We were in a restaurant in a hotel in Paris. It was the middle of the Republican primaries before that weird election that took Donald J. Trump to a one term presidency.

Wife and I were on a short trip to France. It was part of an organized tour which I hate. There were about 20 or 30 of us and it was all Americans except for wife Judy and me.

Over dinner with one of the American couples the subject of Donald Trump was raised at the table and the couple with us, older than ourselves, wanted to know if I could assure them that Donald Trump would never be President of the United States. I told them with great and very misplaced confidence that the American people would never let someone like Trump be president.

Orange faced oily grifter

Well, how wrong was that! Incredibly all obstacles vanished, and an orange faced oily grifter named Trump became POTUS as they say in news circles. 

It was enough to send you to despair although, luckily, as soon he walked in through the doors of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue Donald Trump began to self-destruct. Through an incredible series of bad decisions by Trump, the Republican Party lost control of the House of Representatives, the Senate and ultimately the White House itself when Democrat Joe Biden beat him at the polls like you would beat a rug in the spring.

Even after Trump’s defeat things turned really ugly after what was an attempted coup in Washington on the 6th of January that did not work. The air went out of Trump’s attempt to cling to power with a whoosh. He may run for President again, but even his hold on the Republican Party has waned and Donald is no longer the “go to guy.”

He was caught with classified secret documents from his presidency stashed away at his Florida golf club with federal agents armed with a search warrant pounding on the door looking to get the material back.

I think Donald Trump is going to jail eventually. He will be a victim of his own ego. He thought he was above the law. Now as he “lawyers up” it must cross his mind between snack boxes and hamburgers that this is one narrative he cannot control.

In a quiet moment he will wonder how it all went wrong so quickly and how he came to be wearing an orange jumpsuit from some federal penitentiary. A friend of mine has one of those “Make America Great Again” hats. He does not wear it anymore. Not a minute too soon.   

NTV’s Jim Furlong can be reached by emailing: jfurlong@ntv.ca

You know I am privileged to live in a major centre (all things are relative) and to have a family doctor. The corridors of the Health Sciences are familiar to me because I have been there many times with the assorted afflictions that come down upon a man in his mid-seventies. 

I have known the operating room. I have been in emergency. Been to x-ray and all kinds of diagnostic imaging procedures and tests. Spent time in the chapel. I am privileged and it is hard to even imagine not being able to see a doctor. Unfortunately, many people in our province don’t have that same access. 

 Honestly, there is going to be no quick solution to our health care crisis. Is there a crisis? Absolutely!  As most of you know emergency rooms have been forced to temporarily close in several communities recently Why? Because there aren’t doctors to staff them. Everybody knows that but the question is Who is the bad guy? 

Apple pie & motherhood

It is okay for opposition parties or labour groups to say government needs to do more to attract and retain doctors. That is apple pie and motherhood. I can tell you who the bad guy is. It is geography. You must ask the question about how you can get someone to practise medicine in tiny rural communities. Communities by the way that are smaller than they used to be. 

 What are you going to offer a med-school graduate to come here and to Newfoundland and Labrador and set up a practise? Money? That won’t do it. A doctor is going to have money wherever he or she hangs out their shingle. Lifestyle? The doctor shortage is such that all you can offer is incredibly long hours and hard work. Doctors are going to be run off their medical feet.

Now it isn’t easy to write this without offending anyone but if you want me to practise in a community you must ask the question as to why I should move there. I have never been there. And it is not even on the road to any where. My guess is that someone from that community or nearby would be an excellent choice. 

That would be true for Bonavista or Ferryland or Buchans and a whole bunch of places like it. I am from inner city St. John’s so you can take a stab at where I might like to practise.  It is most unfortunate but that is the reality of the situation. Newfoundland, in many sections anyway, is “emptying out” for economic reasons. There is a price attached to that and it is unfortunately the way things are. I wish it wasn’t that way.      

NTV’s Jim Furlong can be reached by emailing: jfurlong@ntv.ca

In his new novel, author Bill Rowe imagines a former British PM fascinated with his First Nations roots and driven by time to share his story

“You found the place,” Bill Rowe exclaims as I pull up to the driveway.  

He greets me at the door of his writing retreat, an apartment in the shadow of Signal Hill. Rowe’s eyes are what you notice first, eager for the next exciting conversation. 

