“Finding Forrester”, Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, Busta Rhymes and F. Murray Abraham. Produced by Laurence Mark, Sean Connery and Rhonda Tollefson, Directed by Johnathan King, Written by Mike Rich.

2000, Columbia Pictures

Finding Forrester is the story of a young student who, through a misadventure, becomes friends with a reclusive writer, and both lives are enriched by the relationship.

Based on a 1998 screenplay by Mike Rich, which emerged as one of five finalists out of 4500 entries in the 1998 Don and Gee Nicholl writing competition, Sean Connery agreed to star as William Forrester, the enigmatic writer in the story, and to be one of the producers as well.

This movie has hints of greatness in the concept, and as a story of a deserving young man developing talent and skills in writing, through the tutelage of a famous author, this is a version of the “coming-of-age” genre which is popular among movie audiences.

The villain, the Literature teacher, is not very villainous, and the romantic interest, played by Anna Paquin, is sweet, but unreachable, as the white daughter of the rich patron of an exclusive school that Rob Brown, black and from a poor family, finds himself attending.

I was reminded of a kinder, gentler, shorter, magic-free version of Harry Potter under the tutelage of Connery as Dumbledore. Having said that, the movie is eminently watchable. The main emotional message that friendship is important, comes wrapped in lessons of Coleridge and Poe.

Rated PG-13, this is a nice family movie for a Saturday evening.

As we move into Spring, and look toward the summer reading season, I have the pleasure of reviewing a Canadian author, published by Edmonton’s Brindle & Glass.

“Looking Good”, Volume four of “Difficulty at the Beginning” – Keith Maillard
Published 2006 by Brindle and Glass, ISBN 1-897142-09-9, $22.95 CDN

Keith Mallard, who has taught Creative Writing at UBC since 1989, had his first novel published in 1976. Over the decades, he has been prolific, and has won a number of awards, including the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, the Gerald Lampert Prize for best first book of poetry, the Creative Arts Prize, from the Polish American Historical Association, and was short-listed for the Governor General’s Award in 1999.

A native of West Virginia who spent the late 60’s around Boston, Maillard moved to Canada in the early 1970’s, out of dissatisfaction over the Vietnam War. His most recent work, a four-volume series following the coming of age of Johnny Dupre, the protagonist, is set out as follows:

Volume I – Running, published in September, 2005
Volume II – Morgantown, published in April, 2006
Volume III – Lyndon Johnson and the Majorettes, published April, 2006
Volume IV – Looking Good, published September 2006.

I had no problem jumping into the story by reading “Looking Good”, and the narrative and dialogue is crisp and evocative.

“Looking Good” takes place largely in Boston and area, in 1969 – 1970, and the action is centered around Leftist and counter-establishment groups, which reflects the experience of the author during that time. The reader is taken on an intricate tour of the politics and issues which fired student activism in the late 1960’s, and the humor of watching fledgling leftists trying to work with fledgling feminists presages the changes which convulsed the United States as a result of these movements.

Johnny Dupre’s character has a counter-point in the voice of Tom Parker, and the difference in personalities presents the reader with a dual perspective on events which they move through together.

The old adage about the 60’s holds mostly true in the book: there are sex and drugs, though little in the way of Rock ‘n Roll. The description of an acid high is evocative and powerful enough that I had to take my attention away from the book from time to time while reading it. (And I might have inhaled, but I never dropped LSD during that time, or since.) The intimate scenes are exquisitely vivid without being pornographic, and laden with under-tones. One realizes, while reading this book, why the printed word is such a powerful medium.

Being a Baby-Boomer, although somewhat younger than Maillard (I was born in 1953, versus 1942 for Maillard), much of the referenced events in “Looking Good” are fresh in my mind, and often provided a counter-point to the perspectives in the book.

I found “Looking Good” to be filled with action, and not the type of writing one takes to the beach to drowse over while sipping lemonade. If the reader wants to revisit the late 60’s and early 70’s, this book provides a perspective which is poignant, given the situation in the U.S. today, post-9/11, and with the Iraq war.

All in all, I can recommend this book as a “stand-alone” book, and if the reader is interested in revisiting the growing up of the Baby-Boom generation, delving into all four volumes of Difficulty at the Beginning might be part of their summer reading plans.

