Posts by Ken McGoogan
The TLS is hip to Toronto . . .
Turns out the TLS has a soft spot for Toronto. In an upbeat review of How the Scots Invented Canada, the London-based journal (Dec. 10) — no stranger to acerbic commentary — encapsulates my take on an early governor-general. It then says that John Buchan’s words, “as McGoogan notes in this enjoyable book, show that…
Read MoreExcellence in Teaching Award
Much as I hate blowing my own horn, I do have to thank the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies for presenting me with an Excellence in Teaching Award. It sounds cynical, I know, but I’ve always believed that these awards went to those who lobbied for them. So this one came as a…
Read MoreManitoba, Canada, and the North 2011
You have to love the way the Manitoba Historical Society is bringing me in for the 46th annual Sir John A. Macdonald Dinner. They know how to treat an author! And check out the new Adventure Canada brochure. I’ve been traveling with these folks, experts all, for a few years now, and I swear they…
Read MoreThe view from Vancouver Island . . .
Scots had vital role in Canadian history By Dave Obee / Victoria Times-Colonist / December 5, 2010 Without the work of the Scots, Vancouver Island would be a much different place. Take it from Ken McGoogan — although, judging by the name, he just might have a bias of sorts. McGoogan’s How The Scots…
Read MoreHow the Scots Get Ready to Party . . .
James Jerzy McGoogan My favourite Scottish holiday tradition has long been The Ba. That’s the lunatic game the Orcadian Scots play at Christmas and New Year’s. A couple of hundred players, mostly young men, take over the streets of Kirkwall and participate in this rugby-like game that involves carrying a cork-filled leather ball, “the ba,” either up…
Read MoreHere’s from Canada’s History . . . .
With Scotland at my shoulder. . . . When I write history, I try to wear my research lightly. And for my last five books, I have been blessed with an outstanding editor, Phyllis Bruce at HarperCollins Canada, who catches me up whenever I let my reading show. “Lighten up,” she writes in the margins.…
Read MoreHow the Scots celebrated at the Atwater Library
Ken & Cameron at the Atwater Library So this was the scene at the Atwater Library in Montreal, just before our hero explained How the Scots Invented Canada. That’s Cameron Stevens, the Piper Major of the legendary Black Watch regiment. We’re facing a goodly crowd that proceeded to do the right thing . . .…
Read MoreThe Toronto Star makes Our Hero tingle?
Folks have been clamouring for an update. Maybe start with the fabulous reviews in The Toronto Star and January Magazine. The two are radically different, but both made me blush and tingle. Cut to this afternoon and “The Willow” in Hudson, Quebec, where we talked and taped for two hours. This was in aid of…
Read MoreWin a trip to Scotland!
Yes, it’s really happening. Adventure Canada and HarperCollins Canada are sponsoring a fabulous contest to celebrate the publication of How the Scots Invented Canada. You can win a free voyage through the Scottish Isles — that’s a free berth for one, plus a discount for a companion. How cool is that! I will be sailing…
Read MoreMacSkimming and Winter lead the charge?
Well, geez, already I like the Book Section in tomorrow’s Globe and Mail and the paper’s not on my doorstep yet. First we discover Roy MacSkimming writing about How the Scots Invented Canada: “There’s indeed much fun here, as well as instruction (Scots always like that), and your name doesn’t have to begin with Mc…
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