Despite a career going back to the 1960’s – broadly distributed between politics, radio host, commentator, writer, and when he had the time, law – he’s not in any way “talked out.”

“What motivated me in life was writing,” he confesses.

“While I was on the radio – and after – I succeeded in putting together 13 books. When I look back on it, it’s a rather phenomenal thing for someone who was also practicing law. It was a busy time, so I was glad to get time freed up to concentrate on writing. It doesn’t make me write faster, but more thoughtfully, more profoundly.”

Writing tends to be a one-way conversation: the writer communicating thoughts and ideas to a reader. Yet, knowing who you’re writing for is a valuable consideration and Rowe says his time as an open line host and politician gave him and appreciation for how people in the province talk and speak to each other.

Boyhood Dream

“Especially ‘around the bay,’ as we say in Newfoundland,” he adds.  

“To hear people expressing themselves, the words they choose, the cadence of their voices.  Especially women!

“It really is fascinating and I try to make sure that gets into my prose, brought in through the dialogue, incorporating a lot of Newfoundland and Labrador words and idioms, that kind of thing. That’s what I took from being on the radio.”

Like so many born during or around the time of the Second World War, Winston Churchill has loomed large in the life of Bill Rowe. He says writing about ‘the great man’ had been rumbling around his mind “since I was a boy.”

“He spent the first two years of the War, if not feeling alone, seeming alone against the German rampage over Europe. It took a couple of years – and some serendipity – to get the Americans involved.”

Churchill, the man, was nearly American by birth. His mother, Jennie, was born in Brooklyn and it’s those Yankee Doodle roots that provided Rowe with a rich playground to imagine a Churchill who spends his remaining months on Earth exploring those roots by reaching out to a young student, William Cull.

Rowe relies upon his own experiences as a student in London during the beginning of the Swinging Sixties to open his latest book, The Reincarnation of Winston Churchill. The story centers on William Cull, a student from Newfoundland, who encounters a world that seems like one great salon of British culture. Cull sees early shows from comic actors who would later become members of Monty Python. 

He befriends a pre-incarceration version of the novelist, Jeffrey Archer. Even a pre-fab Beatles get a cameo. So let there be no doubt of the setting.

Through circumstance and connections, Cull eventually comes under the gaze of Churchill. Rowe paints a portrait of a diminished political leader but still a man of fortitude and, as it turns out, gratitude for Newfoundland’s role in the War, both for England and America.

Soon, Cull becomes ever-present to Churchill as the young student can hardly say no to the man who has roped him into chronicling some of his final stories. Churchill has become besotted by his First Nations roots and wants Cull to record it for posterity. 

“Churchill was very proud of his indigenous ancestry,” Rowe says. “One time, [U.S. President] Roosevelt said to Churchill, ‘You know, Winston, my ancestors were amongst the first to settle on Manhattan Island.’ And Churchill replies, ‘And you know, Franklin, my ancestors welcomed them here when they came ashore.’”

The Churchill of history is remembered with a complicated legacy; resolute and tactical at war, racist and imperial with many cultures not British.

Still, Churchill fought for the statehood of Israel and it’s that side of the man which Rowe chooses to produce the former prime minister’s curiousity about his indigenous heritage. 

Yet, rather than have an affinity with their connection to the Earth and its precious eco-system, it should be no surprise a warlike lad like Churchill muses if his indigenous heritage has somehow made him the warrior he has been.  

“Churchill said he knew he was a man of destiny. He recovered from accidents and attempts to assassinate him. At one point, William Cull asks the PM’s secretary, Montague Brown, if he might die before he finishes telling this story.

“And Churchill predicted the day of his death, in January of 1965, 70 years to the day after his own father died.”

His Story Told

Perhaps impending demise creates the manner in which Rowe’s version of Churchill speaks throughout the book.  Less “we shall fight on the beaches…” and more a man manic to finish this business and get his story told.

By novel’s end, Bill Rowe may be asking readers who have descended from European settlers and colonists, if they can see that it’s still possible to reconcile our past and heritage. Despite the passing of decades, even centuries, it is not too late to tell the stories.  And for Rowe, this was a story he had to tell.

For more information  on Bill Rowe and The Reincarnation of Winston
Churchill and to purchase a copy, visit boulderbooks.ca or on their social medias.

Just as I thought the damage was done and the much-repudiated Donald Trump had exited the stage we find his ghost still haunts the halls, at least for a little while longer.  

