip when I was twenty-one.  I was impressed and wanted to hear more.  She wanted to hear lots of stories of travels in Asia.  I had lots to share.   And through these days there were never any differences.  We seemed totally at ease and thoroughly enjoyed each other´s company all day every day without any room for any intimacy beyond holding hands, hugs, and kisses.

And then it was over.  Four days had flown away and now she must too.  She took my address and gave me her parents´ address.  I did not think I would ever see her again.


*  *  *

Two years later, I received a letter from her.  She had a whole bunch of questions about travel in Asia.  She said she was going to backpack through Asia on her own and then go to east Africa to visit a teaching friend before returning to Canada.  She planned to be gone for more than a year.  She also said when she returned she would live in Calgary and maybe we could get together again and talk about Asia.  I asked her to send postcards.  She sent one in the first week of her trip.

*  *  *

A year and a half later, my youngest brother phoned me to say he was engaged and would be married in May.  He wondered if I could come to his wedding in Calgary.  I assured him I would attend.   When I went to my travel agent to book a flight, he told me our small local airline was offering, for a short time, a 2-for-1 flight sale.  Buy a full-price flight and fully pay for it in cash and you could book a second flight for free.  I booked a weekend trip for January and May.

My attention shifted to a girl who I had not seen in three and a half years.  I found her phone number and called.   I told her about my brother´s plans and the flight sale and said I intended to come in January to meet my brother´s fiancé and enjoy a weekend in the city.  I asked if she had any free time.  She said she would meet me at the airport.

When she did meet me, she quickly told me that her roommate was away for the whole weekend.   We went directly to her apartment.   I never did get over to my brother´s house.  Day 5 and 6 of our extended relationship had been exhilarating.

Day 7 and 8 happened in May.  Yes, we did make time for the wedding and the reception in another weekend when her roommate was conveniently away.

In June, she visited me in my northern town for three days.

In late August, we began to live together in a new community near Vancouver.

We had known each other for a grand total of eleven days in four years.  A little more than a year later we got married.

The union lasted for more than thirteen years. We travelled nearly every summer. Mostly the marriage was good; until it wasn´t.  That it ended is not important.   That such a life-changing union should ever occur from such a beginning is remarkable.



Picture
March 1977

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

​Copyright © 2025
Proudly powered by Weebly