On Writing ~

This From John Steinbeck, "Of course I want the new book to be good.  I have wanted all of them to be good.  But with the others-- all of them -- I had a personal out.  I could say -- it is just really practice for "the book."  If I can't do this one, the practice was not worth it.  So you see I feel at once stimulated and scared.  The terror of starting is invariable but I am more terrified now knowing more about technique than I did. There's a kind of nauseated stimulation about going ashore under fire that is not unlike this feeling.  You know you're going to do it and it scares the shit out of you."

~ John Steinbeck (1902 - 1968)  Pulitzer Prize winning American writer. In a letter to George Albee, Dec. 19, 1950.

From Samuel Johnson, "A man may write at any time -- if he will but set himself doggedly to it."

Also this,   "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money."

~ Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784) English Author. (Thank you, Laurie Miller for Johnson quotations.)

File Photo:  lbwalker, Stephen Leacock's Old Brewery Bay, Orillia.



Stephen Leacock's Old Brewery Bay, Orillia



Stephen Leacock wrote a book titled How to Write.
"The best practical advice that can be given on this subject is, don't start.  That is, don't start anywhere in particular.  Begin at the end:  begin in the middle, but begin.  If you like you can fool yourself by pretending that the start you make isn't really the beginning and that you are going to write it all over again.  Pretend that what you write is just a note, a fragment, a nothing.  Only get started."
www.leacockmuseum.com



~ Stephen Leacock (1869 - 1944) Canadian teacher, writer, humorist.  How to Write, New York 1943, p.27.

File Photos:  lbwalker.  Click on photo for larger image.


"Good, no-nonsense, cold-blooded advice.  Writing's hard, but the hardest part is just to get started." ~ Lawrence Miller.  Author of The Avro Arrow, A Picture History, Lorimer, 2011.  Laurie has taught, edited and had a typography and graphic arts shop.  He lives in Caledonia, ON.

Future of the "Newly Reclaimed" Douglas Creek Development ~  Turtle Island News

"The Haudensaunee Development Institute (HDI) the planning department of the Confederacy Council, is holding meetings, beginning Thursday (August 30) at 5 p.m and inviting Six Nations people to attend to discuss how the newly reclaimed Six Nations land should be cleaned up and revitalized.
Some want to see it stay the way it is, a skeletal reminder to Six Nations neighbours of what happened just six years ago.
Others are ready to move on, with or without the support of their neighbours in Caledonia."

~ Turtle Island News, North America's Native Weekly Newspaper, Wednesday, August 29, 2012

www.theturtleislandnews.com



Story of Caledonia



Available in The Neat Little Bookshop HELPLESS, Christie Blatchford, Random House of Canada, Ltd.,2010

www.caledoniawakeupcall.ca

Reta's Bear 1921

"But that bear ~ the one on the [right,] has a very special look about him:  the sort of Bear who might not necessarily have been Born Great, but who will either Achieve Greatness or have Greatness Thrust Upon Him!" ~ Brian Sibley.

"It was just such a bear, a handsome fellow in golden mohair, that, in August 1921, was purchased from the toy department of Harrods in London by Mrs Daphne Milne as a first birthday present for her son, named Christopher Robin, but known to the family as 'Billy Moon'.
"...Mr. Milne may not have immediately recognised the furry newcomer's literary potential (and it was to be some years before he became known as Winnie-the-Pooh), but one-year-old Billy loved his Bear from the very first.  'Every only-child has his favourite toy,' he was to write many years after, 'and every only-child has a special need of one.  Pooh was mine.'"

~ Three Cheers for Pooh, A Celebration of the Best Bear in All the World, by Brian Sibley, Egmont Children's Books Limited.  2001.

Photo:  My Mother, Reta Melick's beloved bear.  Reta was born on Sept., 28, 1921.  (Reta's bear ~ although mended ~ looks similar to and was purchased around the same time as Christopher Robin's.)

Original Winnie-the-Pooh Toys ~ Wikipedia

Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends ~ the original toys ~ reside at The New York Library on 42nd Street.  Every year thousands of children and their parents some to see them.

I first met Catherine Stidsen when she came into the bookshop shortly after we opened on Cayuga Street.  Catherine glanced around, expressed her apparent sincere approval and I knew instinctively that we had a supporter.  We were nowhere near meeting our own standards at that time but she seemed to share our vision.

It was not long after that that Catherine came around with giant, handsome posters and glossy programs promoting Doors Open Ontario.  Haldimand for the first time was participating in the annual Ontario Heritage Trust event.  Catherine had been instrumental in making it happen.  One of the historical sites that proudly opens its doors to the public is Cottonwood Mansion ~ another project that benefits from the efforts of this community-conscious lady.

Catherine, we look forward to learning more about your growing up in Philadelphia, your teachings, writings, studies in theology and your connection with India.  The author Catherine has posted on-line stories with wonderful themes:  "Love In a Rectory," "The Flower Garden," "The Cat Who Came for March Break,"  "The Manger Stuffed with Cotton" and my personal favourite, "It Depends."

Join us on Thursday, September 6 at 1:00 for our Afternoon With the Author, Catherine Stidsen.  Fascinating lady with a fascinating life.

www.doorsopenontario.on.ca

Catherine at Cottonwood Mansion

Fascinating Personalities ~

Catherine Stidsen is our First Personality of the Fall Season

We are pleased to host an afternoon on Thursday, September 6, 1:00 p.m. when Catherine joins us to talk about "HERSTORIES" which appear on her own website.
www.catherineberrystidsen.org

Welcome Everyone  ~ No Admittance.  Please join us.



Photo:  Compliments of C Stidsen  (thank you, Catherine) 

Tomorrow:  Learn more about C. Stidsen

One of a Pair Montgomery Dogs

Lucy Maud Montgomery refers to the heirloom dogs in several of her books including, Anne of the Island, Anne's House of Dreams  and Anne of Ingleside.  "When I was a little girl, visiting at Grandfather Montgomery's, I think the thing that most enthralled me was a pair of China dogs which always sat on the sitting room mantel piece. . .

"I have always hankered to possess a pair of similar dogs and as those had been purchased in London I hoped when I came over I would find something like them.  Accordingly, I have haunted the antique shops in every place I have been. . .there was an abundance of dogs with black spots and some few dogs with red spots, but nowhere the aristocratic dogs with green spots...The race of dogs with green spots seems to have become extinct."
Photo:  www.lucymaudmontgomerymuseum.com   The dogs with the green spots remain in Grandfather's house.

~ Lucy Maud Montgomery,The Selected Journals, Vol. II:  1910 - 1921. University of Guelph, 1987.  Canadian author (1874 - 1942)