The democratic process in the United States said a resounding “NO” to Donald of the orange hair in the ballot box for control of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, yet we are not out from under his dark shadow.

The United States and the world really were shocked last week by the Supreme Court striking down a court decision half a century old. It was the court decision that had recognized the right of a woman to access an abortion, that decision was the monumental decision that’s known commonly as Roe V. Wade, and it has prevailed as law in the U.S. since 1973. Now, an ultra conservative panel of mostly Trump appointed Supreme Court judges has changed the law. That’s despite the fact 70 per cent of Americans favoured retaining it.  

Roe V. Wade

The decision by the Supreme Court had not been printed before the protests started. Overturning Roe V. Wade was seen around the world as a backward step since it’s completely at odds with how most of the world is thinking and reflected, not the will of the people, but the will of the ultra right Trump wing of the Republican Party. What’s truly frightening is that Roe V. Wade and what it already has done to the social fabric of society may well be the thin edge of the wedge. 

Who knows what’s next? The target might be sexual orientations or the legality of some activities between consenting adults. 

In Canada we have some protection and I am forever grateful to Pierre Elliott Trudeau who changed our lives in Canada when he said, “the State has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.” That was Canada, but who knows what might be on the horizon in the United States. 

The political coffin

You know the real irony in this is that it might be a final nail in the political coffin of Donald Trump. He still is a major influence on who wins Republican nominations, but that influence is within the party. The Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wade will not help them at the polls. I expect that realization will roll across the Republicans. Trump himself has referenced it. I find comfort in the fact that “the people” will speak and the will of those people will prevail. 

A look at the polls in the United States show a ten-point swing toward the Democrats in the past four months. 

A woman will still be able to have options in the U.S., but only if she has access to resources. Not everybody does. That is an aspect of the Roe V. Wade decision that’s so sad.      

NTV’s Jim Furlong can be reached by emailing: jfurlong@ntv.ca

Given all the problems we have with alcohol in our society it is with some reluctance I tell you of the way things were in the press gallery of the House of Assembly. Not to dismiss all the bad things associated with it, but I tell you today with not much regret that back in the 1970’s the press contingent actually had a bar going in the gallery of the Honourable House. 

The press has a place in the H of A out in the public gallery, but there is however an inner room inside where the proceedings can be heard on speakers and recorded. There are desks there and telephones and the business of the House was there to listen to. 

Now for our entertainment and general relaxation, the Press Gallery ran a bar out of that inner room. It was very informal. No neon lights, but a few bottles of liquor and mix kept in a filing cabinet drawer. There was also a change box and a few cups. 

Bren Walsh of CBC was the unofficial keeper of supplies. Now, before I go any further, I must tell you without shame that it was all pretty good. Imagine in your own work place you could go over and mix yourself a drink and sit at your desk. I could tell you that I never saw anyone drink too much, but I can say it was on exceedingly rare occasions. We had work to do. 

Guilty As Charged

The gentlemen of the press in those days included the aforementioned Bren Walsh and personages like Scott Chafe, Doug Brophy of CBC (who always wore an ascot), myself, my brother John Furlong, Bob Benson and a load more. They did not all drink. For the record I did not drink every day, but what a situation we had!

Here is where it went wrong. We were not good gate keepers. We started being visited by some of the MHAs. One or more might drop up after Question Period for a social drink. The government of the day was PC, and it was some PC cabinet ministers that brought too much attention in our direction. 

Liberal MHA Steve Neary brought the matter up in Question Period. He asked about MHAs going up to the press room and coming out with flushed red faces.  

That was it. We had no defence. Guilty as charged. Even the best things must end sometime. It’s without justification, but I have absolutely no regrets. An enjoyable time had by all in a different generation. 

Good stories, good reporters and yet another good example of why working in news has always been a wonderful way to make a living. I did not name the MHA customers. It would be against the code. 

NTV’s Jim Furlong can be reached by emailing: jfurlong@ntv.ca

Danny Williams still plays hockey regularly when he’s in town. While many know Williams as a powerhouse of a former premier, or as the developer of “Dannyland,” the man who always seemed to have the plan was also quite the sportsman. From player (from his St. Bon’s days on) to coach to promoter, Williams literally and figuratively kept his stick on the ice.

From the American League’s St. John’s Maple Leaf franchise to the wildly popular IceCaps, Williams played a prominent and influential role when it came to delivering professional hockey to The Rock.  

