Posts Tagged ‘50 Canadians Who Changed the World’
A younger male writer crosses swords with Margaret Atwood
Over on Twitter, I find myself arguing with Margaret Atwood. When I mentioned that I am proud to be part of The Atwood Generation, she objected: “Now Ken. You are WAY younger than me!” Yes, I am younger. But future scholars will talk of The Atwood Generation of Canadian writers as comprising those born 15 or 20 years before or after the warrior…
Read MoreYoungish White Dude says YES to indigenous peoples, visible minorities
I hate to create mysteries during our run-up to Canada Day. But while the book we’re loud-hailing is rightly called 50 Canadians Who Changed the World, it celebrates 49 human beings, give or take — 19 women and 30 men. Given that the human race is split 50-50, still I felt not too bad about…
Read MoreThese five Canadians created the Digital Revolution
With Canada 150 upon us, I’ve been ransacking 50 Canadians Who Changed the World. Yesterday I turned up half a dozen Canadians, among them Margaret Atwood and Joni Mitchell, who spirited the Sixties into the 21st Century. Today I discover that five Canadians created the Digital Revolution. Marshall McLuhan: Recognized internationally as the Prophet of…
Read MoreThese awful Canadians spirited the 1960s into the 21st Century
The 1960s get a bum rap, here in 21st-century Canada. All those awful Boomers who came of age back then have destroyed the economy, the housing market, job prospects, let’s just say the whole shebang. But just imagine where we might be if the international “counter-culture” that emerged in the Sixties had never happened. With…
Read MoreMeet the Inuit activist who made climate change a human rights issue
In December 2005, Inuit author and activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier launched the world’s first legal action on climate change when she presented a 167-page petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Signed by sixty-two Inuit elders and hunters, it charged that unchecked emission of greenhouse gases from the United States had violated Inuit cultural and…
Read MoreHow did Canada become multicultural, multi-racial, multi-national?
“Most developed countries tolerate plural identities. But what they struggle to accommodate, Canada embraces and proclaims.” So I wrote four years too early. “This is partly the result of necessity: ours is a country of minorities. But it derives also from historical timing.” In the introduction to 50 Canadians Who Changed the World, published by HarperCollins…
Read More50 Canadians Who Changed the World: this really happened!
Hard to believe that four years have passed since we boarded a west-bound train called The Canadian in Toronto. We were celebrating 50 Canadians Who Changed the World – both the book and the individuals so designated, most of whom are alive and thriving — by following in the tracks of those who linked this nation…
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…
Read MoreOur Hero explains why Canada abounds in ‘overstepping women’
Our Hero turns up in “Talking History,” a biweekly series happening over at the 49th Shelf.The series focuses on a wide range of topics in Canadian history, exploring the notion of history as a compelling form of storytelling of interest to large audiences. Ken McGoogan One of the most evocative moments of a recent circumnavigation…
Read MoreOur Hero contends that the wicked need no rest
Wow! Just back from Nova Scotia. And, yes, I am reeling from an extraordinary couple of weeks at University of King’s College in Halifax, teaching in the new master’s program in Creative Nonfiction. All the best stuff has been placed under a Cone of Silence. But if you were not there, here’s the good news…
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