Category: Spring 1990

One weekend in October 1985, John and Tuula McPhee left behind the tacky delights of Niagara Falls and found themselves driving down the Niagara Parkway. Along the banks of a green Niagara River they followed two-lane concrete curves through autumning peach orchards. Farmland turned to forest as they neared the mouth of the river. A… Continue reading New-kid-on-the-lake

The Globe and Mail came under fire last December for an article deemed derogatory by some of its readers. The front-page story appeared on November 27, 1989, under the disturbing headline, “Shuffling cripples, retarded bring look of Dante’s Inferno to life in Chinese village.” The article by the Globe’s correspondent in China, Jan Wong, was… Continue reading Sticks and Stones

It used to be fun. It used to be challenging. It used to be what you wanted to do with your life. But it isn’t anymore. Deadlines are getting harder to meet, fresh stories harder to find and the long hours harder to endure. The money you once thought didn’t matter now does. And the… Continue reading Tuned In, Turned Off and Burned Out

Late in the afternoon of Friday, March 4, 1988, in a non-descript Toronto courtroom, a 25-year-old Greek immigrant was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 30 days in prison, to be served on weekends. Given the rather commonplace nature of the crime, in a city of over two million, that should have been the… Continue reading Trial by Headline

The year is 1956. A wide-eyed, baby-faced young journalist, fresh from his first professional stint at Maclean Hunter, decides he’s ready for the Big Time: The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. There are no immediate openings, but he is given the opportunity to write for The Globe on a freelance basis. When the first… Continue reading Counterfeit Copy