“We’ve got a regular Tuesday night group that get together and play (hockey) when I’m in town … I’ve been playing, coaching or involved at the executive level when it comes to hockey since I can remember,” he opened, reflecting. 

On swapping out the old Memorial Stadium for Mile One (now called the Mary Brown’s Centre), Williams shared that it was time to make some improvements for the sake of the game, the players, and the fans. 

“When the city got the franchise for the Toronto Maple Leafs (St. John’s Maple Leafs, also known with affection as the Baby Leafs) back in the 90s …  we became very much aware that Memorial Stadium was just basically wearing out. It was built in the early 50s and they needed a new facility. And because of our affiliation with Toronto and Toronto had just been in the process of completing the Air Canada Centre … so we just got started on a new stadium to support the league here,” he said.

For Williams, the fan support made the investment worthwhile. “The fan base is incredible. The greater Avalon region draws on basically half the population of the province, and when we had the IceCaps we had people coming from pretty much everywhere for games. We were basically selling out for three full years … we were providing a caliber of entertainment and it was great hockey,” he said.

‘Fill the house’

Was it profitable? Oh yes, though they worked at it, he admitted. “You need to get the numbers out. You know, it’s difficult to break even with small numbers, but as you fill the house that’s where it basically becomes worthwhile or profitable.”

But beyond the profit, the people who were involved stand out, he continued. Glenn Stanford, currently the Governor and Chief Operating Officer of the Newfoundland Growlers, stands out, he said.

“Glenn has been involved with the American Hockey League … and has brought a wealth of experience and a wealth of contacts through his affiliations with the various franchises. He  approached me and said, ‘Look, I think Winnipeg might have an interest in coming here because they’ve just started a new team,’ and we got on it right away and we had a team up and running and ready for a season opening run in under six months.” 

Stanford was able put a team on home ice in short order because he had experience and contacts, Williams said with admiration. Stanford was also a good friend of Dave Andrews (a former player and then president of the American Hockey League), Williams continued, and because of that, he was also a great friend to Newfoundland and Labrador.  

“Dave Andrews was instrumental in seeing various franchises come to St. John’s and to the province,” he said.

We ask if Williams feels pride in his accomplishments when it comes to bringing professional hockey to this province.

”There’s a lot of people that are involved, from trainers on, that were a key component to the success of the organization. Some have left here and have gone off and worked with NHL organizations as a result of the training and the connections that they had in St. John’s.”

We were also blessed to have had a “tremendous number of great hockey players, some who have stepped up to the NHL and finally got their big break,” he said.  Zachary Fucale and Michael Hutchinson  are two who come to mind, he added. 

“As you watch the game you see just how difficult it is for a young man or woman to make the grade to beat the top teams. You see a lot of very, very talented athletes – hockey players – who don’t get to the big show. And you feel their sorrow and you feel their disappointment because you know that they came out of communities across the continent where they were stars. But it’s tough. It’s tough to make it,” he said with admiration. 

From injuries to tougher opponents,  they just “don’t bring the big game when they needed to bring it,” he said. But thinking back to “his” teams and players? 

“Ninety-nine percent of the time they performed heroically for us, to be quite honest with you. You get to see the ups and downs of what has become what it is to become a professional athlete and that in itself was a real eye opener for me.” 

Super-fan Andrew Abbott

Another great memory is meeting and working with people like Andrew Abbott, one of the St. John’s IceCaps top fans.

“Andrew had Down Syndrome and Andrew’s father Jim approached us and said, ‘Look, is there any place where he would have a role within the team?’ And we said, absolutely, and we would bring him into the dressing room and he very much became a part of the team and the players totally embraced him. They would take him out to their barbecues, they would take him out to social events. And he’d come down to the games fully dressed in his jersey with his hair spiked and dyed a nice blue colour. He was a great morale booster for the entire team, the entire organization and for me personally.” 

There’s hundreds of stories like that, Williams shared. “I’ve said it time and time again. I’ve learned more from hockey and gained more friends and more contacts through hockey than anything else I’ve ever done in my entire life. So hockey has served me well and I’ve tried to serve it the best of my ability on every single level I can ever be involved in. And now, of course, I have grandsons who are coming up through the game and granddaughters who are coming up through the various organizations who are playing the sport, and it couldn’t be better and I couldn’t be happier.”

But beyond the personal, what the game of hockey, and the players themselves, give back is often not highlighted enough, he said.