Brindle & Glass has a good selection of books available, and the reader can view their recent offerings at:

http://www.brindleandglass.com/

Jim Szpajcher

You have to learn to appreciate the little things in life, because the big things may never get here and then you’ve sat around for nothing.
~ Paul Reiser

If you don’t change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news? Anon.

Old age is the most unexpected of all things to happen to a man. – Leon Trotsky

It takes a long time to become young. – Pablo Picasso

“Those who visit foreign nations, but associate only with their own country-men, change their climate, but not their customs. They see new meridians, but the same men; and with heads as empty as their pockets, return home with traveled bodies, but untraveled minds.” — Caleb Colton

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.

M. Scott Peck

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

It is with deep regret that I write to tell you all that Bill McKay, of Vancouver Mensa, who has been handling the CANDA mailing for the past few years, died suddenly on January 12th. A memorial article has been sent to
MC2 and to Lumens.

Bill’s widow called me to ask what she should do about the accumulation of newsletters (10 per issue went to Bill, for forwarding to every other newsletter Editor) and I offered to collect them and pass them on to all of you, at least for the short term.

I would ask that as quickly as possible, you change the mailout address you have for Bill to my snail mail address:

Geraldine Sombke
1616 Pendrell St, Apt 1701
Vancouver, BC V6G 1S8

Thanks, and feel free to contact me if I can provide further information.

Gerri Sombke

teacher@brightwebs.com
“Helping you feel comfortable in a high-tech world”

Happy EASTER to you all,

I’m writing this on St. Patrick’s Day, BUT perhaps I shouldn’t be as I’ve probably had more than my fill of green beer only to have discovered that the stain – after spilling it down my front – doesn’t come out. I went for breakfast this morning, and the staff were wearing Green party hats and I just happened to smile and suggest to the people ahead of me that today the special was “Green eggs and ham!!” I hope not said the young lady, I hope that they have ordinary eggs! Well Sam liked them!!

We celebrate St. Patrick, BUT NOT Dewi Sant (St. David) whom children in the know would have you believe that he is the Patron Saint of Whales!! We don’t celebrate any other Saint’s Day in Canada. I may be wrong, BUT I don’t think that Canada has a Patron saint! I have since googled it and found that indeed we do. How many have heard of Saint Jean de Brébeuf and also know that his day is October 19th? (There, you learn something every day!!)

Enough of the easy stuff!! I am quite pleased to be able to announce that we have another PRIZE QUIZ. This one is being run in conjunction with OPINEON of The Ottawa / Sudbury Mensa Group and Millie Norry. I made up the quiz, she tweaked it a little and now it is up to us to show Millie’s group that more of us can get ALL the answers correct than they can. It doesn’t help us when we realize that there are twice as many members in the Ottawa group.

This Quiz is open to ALL Calgary members in good standing, with one prize going to the first all correct emailed answers – from the Yahoo notification and another prize going to the first all correct snailmailed answers, WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE QUIZ SHEET, WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS AND MAIL IT BACK TO ME. That is how the written answers will be decided. The date received will determine that winner.

We did have 130 members at the end of last year, BUT so far, only 83 have renewed, so the chances of winning are increased for everybody. The Prize is $20 each, and people have to remember that the membership dues are for the calendar year, January to December, regardless of when you actually joined up. Renewal notices are NOT sent out, BUT references to the renewal process and forms, prices and the address is given in MC2. It is the same every year, and your expiry date is on the label of MC2 also.

Spring must be the season for changing jobs, renewing the life / career process. I am aware of quite a few Calgary Members who have changed employers in the last couple of months. For ME, it is the same old, same old, as it is perhaps for some of you also. I have been thinking about donating my living body to Science. Goodness knows that there is enough wrong with me that numerous people could write a thesis about me. I would be a willing subject. I did volunteer last Fall at the Foothills Hospital, with the 1st year Doctors in their communication course. Lots of fun. Volunteering at The Calgary Zoo is also lots of fun. Sometimes I am quite glad that I am incapable of work so that I have the time to volunteer, BUT it would also be very nice to be able to participate in the same things with a paycheque at the end. That is the price we pay sometimes to be able to truthfully fully enjoy our “work”.

I truly wish that you all enjoy all your work, and are not stressed out over it. Just what is the value of enormous paycheques with all stress and no happiness?

Peter Walker

Editor

Any Submissions to this website greatly appreciated