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Gjoa Haven highlights this Adventure Canada voyage
DAY FIFTEEN — Gjoa Haven The people of Gjoa Haven welcomed our on-board Inuit singers as if they were rock stars. Come to think of it, they ARE rock starts. Susan Aglukark has an international reputation and following, so the screaming was no surprise. But young Kelly Fraser was also accorded a tumultuous reception. This…
Read MoreBeechey Island graves testify to the demise of the Franklin expedition
[Beechey Island is the most visited historical site in the Arctic — and with good reason. Last September, we got snow. In 2017, when we sail Out of the Northwest Passage, we will call in there once more.] DAY TEN– Beechey Island Sixty or seventy beluga whales stole the show at Beechey Island. We floated…
Read MoreVoyaging through history in the Northwest Passage
Looking back at our 2016 voyage Into the Northwest Passage, I find myself driven to juggling dates. Why? Well, because I love this image (left) of Dundas Harbour, which Sheena shot on Day Nine, and I think it deserves pride of place! DAY NINE — Dundas Harbour Under grey skies, we landed zodiacs on the…
Read MoreQuick hits from voyaging in the Northwest Passage
A couple more quick hits (excerpts) from our 2016 Adventure Canada voyage Into the Northwest Passage . . . DAY FOUR – Karrat Fjord At around 12:30, with the sun shining bright, the Ocean Endeavour entered one of the most spectacular fjords in Greenland. Karrat Fjord is almost 100 km long. We sailed up it…
Read MoreTo recall sailing the Northwest Passage is to dream of doing it again
[Last year, with Adventure Canada, Sheena and I sailed Into the Northwest Passage. Next year, in September 2017, we will reverse our route and sail Out of the Northwest Passage. Some of our stops will be different, but others we simply cannot miss — among them Ilulissat, where a river of ice produces the largest…
Read MoreJournalistic debacle embroils legendary jockey Sandy Hawley . . . .
So the quest began when I chanced upon a photo of the legendary jockey Sandy Hawley and me. I remembered the image (right) as having appeared in the Toronto Star when I was working at that newspaper. But it came with a date — June 26, 1973 — that to me seemed wrong. I said…
Read MoreThe Art of Fact means Creative Nonfiction course is only a click away
Word is that Our Hero is offering an online course in Creative Nonfiction through University of Toronto. It’s called The Art of Fact: An Introduction to Writing Non-Fiction, and it kicks off January 30, 2017. To see if it’s right for you, read on below. To register, click here. About the course: This online workshop…
Read MoreChasing the Irish Pirate Queen around the Aran Islands
Hats off to James McQuiston, editor and publisher of The Celtic Guide, a superbly professional magazine that reflects his passionate interest in Scotland and Ireland. The December issue (click here) features contributions from throughout the Celtic world. They include an excerpt from my latest book, Celtic Lightning: How the Scots and the Irish Created a…
Read MoreArt connoisseur snaps up Sheena’s painting as she hangs her show
An artist’s work is never done. Here we have Sheena Fraser McGoogan this afternoon at Art Square Gallery in the heart of the Six. She was just finishing the hanging of her solo show, Mountains and Icebergs, which runs from today through Nov. 28 opposite the Art Gallery of Ontario. We rented a van this morning, loaded…
Read MoreThe night Leonard Cohen taught me that Magic Is Alive
This photo finds Leonard Cohen out front of his Montreal house in 1977. At that time, I was living just a few blocks away, and I would walk past every once in a while, hoping to catch sight of him. I never did. A few years later, however, I got to spend an evening with…
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