“The Leafs Foundation back in the 90s were very actively involved in the community and the players were absolutely marvelous when it came to giving back. Another great contributor was Buddy the Puffin. Chris Abbott. What he did and what he’s done? He was remarkable. He made his time available and you could see him just brightening the lives up of those he touched and people lit up when he was in their presence. So that whole part, the philanthropic side of the sport, that makes a big difference.”

From dollars via donations to fundraising and appearances, “professional hockey played an enormous role in the community,”  he said.

Any last thoughts? “It was such an important part of my life and I totally enjoyed it. The friends that were made, we still stay in contact. Sport is a great glue for people and it does a lot for a city and a province.” 

Jean Charest is no stranger to politics and he’s no stranger to Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, Charest was one of the influential politicians who made the trip to attend former colleague John Crosbie’s funeral in Jan. 2020.                                       

 Charest begins our chat sharing how simply being in this province brings him joy. When asked how he is on this April day he responds cheerily with, “I’m very well, thank you. How could I not be? I’m in St. John’s.”

 Charest has quite the political resume. First elected to the House of Commons in 1984 under former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative (PC) government, he would serve in several federal cabinet positions between 1986 and 1993. Charest became the leader of the PC Party in 1993, a role he remained in until entering provincial politics in Quebec in 1998 and was premier of that province for three consecutive terms, from 2003 to 2012. The 63-year-old, who is re-entering federal politics after a 30 year absence, officially confirmed his candidacy for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada in Calgary, telling those in attendance he was confident in his ability to win the next federal election. Charest, campaigning under the slogan “built to win,” describes himself (via his campaign website) as a “conservative voice that can bring our movement together around common cause issues that champion our values.”

Others vying to lead the party include current party favourite Pierre Poilievre and social conservative Leslyn Lewis.

While voters throughout NL have not been welcoming to the Conservative party through the last three federal elections, Charest admitted that while he knows he has work to do, he’s also determined.  “I intend to be a prime minister for Newfoundland Labrador. And as someone who knows the issues well, I’m very enthusiastic about getting support here and representing the province and working with people here in the province,” he said.

Charest says that part of the reason he has such an affiliation for this place is because of the late John Crosbie, who was both a colleague and a friend.

“I had a great admiration for that man. I worked with John Crosbie in cabinet. I supported a lot of what he put forward for Newfoundland and Labrador and we became friends,” he said.

Crosbie’s impact

In fact, Charest added, he thought highly of him personally, as well. “I just admired the way he led his life. He was a free thinker – an original. He was a staunch defender of Newfoundland  and Labrador. He breathed it. He ate it. It was his life. And I thought that was an example of what all of us should do for the people that we represent.”

But Crosbie’s impact was felt far beyond this province, he continued. “He left a mark on the country. He made an impact.” Charest has many “Crosbie” stories and many examples of the influence the man had. “If you were a member of parliament or a minister and you wanted to do an event in your riding, in Saskatchewan or anywhere, you invited John Crosbie and the room would be packed. No matter where he went, people were fascinated with him and thought he was one of a kind. I thought the world of him, and that’s why I wanted to attend his funeral, to show my respect and to help celebrate an extraordinary life.” 

Crosbie supported his leadership bid in ‘93, something that was “an honour,” Charest added, but most treasured memories revolve around the friendship.

There were fishing trips with Crosbie and the late George H.W. Bush, former president of the United States, as well as the late Craig Dobbin of Universal Helicopters.  The men visited Labrador, fishing at Adlatok River throughout the 1990s. Charest has so many personal tales of times spent with Crosbie. 

“I remember when I was in opposition … he and Jane (Crosbie’s wife) came over for dinner at the house and with our children, and we just had such a great time, but I remember John would say all sorts of provocative things. One time my young daughter got in an argument with him and Jane had to intervene, saying, ‘John! Stop it!’ And then Jane saying to my daughter, ‘don’t listen to him!’ There’ll never be another John Crosbie. He was such an original. I was fortunate to have his support of me in the leadership race and to have him as a friend.”

 Does Charest think NL is ready to welcome the Conservative party back? The ABC campaign (Anything But Conservative) launched by then NL premier Danny Williams against Stephen Harper in the 2008 Canadian federal election, encouraged voters in the province to support any party but the federal Conservatives. However, Charest says with renewed passion, “now’s the time to transition to a new era.”

