Yearly Archive: 2023

The first ghost-written modern-day book that I am aware of is the autobiography of Lee Iacocca, published in 1984. As CEO of Chrysler Corp., he resurrected the company. Right on the cover are the words “With William Novak.” Novak was reputedly paid $1 million for the collaboration. Every ghostwriter since has sought that same cover line “with.” Few have been paid in the seven figures. My first role as a ghost was for Sean O’Sullivan. At twenty, elected an MP in 1972, he was the youngest parliamentarian at the time. He won again in 1974 and then, in 1977, resigned...

Canada has been a whipping boy forever. The references to our incapacities are legion. In Sean Connery’s last James Bond film, Diamonds are Forever, Bond’s enemy in that 1971 movie was Blofeld who had taken up a position on an oil rig where he operated a laser satellite that had already blown up nuclear weapons in China and North Korea. As Blofeld sought other targets, the dot on his world map indicating a possible strike point crossed over Canada. He said something like, “If we hit Canada, it would be a long time before anyone knew.” These days, The Economist...

Paul Waldie’s story in The Globe and Mail today reminds me how lucky we Globe readers are to have such excellent coverage on the war in Ukraine as well as its impact elsewhere. The piece, a heart-wrenching story about abusive treatment of Ukrainian refugees by Russians living in the former East Germany was just one of many situations on which Globe journalists have recently reported. In addition, Waldie usually manages to write his weekly instalment about someone in Canada who has donated to a good cause. I don’t mean to focus solely on Waldie because Globe coverage of Ukraine is...

Over the holidays I learned a Hungarian tradition about eating that stands you in good stead for the year. My partner declared that, according to lore, on New Year’s Day you have to be careful what you eat. You can’t eat fish, because it will swim away on you. You can’t eat chicken, because it will fly away. You must eat pork because a pig digs beneath him so stays grounded. We had bacon sandwiches. With that foresight in mind, here are my top ten predictions for 2023. No Toronto team will win a championship, not the Raptors, Blue Jays,...