It’s the early 1920s and Lotta Dempsey is nervously walking into the MacDonald Hotel in Edmonton to meet the subject of her interview, Miss Charlotte Whitton. It’s the first time Dempsey has been entrusted with covering an official visitor on national business. Mr. MacPherson, the city editor of The Edmonton Journal, had only assigned the… Continue reading Driving Miss Dempsey
Series: Spring 1999
What Would You Do?
The Proposal In the fall of 1998, several well-known Toronto wine writers were asked to be consultants to Magnotta Winery Inc. The Toronto Star‘s Tony Aspler, The Globe and Mail‘s David Lawrason, The Toronto Sun‘s Gordon Stimmell, Toronto Life‘s Margaret Swaine, eye magazine’s Konrad Ejbich, and Andrew Sharp, who freelances for the Winnipeg Free Press… Continue reading What Would You Do?
Gotta Getta Guest
A Swissair DC-10 has crashed in the water off Nova Scotia. As many as 150 people may have been onboard. The jet made what is being described as an emergency landing near Blandford, Nova Scotia. That’s on the south shore. Witnesses say their houses shook as the plane went down. It was on a flight… Continue reading Gotta Getta Guest
On a Left Wing and a Prayer
James Lorimer is a man with a mission. Hes coming to Toronto this weekend, and he’s got no time for pesky interviews he’s sitting in on the last editorial meetings before the official March relaunch of his magazine,Canadian Forum. Lorimer’s the kind of guy who demands flowchart analysis from his editorial staff: he doesn’t want… Continue reading On a Left Wing and a Prayer
Ethics On Ice
“I want to be in a position to average out 1.5 [million dollars],” says Don Meehan, a National Hockey League player agent, as he argues with Bill Watters, assistant to the president for the Toronto Maple Leafs, over a new contract for Tie Domi. “Jesus Christ!” responds Watters. He pauses. “Well, that’s not a bad… Continue reading Ethics On Ice