"An Evening of Mystery" ~



Authors Maureen Jennings & Brad Smith



Maureen Jennings, author of the Murdoch Mysteries, and Brad Smith, author of All Hat, Red Means Run and Crow's Landing, were special guests tonight at a River Arts Festival event, Dunnville, Ontario.

Answering questions from the audience, the authors talked at length about their writing styles and techniques ~ relating personal stories and describing their upcoming books. 



Moderator, David Richardson, Introducing Murdock Mysteries Author Maureen Jennings





www.riverartsfestival.ca

www.sceneofthecrimebook.com



Don Longmuir of ~ Scene of the Crime Books ~ & Jodi Orr



"I have never been more hopeful about our future."
~ U.S. President Barack Obama, speech November 6, 2012

Closing paragraph from The Audacity of Hope, Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream ~ 2006

"At night, the great shrine [the Lincoln Memorial] is lit but often empty.  Standing between marble columns, I read the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address.  I look out over the Reflecting Pool, imagining the crowd stilled by Dr. King's mighty cadence, and then beyond that, to the floodlit obelisk and shining Capitol dome.
And in that place, I think about America and those who built it.  This nation's founders, who somehow rose above petty ambitions and narrow calculations to imagine a nation unfurling across a continent.  And those like Lincoln and King, who ultimately laid down their lives in the service of perfecting an imperfect union.  And all the faceless, nameless men and women, slaves and soldiers and tailors and butchers, constructing lives for themselves and their children and grandchildren, brick by brick, rail by rail, calloused hand by calloused hand, to fill in the landscape of our collective dreams.

It is that process I wish to be a part of.

My heart is filled with love for this country."

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"

"WHAT the Declaration of Independence had proclaimed ~ the heady concept of a man's "unalienable" right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" ~ the Constitution forged into reality.  Independence had been won, and the government that followed had proved a rope of sand, when delegates from the floundering states met in Philadelphia's Independence Hall on May 25, 1787.
Remarkable men all ~ Jefferson called them an "assembly of demigods" ~ they came to amend weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that bound the Nation.  But daringly they launched a new government, working behind guard doors, the cobbled streets outside earth-covered to muffle traffic noise.  On September 17 their work was done:  a document destined to "...secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity..."

"BUT first the infant Congress ~ to meet criticisms that the Constitution lacked clear-cut guarantees of freedom of speech, religion, and other vital rights ~ drafted 12 amendments.  Ten were ratified by the states and became known as the Bill of Rights."

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."  ~
Words at the doorway of a room housing the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. U.S.A. National Archives.

~ We, the People, United States Capitol, Historical Society, 1978.

"The sweetest creation of childlife yet written" ~ author Mark Twain.

Gift Shop Edition, 1998

A 1908, first-edition of Anne of Green Gables, just sold for ten thousand dollars.  Shown here, the  1998 Green Gables Edition (produced exclusively for the Boutique Green Gable Gift Shop). 

Canadian author, Lucy Maude Montgomery used the old family farmhouse in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island as the setting for Anne of Green Gables.  The author is buried in nearby Cavendish Cemetery because she said, "it overlooked the spots I always loved, the pond, the shore, the sand dunes and the harbour." 

(L.M.Montgomery ~ November 30, 1874 - April 24, 1942)

There is a longing

There is a longing among all people and

creatures to have a sense of purpose and worth.

To satisfy that common longing in all of us we

must respect each other.

In the olden times man

and creature walked as friends
who carried the beauty of the
land in their heart. 
Now each one of us is needed to make
sure the salmon can find a
place to spawn and the bear
cub a tree to climb.
There is little time left
and much effort needed!

~ Chief Dan George, excerpts from My Spirit Soars, 1982, Hancock House Publishers Ltd.

The Bear is Closest to Man

"When I was born my grandfather took me from my mother and wrapped me into a black bear's soft fur blanket.  It gave me warmth! It gave me security and comfort!  How can I be anything but grateful to the bear?  Of all the creatures he is closest to man.  Yet it seems there is little place for him now."

The Wolf

"The wolf has been driven from the land.  Without him the wolf clan cannot celebrate the wolf ceremony.  To lose a ceremony is to lose the past."

"I appealed to the wolf to come and preside over us while I would perform the wolf ceremony so that the bondage between my grandson and the wolf would be lifelong....
When I had ended, it was as if the whole world listened with us to hear the wolf's reply.  We waited a long time but none came.
Again I sang, humbly but as invitingly as I could, until my throat ached and my voice gave out.
All of a sudden I realized why no wolves had heard my sacred song.  There were none left!
My heart filled with tears.  I could no longer give my grandson faith in the past, our past.
At last I could whisper to him:  "It is finished!"
"Can I go home now?" he asked, checking his watch to see if he would still be in time to catch his favorite program on T.V.
I watched him disappear and wept in silence.
All is finished!"

Dan George died September 23, 1981 at age 82.  According to his biographer, an eagle appeared overhead and flew, in silent circles as the chief was buried. ~ excerpts, My Spirit Soars by Chief Dan George and Hirnschall, Hancock House Publisher Ltd., Surrey, B.C., 1982.

Photos:  Credit River, Ontario, Canada. lbw

"You come from a shy face,

Ours are the silent ways.

We have always done all things in a gentle manner;

so much as the brook

that avoids the solid rock

in its search for the sea

and meets the deer in passing.

You too must follow the path

of your own race.

It is steady and deep,

reliable and lasting.

It is you,

~ if you let it happen."

~ Chief Dan George, the best of Chief Dan George, Hancock House Publishers Ltd., 2005.

Chief Dan George (1899- 1981) was born Dan Slaholt.  Author, poet, actor.  Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver, B.C.

Tomorrow:  My Spirit Soars, by Chief Dan George.
Photo:  Forks of the Credit, Ontario.  lbwalker

Ecology and Taking Care of Our Earth ~

Organic Gardening

A handful of people fondled a handful of dirt yesterday in The Neat Little Bookshop ~ Anne Vallentin's poignant message was that we must change our ways if the planet is to survive.

Photos:  Friend Sharon Jackson's Beautiful Organic Garden, lbw (Please click on photo for larger image.)

Organic Gardening Doesn't Have to be Boring