It’s something Newfoundlanders and Labradorians experienced before, he added, back when John Crosbie was in office. “I was part of that. Big things got done, that’s when the Atlantic Accord was done. That’s when we set the framework that launched this economy. Hibernia came after that. That was a golden period of extraordinary cooperation between the federal government and Newfoundland and Labrador and that’s what we need now, what we’re looking to have in the future.”

He has big plans for the country, and  he feels NL will play a large role in that. 

“Newfoundland and Labrador needs an ally in Ottawa to be able to expand its energy projects and bring them to North America. And I want to do that, I want to be that Prime Minister. I want to write that chapter for Newfoundland and Labrador.”

‘You need a CT scan’

It has to be asked: with such a break from politics, why step back in now? Charest laughed, and in John Crosbie style answered first with: “Well, my wife Michèle told me, ‘I think you need a CT scan.’” 

However, the leadership hopeful insists he loves this country and he cares what happens. 

“It is about the country. I care very deeply about this country, my whole life. That’s why I went to Quebec to push back on the separatists wanting to hold a referendum and then turning that around. But I look at the country now and it’s deeply divided,” he said.

It’s these uncertain times when the country turns to the Conservatives, he added. “We should be the alternative to this [Liberal] government. People say, ‘get your act together and get yourself organized.’ That’s what’s got me in this race. The alternatives are not attractive.

“Either we go down the route of American-style politics or we are going to remain Canadian … I’m running for that reason: to unite the party and deliver a national government to the country and move us out of the divisions.  As someone who’s been a premier and understands how this federal system works inside and out, I want to make the system work to get things done.” 

How has his NL visit gone, we ask. It’s been positive, he said. In fact, he calls his reception “heart warming.”

Leo Power, Eugene Manning and Carol Anstey have been helping his campaign here in this province, he shared. “It’s been fantastic. The people have been great.  It’s a unique part of the world and being here is fantastic before I have to go to Ottawa and react to the budget.”   

For more visit: www.jeancharest.ca

This is an important time for our world. This is serious business. We are going to find out something about ourselves here on earth over the next weeks and months. 

There’s emerging from the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine a deep question that speaks to the notion of who exactly we are and what it means to be human.

It also asks of us if we know the difference between right and wrong. We do not know the answer yet, but we will. 

Witness to war 

The central question is whether Russian President Vladimir Putin can do whatever he likes in Ukraine and get away with it as long as the shooting stays within Ukraine. Can Putin bomb that nation into oblivion while the  world stands by and watches? 

In the 21st century is it possible that one nation can take over another while the world stands around and talks about it and waves flags and gives standing ovations? What if Putin ups the ante and takes to using chemical weapons against the Ukrainians? Will there be action then or more talk?

Is there any point at which the world yells STOP!!!!!  I ask the question today honestly and I have no answer at this stage. Perhaps the nations of the world standing together WILL solve the situation. Perhaps the economic squeeze on the Russians from so many directions will do the trick. I do not know. 

Line in the sand

I do know from our history books how we in a self-congratulatory manner talk of World War II when Hitler invaded Poland. It was the place in time where words stopped, and a line was drawn in the sand and England declared that if the Nazis did not withdraw from Poland a state of war would exist. They did not withdraw. The world went to war. 

Today we know the hearts of most of the rest of the world is with Ukraine, but this is 2022. The world is not going to war over it … at least not yet, because hanging over it all is the grim spectre of a mushroom cloud. There has been massive support both moral and in “military materiel.” That however is not the question. 

In the 21st century is it possible that one nation can take over another by force of arms? That’s the question. 

Imagine if you will, rockets and shells from a foreign power landing on Elizabeth Avenue or West Street. Imagine Newfoundland refugees and the images of a Newfoundland civilian population being targeted and apartments bombed, and thousands of people including women and children dying. 

What would you want from the rest of world? Speeches? Flags? Moral support?    

We do not know how this will end, but before it is over, we will know a lot more about ourselves and who we are.  

I was in Chapters with my daughter the other day and as we waited to check out I noticed something curious on a rack near the cash. 

The items that drew my eye were two magazines – National Geographic and Life. Not that odd considering I’m employed in the print industry and would notice what others in the business are up to, but what caused me pause were the covers; Jesus and Lucille Ball. National Geographic’s Jesus cover drew me in for a bunch of reasons, first being the fact that The Herald has had Christ on our cover twice a year since I can recall, but what led to me to pick up and flick through the edition at the cash was the juxtaposition of the magazine and its cover subject. 

