Dr. David Suzuki is leading a panel discussion in the auditorium at the Ontario Science Centre after showing a 30-minute segment from his celebrated series, A Planet for the Taking. The crowd, spilling out into the lobby, fidgets whenever Suzuki, the star attraction, deflects their attention to other panelists, among them Tom Harpur, syndicated columnist… Continue reading Harpurs’s Progress
Series: Winter 1986
Out of Whack
When The Canadian Encyclopedia was published last fall, newspapers across the country clamored to praise it. Superlatives leapt from their pages like so many tiny maple leaves fluttering in the wind: the encyclopedia promised Canadiana from A to Z and it delivered, they said, so why not wave the flag a little? It’s “the finest… Continue reading Out of Whack
The Laird of Harrowsmith
It’s 12:30 on a Thursday afternoon in a large Victorian farm house in the village of Camden East, about 40 kilometres northwest of Kingston. The staffers of Harrowsmith and Equinox magazines have filtered down from their offices in the building’s upper floors and are queued up in the communal kitchen, trying to get a glimpse… Continue reading The Laird of Harrowsmith
Theatre of Hate
Self-confessed Nazi sympathizer Ernst Zundel stood trial in January, 1985, for publishing his view that the Holocaust was nothing but a Jewish hoax. He was later convicted of “spreading false news ” for his 32-page pamphlet entitled “Did six million really die”? But for Zundel it was well worth being tried-in return he received a… Continue reading Theatre of Hate
News on a Platter
“A special cleanser, such as Olay beauty bar, will gently cleanse and soften your skin, leaving it looking healthy and radiant.” “Generally speaking, all-season tires, such as the Michelin XA4, are so good that they meet the needs of 90 per cent of Canadian motorists, says Michelin.” These sentences are taken from a file of… Continue reading News on a Platter