I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how I feel about Conrad Black’s return to Canada. Should I forgive or forever denounce what he did? Not that it matters to him, but Conrad has been a part of my life since 1978 when he granted me an exclusive interview for a cover story in Maclean’s, The Argus Grab. The last time I spoke to Conrad was at a party ten years ago. He congratulated me on my book, The Eatons, calling it an “archeological dig.” Watching him acquire newspapers in the U.S. and the U.K, as well as launch...
Regular visitors will have noticed a few alterations to my blog during recent days. The title, BlackBerry by Rod McQueen, has become the less specific Musings by Rod McQueen. My book about BlackBerry was published two years ago; it was time for a change. There’s also a new author photo and a new section called Next Book, another reason to change the blog heading. Driven to Succeed, co-authored with Susan M. Papp, almost didn’t happen. In August 2010, I received an email from Dan Bjarnason, a CBC-TV reporter I met in Ottawa in the 1970s. He said he had a friend who...
There’s a house in Forest Hill that just sold for about $4 million. No one will live in it. The buyer plans to tear it down and build something even more grand. Imagine, $4 million for a teardown. That’s more than the average Joe will earn in a lifetime of schlepping to work every day. Even in my far less fashionable neighborhood, teardowns are going for $750,000. In their place are being erected McMansions, oversized and out-of-place-monstrosities that all but block out the sun on the street. I fought one such proposal for more than two years through three sittings...
My morning paper included a glossy 12-page ad supplement from Indigo. You know, the place that used to be a bookstore? Now, I like Indigo; they’ve sold a lot of my books. Plus they have more than half of the Canadian book market so attention must be paid. But Indigo is well on its way to becoming something else. In addition to the featured books, other advertised items include a vase, paperweight, tea pot and plates, sachets, honey, greeting cards, a scarf, and a tote bag. I understand the business case. The items on the latter list have high profit...
Here are seven things that have been bothering me in recent days. 1. Remember Elwy Yost on TVOntario’s Saturday Night at the Movies? He was a bit geeky but three times out of four his movie choice was worth watching. He’s been replaced by a stream of hosts. I couldn’t even tell you the name of the current guy. The number of movies aired each week has doubled from two to four. That means about 130 movies since Labor Day of which I’ve watched maybe five. Who’s picking these duds? 2. The media in Canada is all too cosy. The...
There are many whose deaths signal the end of an era but none so much as Florence Mary McEachren (nee Eaton) who died this week. Florence was the last of the children of Sir John and Lady Eaton. Sir John was the merchant prince of Eaton’s, the son of Timothy, founder of that great institution. Sir John died in 1922, when Florence was just a toddler. Lady Eaton carried on as the family’s public face for almost 50 years before dying in 1970. Florence lived a life of privilege of the sort that no longer exists. Her mother adopted an...
Here’s the continuation of the dozen reasons why I think Research In Motion is in trouble: • Seven: Too few at the top. For most of the last ten years, upper management at RIM remained little changed. I admire a lean machine but as the company grew from a bit player to a Goliath, more talent at the top would have been helpful … particularly in marketing. They hired an outsider but he didn’t last. Jim took over the job despite the fact that he already had plenty on his plate. • Eight: Too many outside interests. I greatly admire and...
In May 2010, I went to Washington, D.C. as part of the U.S. book launch and had lunch with two friends who live there. One of them arrived at the restaurant excitedly holding a new iPhone and she would not stop talking about it. Right then, I knew BlackBerry was in trouble. I’d read about the lineups at release dates, but this was my first encounter with a devotee. I thought to myself, I published that book about BlackBerry just in the nick of time. Since then, it’s been all down hill for Research In Motion (RIM). At the peak,...
The TV ads, paid for by the Conservative Party, attacking interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae are devastating. “He couldn’t run a province. He can’t run Canada” goes the tagline along with a voiceover about the deficit he created. The words are rough enough, but what really impales Rae is his own laughtrack, a “heh-heh-heh-heh” that sounds smug and uncaring. In the background is some music that reminds me of the Three Stooges. I like Bob Rae, but I don’t think he should run for Liberal leader. By the time the next election occurs, he will be 67. The country needs...
I heard Anna Porter deliver a delightful talk last night at McMaster University about her career in Canadian publishing and the future of the book. Unfortunately, the past looks better than what’s coming next. Porter was a co-founder of Key Porter Books, one of Canada’s great houses. She sold her interest in 2004 and the company has since gone bust, as have several other former major players. An author of six books herself, most recently the award-winning The Ghosts of Europe, Porter is uniquely qualified to talk about publishing. Of all the publishers I’ve ever worked with, she was unique....
1. Why whenever a plane crashes is there always so much earnest blather about finding the flight recorder when the resulting information won’t be available for months? 2. Why did Stephen Harper run for office, finally win a majority, and then show no particular vision of the country as a whole place in the recent budget? 3. Why are Canadians so introverted? Yesterday I came upon a lineup of maybe fifty people outside my local fish and chip store. I asked those at the head of the line, “What’s happening? Are they giving it away?” No one said anything. Not...
The last episode has run in the wonderful HBO series, Luck, which has been cancelled. Alas, it was witty, intelligent, dramatic, and filled with wonderful characters – just the sort of television show that should succeed. They included: Dustin Hoffman as Ace Bernstein out of prison looking for revenge and redemption, Nick Nolte as the old trainer looking for a comeback, and the ragtag collection of misfits seeking a Pick Six. Every character was pitch perfect. When HBO cancelled the show after one season, they appeared to be caving to complaints by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Indeed,...
Nina, The Bandit Queen is Joey Slinger’s best book yet. As a previous winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, Slinger has another winner here. But first, let me declare a conflict. I am a friend of Slinger and was the titleist on two of his previous books: No Axe Too Small to Grind and If It’s a Jungle Out There, Why Do I Have to Mow the Lawn? But I had nothing to do with Nina. Maybe that’s why it’s so good. Nina Carson Dolgoy, the lead character, is the kind of person who would steal your...
My hometown of Guelph has been wracked by allegations over robo-calls made in the last election by Pierre Poutine. When the perpetrator is eventually found and charged, I hope the court will go easy on him or her for the deliciously ironic nom de plume. This is no ordinary scallywag! While I’m not that worked up about such electoral fraud, I am miffed at another form of robo-calls that promote goods and services in which I have no interest. Like a lot of other Canadians, I naively signed up for the “do not call list” in the hope that this...
The past few months have been stellar times for my two offspring, Mark and Alison. Forgive a father for feeling such pride, but while they were both already very successful in their chosen fields, their recent accomplishments are particularly compelling. In addition to his day job as CEO of Wellington Financial, Mark is also chairman of the Toronto Port Authority. Among other roles, this federal agency oversees Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. In the last six years, the airport saw a fifty-fold passenger increase and this year will handle two million people. The short ferry trip works, but there is...
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