Typographer: Charles Morris/ Illustrator: Gus Rueter
"This is number 230 of an edition limited to 375 copies which was produced especially for members of the Alcuin Society."
Anyone looking for evidence of the neglect shown Ethel Wilson, British Columbia's greatest novelist, might want to consider the prices being asked for this unusual edition. An elegant production, with a five-page author's introduction that appears nowhere else, it can be bought online for as little as US$25. Twenty years ago, during those heady days of bookseller catalogues, I paid C$75 for this copy. At the time, I thought it was a fantastic bargain.
October looks to be a month of deadlines. There'll be fewer words and more pictures, beginning with Frank Newfeld's cover illustrations for The Journal of Saint-Denys-Garneau.
I'm intrigued by this book. Hector de Saint-Denys-Garneau stands with Émile Nelligan as the country's great French language poet; his journal provides some disconcerting glimpses into the soul of a man who was plagued by inner turmoil and self-doubt. That said, I admit that much of my attraction has to do with the book's publishing history. The Journal of Saint-Denys-Garneau appeared in 1962, yet there had never been an English language collection of his verse. In fact, John Glassco, spent more than a decade trying to interest publishers.
When finally published by Oberon in 1975, The Complete Poems of Saint-Denys-Garneau won the Canada Council Award for Translation.
The Journal and The Complete Poems enjoyed just one printing each. Isn't it time they were reissued? An obvious bind-up, I think.
On a somewhat related note:Last week, the 28th John Glassco Translation Prize was awarded to Louis Bouchard and Marie-Elisabeth Morf for their work on Verena Stefan's Fremdschläfer, published asD’ailleurs by Editions Héliotrope. Now, there's news you won't see in today's revamped Globe & Mail.
On another somewhat related note: Saint-Denys-Garneau has been on my mind since Jean-Louis Lessard's recent series on the man's work, and because I'm right now preparing my biography of Glassco for publication. Consider this the first plug.
It was ten years ago today that Pierre Trudeau died. Does he haunt us still? I suppose so, though his influence has diminished... as has the country's. Let's face it, the man never encountered a reception like this from last week:
Enough.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a sequel of sorts – "a study in public seduction" from the same publisher that four years earlier told us "how pierre elliott trudeau seduced canada with the lights on". Readers of Private Eye will be familiar with the content: a photo with wacky word balloon. This one looks like it could have come from the magazine's 18 December 1970 issue (cliquer pour agrandir).
You get the idea. The picture sets the theme, mixing politics with personality, casting Trudeau as Casanova.
The pseudonymous authors, apparently "two very political and disillusioned housewives", pitch some pretty varied attempts at humour. At times they venture into sensitive territory...
... before descending into jokes one would not dare make today.
There are no knee slappers here, though political types will be interested in the photos, most of which I've not seen elsewhere. Thumbing through the thing I caught myself ignoring the captions, returning in time to catch this:
Poignant and prophetic, n'est ce pas?
Object and Access: A 64-page staple-bound paperback. Ten copies sit on university library shelves, with a further two at Library and Archives Canada and the Toronto Public Library. A half-dozen copies are listed online at between US$4 and US$10. One Winnipeg bookseller has pulled away from the pack, asking US$25 (and adds US$12.25 shipping when three bucks will more than cover it).
One day I'm arguing with a friend that earlier times weren't necessarily "more innocent times", the next I come across this sheet music in a local shop.
Gimby was the first musician I could name. His "Ca-na-da" took root in my four-year-old brain and, like all good commercial jingles, has proven to be a hardy perennial.
And make no mistake, "Ca-na-da" was a commercial jingle; something to sell the centennial.
"Respectfully dedicated to LIBERACE, America's favorite performer", "When Liberace Winks at Me" is just as catchy. I found it here in this "Liberace Medley". The song begins at 6:49, but you'll want to see the whole thing.
Dear "Fan Club President",
I'm dropping you this line,
I'm sorry to have to tell you
I really must resign.
I've found another idol,
He's as charming as can be,
I really can't describe
The strange effect he has on me
I start to shake,
I start to shiver,
Every fibre in me really starts to quiver.
It's a feeling very close to ecstacy.
That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.
You can't compare his charming manner
With an ordinary Jerry, Joe or Jim.
And when he sits there at the piana
No one can hold a candelabra to him.
I never work,
Just dilly dally,
Since I fell under the spell of this Svengally,
I just sit there spellbound facing my T.V.
That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.
I start to blush,
I start to stammer,
And my pulses start a pounding like a hammer.
I'm bewitched as any fool can plainly see.
That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.
It's really very, very simple,
'cause he makes me feel just like a royal queen.
And when he winks and shows that dimple,
I start to hug and kiss my television screen.
I go beserk,
I start to tingle,
And I'm so gosh darned glad that I'm still single.
When he drops that eyelid, I just shout WOE-EE!!
That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.
I start to whirl,
I'm getting dizzy,
I'm in a haze, I'm in a haze, I'm in a tizzy
I'm a victim of a strange new sorcery.
That's what happens when Liberace winks at me.
International readers and those too young to have been exposed to "Ca-na-da" may be interested in the clip below, which was shot one chilly spring day at Expo 67. A 48-year-old man in robes, dubbed "The Pied Piper of Canada", leading skipping schoolchildren in song...
Seems like a more innocent time.
Trivia: "When Liberace Winks at Me" was one of several songs Gimby wrote with comedian Johnny Wayne (of Wayne and Schuster). The Canadian Encyclopedia tells us that they had their greatest success with something called "The Cricket Song" (1956) , recorded by Ray Bolger.
Q: How many times can I mention Bobby Gimby in one month?
A writer, ghostwriter, écrivain public, literary historian and bibliophile, I'm the author of Character Parts: Who's Really Who in CanLit (Knopf, 2003), and A Gentleman of Pleasure: One Life of John Glassco, Poet, Translator, Memoirist and Pornographer (McGill-Queen's UP, 2011; shortlisted for the Gabrielle Roy Prize). I've edited over a dozen books, including The Heart Accepts It All: Selected Letters of John Glassco (Véhicule, 2013) and George Fetherling's The Writing Life: Journals 1975-2005 (McGill-Queen's UP, 2013). I currently serve as series editor for Ricochet Books and am a contributing editor for Canadian Notes & Queries. My most recent book is The Dusty Bookcase (Biblioasis, 2017), a collection of revised and expanded reviews first published here and elsewhere.
