C
CelticWarlord
Guest
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton (1920 – 2004) was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a television personality and journalist. He won many honours and awards for his books. An accomplished storyteller, Berton was one of Canada’s most prolific and popular authors. Among his 50 books, The National Dream and The Last Spike give a detailed history of the first coast to coast rail line built across Canada in the 1880’s.
“The concept of barroom shoot-outs and duels in the sun have no part in our tradition either, possibly because we have had so few barrooms and so little sun. (It is awkward to reach efficiently for a six-gun while wearing a parka and two pairs of mittens.)”
“I only write books about dead people. They can’t sue.”
“The more I see of the country, the less I feel I know about it. There is a saying that after five years in the north every man is an expert; after ten years, a novice.”
“I don’t think I ever had a job that was only eight hours a day. I worked for fifty-six years. I never lost a day’s work in all those years. I was determined that I would never lose my family. I would work twenty hours a day if necessary to overcome it; which I did. The Depression helped me because it gave me that determination that I had to go ahead and work.”
“My TV show enraged people. I had prostitutes on, and I treated them like real people… I was fired from Maclean’s (magazine) after I wrote a piece called ‘Let’s Stop Hoaxing The Kids About Sex’. Now, unbelievably, I’m the ’ beloved author ,’ the ’ beloved historian of Canada ,’ an icon. I get standing ovations… I never set out to be a patriot or a popular historian. I just liked storytelling."
“The germs were already there in the hot, dry summer of 1929, when the crops began to fail on the southern prairies and the boom ran wild and out of hand and the country continued to overbuild on borrowed funds. The Great Depression was beginning and nobody knew it. The Great Repression was already under way but nobody cared. One did not need to visit Munich to see dissidents beaten to the ground. It was happening here.”
"Vern Clark could never forget the times when food was so scarce that he would go down to the St. Lawrence Market to shoot pigeons off the rafters so that his mother could make a pigeon pie for dinner. He could never forget the little store at the corner of Queen and Augusta where Cooper the butcher would cock an eye at him and ask: “ How’s your dog, Vern? ” Both knew there was no dog, but Clark would reply with a straight face, “ Not too bad .” And Cooper would respond with an equally straight face, “I’d better give you a few bones. I’ll give you some with a little meat on.” There were thousands of Verdun Clarks in the thirties, living on soup made from scraps dispensed by sympathetic tradesmen. That’s how people were in the Depression, generous in the midst of want."
Code:
- - - - - - -“I only write books about dead people. They can’t sue.”
“The more I see of the country, the less I feel I know about it. There is a saying that after five years in the north every man is an expert; after ten years, a novice.”
“I don’t think I ever had a job that was only eight hours a day. I worked for fifty-six years. I never lost a day’s work in all those years. I was determined that I would never lose my family. I would work twenty hours a day if necessary to overcome it; which I did. The Depression helped me because it gave me that determination that I had to go ahead and work.”
“My TV show enraged people. I had prostitutes on, and I treated them like real people… I was fired from Maclean’s (magazine) after I wrote a piece called ‘Let’s Stop Hoaxing The Kids About Sex’. Now, unbelievably, I’m the ’ beloved author ,’ the ’ beloved historian of Canada ,’ an icon. I get standing ovations… I never set out to be a patriot or a popular historian. I just liked storytelling."
“The germs were already there in the hot, dry summer of 1929, when the crops began to fail on the southern prairies and the boom ran wild and out of hand and the country continued to overbuild on borrowed funds. The Great Depression was beginning and nobody knew it. The Great Repression was already under way but nobody cared. One did not need to visit Munich to see dissidents beaten to the ground. It was happening here.”
"Vern Clark could never forget the times when food was so scarce that he would go down to the St. Lawrence Market to shoot pigeons off the rafters so that his mother could make a pigeon pie for dinner. He could never forget the little store at the corner of Queen and Augusta where Cooper the butcher would cock an eye at him and ask: “ How’s your dog, Vern? ” Both knew there was no dog, but Clark would reply with a straight face, “ Not too bad .” And Cooper would respond with an equally straight face, “I’d better give you a few bones. I’ll give you some with a little meat on.” There were thousands of Verdun Clarks in the thirties, living on soup made from scraps dispensed by sympathetic tradesmen. That’s how people were in the Depression, generous in the midst of want."