Steeped in Science

You’d expect National Geographic might depict king penguins on its cover, but the man referred to as the King of the Jews? It didn’t quite make sense. Skeptical, I had to keep reading. 

“Before Jesus became one of the most famous figures in the world, he was a shepherd and teacher in Galilee living an unremarkable life,” the description read. 

The magazine then explained that its cover story titled, The Story of Jesus, delved into Jesus’s youth, life and work, plus it examined the world he lived in at the time by “following in Jesus’s footsteps from Bethlehem to Nazareth” in a “lavishly illustrated portrait of the life of a profit.” 

How compelling that a publication steeped in science and fact would be filled with a faith-based subject, particularly in these pandemic times. Then my eye was drawn to Life’s I Love Lucy cover. “She was capricious, outspoken, madcap, and never embarrassed. And we loved her for it,” the edition’s description read, adding they were honouring the famous red head’s legacy 30 years after her death. 

Life magazine has had some interesting covers, from presidents to Peanut cartoon characters. Still, seeing Lucy – the woman many attribute to launching the modern day sitcom – in a kitchen setting, wearing an apron and clutching a mixing bowl – kind of threw me and left me with eyebrows raised. 

Were they drawing on simpler times? Or was it something else entirely? Just, for me, seeing the woman who drew more viewers than the inauguration of a president mixing batter made me feel a little bitter considering Life’s motto is “to enable the American public to see life, to see the world … to be amazed … and be instructed.” 

How curious a cover, I thought, but then it wasn’t all that long ago that this country’s Prime Minister was on the cover of Rolling Stone as those across the border asked, “why can’t he be our president?” 

Summing it Up

What ever floats your boat. I went home a little confused. Turning on the news reminded me yet again that these are indeed confusing and curious times. 

Our ‘rock star’ Prime Minister made history that very evening invoking the Emergencies Act in order to address the trucker protest, a movement I’m still trying to wrap my head around. And, as a mother of a lad who will soon be on his way overseas, news that a $500 mil loan and  $7.8 mil in lethal weapons were sent to Ukraine by the Canadian government in order to deter further Russian aggression all left me a tad rattled. 

I turned it all off and did that day’s Wordle puzzle; the world of the day? Cynic. Just about sums it up, I suppose.

Pam Pardy, The Herald’s Managing Editor, can be reached by emailing pghent@nfldherald.com

He actually had worked as summer relief in our newsroom when we were still CJON Television. I had lunch with Edward Roberts every once in a while. We talked about news, and we talked about politics, and we talked of the Great War. We had actually been to Beaumont Hamel on several occasions at the same time.

An Interesting Evening 

Robert’s work in getting Sydney Frost’s A Blue Puttee at War published was a great contribution to the formal history of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment and its history was one of his passions. I thought I knew a fair bit about that awful war, but I was humbled by his knowledge of it.  

As a quick aside here, one of the most interesting evenings I ever spent was at Government House while in the company of members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and noted WWI historian Andrew Robertshaw. 

Edward was Lieutenant Governor at the time, and he organized the event where we watched a film of the Great War that he had obtained from the BBC. Over drinks the group talked well into the night. I will never forget it. 

Despite the Government House location it was all very informal and for me to be in the company of Roberts, Andrew Robertshaw and members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, was really something.  

For me, I say unashamedly that it was an honour. Somewhere in my papers I still have the formal invitation. 

One of the things that surprised me from my dealings with Ed Roberts is that he knew everything in the world about provincial and federal politics. He knew where all the bones were buried so to speak. 

He never revealed to me though any hint of bitterness at his political betrayal at the hands of Joe Smallwood and the Liberal Reform movement that stole from Roberts the Premiership.

A Good Premier

He would have been a good premier, but we will never know. Oddly enough that whole political episode diminished Smallwood in the public eye and elevated that public’s appreciation of Edward Moxon Roberts. He became a sort of statesman. I suspect that given a choice he accepted that “statesman” role as a higher road to travel.  

I will leave you with two facts that seem odd together but they do exist. He signed correspondence like Christmas cards with the single word; “Edward.” He also was most familiar with country music. The valuable contributions of Patsy Cline and Sir William Coaker to our civilization were both known to Edward Moxon Roberts. He will be much missed. He was an important person in our history.