"When they were around ten, eleven, thirteen," he said, "every Saturday night I would get away from my commitments and read to them.  It was our Saturday night together.  I read them Rousseau, history books, poetry, Victor Hugo.  Later, Stendhal, and Tolstoy.  We'd talk about what we read.  Read out loud to each other.  Every Saturday night for years...It was," he paused, "one of the happiest periods of my life.


"He made it seem like this happiness was in the very distant past,
"It doesn't sound like you've raised any of your children to be politicians."
"It would be better," he said, "if they were teachers."
"No money in that,"  I said, aiming for irony.
"No, maybe there's a great need for people who can truly teach.  Maybe now more than ever.  With all the machines around.  So many pressures...I still like to help my kids with their studies.  Read what they're reading."

~ Pierre Elliott Trudeau in a conversation with B.W. Powe.  Trudeau's Shadow, The Life and Legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Edited by A.Cohen & J.L. Granatstein., 1998. Vintage Canada.