A SWEET GESTURE, COMPANION CANADIAN AUTHORS, AND STUART MCLEAN'S VINYL CAFE
TWO SOLD OUT CHRISTMAS SHOWS FOR GRAVENHURST - WILL THEIR BE SCALPERS - BECAUSE THERE WILL BE THOSE LOOKING FOR TICKETS
I WONDER IF STUART MCLEAN WOULD BE INTERESTED TO KNOW, THE CURIOUS COMPANY HIS BOOKS KEEP, ON MY SPECIAL SHELF OF THE FAMILY KEEPSAKE CABINET, IN THE HUMBLY DECORATED LIVING ROOM HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW.
THESE ARE, OF COURSE, MY PERSONAL COLLECTION OF AUTOGRAPHED AND FIRST EDITIONS, THAT I'VE BEEN HUSTLING-UP FOR THE PAST THIRTY YEARS. THESE ARE ALL BOOKS BY AUTHORS I ADMIRE, FOR ANY ONE OF A NUMBER OF REASONS. TITLES THAT I WILL SETTLE DOWN WITH, AT HEARTHSIDE, ON THOSE GLOOMY AND COLD DAYS OF AN OLD NOVEMBER. I MAY NOT READ THEM COMPLETELY, FOR THE SECOND, THIRD OR FORTH TIME AROUND, BUT WITH EACH BOOK, THERE ARE OCCASIONS, SOME RATHER SPECIAL ONES IN FACT, WHEN A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS, READ BESIDE SPARKING CEDAR, ARE AS SMOOTH, GENTLE AND SOOTHING TO THE WEARY, TRAVELLED SOUL, AS A SIP OF WINE, OR A WEE TASTE OF BRANDY AFTER DINNER…..TO THE RECLINING MORTAL WISHING TO BE RESTORED OF GOOD FAITH.
STUART MCLEAN'S BOOKS ARE NEATLY AND COMFORTABLY PADDED, COVER TO COVER, BETWEEN SOME OF MY FAVORITE AUTHOR COMPANIONS. AT THIS MOMENT, THE GOOD MR. MCLEAN IS KEEPING COMPANY WITH PAUL RIMSTEAD'S BOOK, "COCKTAILS AND JOCKSTRAPS," IN WHICH THE LATE TORONTO SUN COLUMNIST INSCRIBED THE MESSAGE, "HAVE ONE FOR ME," WHICH OF COURSE REFERRED TO THE DRY PERIOD OF HIS LIFE, HE DIDN'T MUCH CARE FOR. IN LIFE RIMSTEAD, IN SUCH CLOSE QUARTERS, WOULD HAVE BEEN BEGGING STUART, TO JOIN HIM FOR A NIGHT ON THE TOWN. I'M NOT SURE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH RIMMER.
ON THE OTHER SIDE IS A SIGNED COPY OF THE EDDY SHACK BIOGRAPHY, WRITTEN BY A FRIEND OF MINE, ROSS BREWITT. IT'S ALSO SIGNED BY BIG ED HIMSELF. RIMSTEAD WAS PLANNING TO WRITE THE SHACK BIOGRAPHY BUT DIED BEFORE MUCH HAD BEEN COMPLETED. I SUGGESTED BREWITT, ALSO A FRIEND OF NUMBER 23, COULD CARRY ON IN THE SPIRIT OF RIMSTEAD. HE SENT ME A DOUBLE SIGNED COPY, AND IT'S NOW A PRECIOUS PART OF THE FAMILY LIBRARY. THERE ARE BOOKS WITH MY SIGNED STUART MCLEAN BOOKS, BY CANADIAN AUTHORS, SUCH AS MY LONGTIME FRIEND WAYLAND DREW, FORMERLY OF BRACEBRIDGE, AND ACQUAINTANCE JOHN ROBERT COLOMBO, WHO ENCOURAGED ME TO WRITE A DEFINITIVE BOOK ON MUSKOKA GHOSTS.
ON THE SAME SHELF OF DISTINCTION, ARE SIGNED FIRST EDITIONS BY ROY BONISTEEL, W.O. MITCHELL, ROBERTSON DAVIES, TIMOTHY FINDLAY AND THE PIERRE BERTON HEAVYWEIGHT HISTORIES ANCHORING THE COLLECTION ON EITHER END. THEN THERE'S THE FIRST EDITION "LAKE WOBEGON," THAT'S JUST KIND OF HANGING OUT THERE, ON THE SHELF ABOVE, IN CASE AMERICAN STORY TELLER, GARRISON KEILLOR, EVER COMES TO OUR PROVINCE OR REGION, FOR SOME STORY-TELLING GIGS.
NOW I'M NOT SURE IF CANADIAN STORY-TELLING LEGEND, STUART MCLEAN CORRESPONDS AT CHRISTMAS, OR ANY OTHER TIME OF THE YEAR, WITH AMERICAN STORY-TELLING LEGEND GARRISON KEILLOR. I'M SURE THEY KNOW OF EACH OTHER'S WORK, IN THE FIELD OF MAKING COMMONPLACE AN ENDEARING PLACE. MCLEAN, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS BOOKS AND RADIO SHOW, ON CBC, KNOWN AS THE "VINYL CAFE," AND KEILLOR OF COURSE, WITH HIS HIGHLY REGARDED, HUMOROUS, SMALL TOWN MINNESOTA STORIES, FROM LAKE WOBEGON, AND THE FAMOUS RADIO SHOW, "THE PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION." SUZANNE AND I HAVE SPENT MANY PLEASURABLE HOURS IN THE COMPANY OF BOTH GENTS, IN PRINT, VIDEO AND AUDO, AND I HOPE NO ONE THINGS THIS WEIRD OR INAPPROPRIATE……THE FACT WE HAVE THE KIND OF OPEN MARRIAGE THAT ALLOWS FOR THE INCLUSION OF STORY TELLERS, TO KEEP US ENTERTAINED ON THESE LONG NEAR-WINTER NIGHTS.
THE COMMONPLACE WHERE WE WANT TO BE
It's quite true, that Suzanne and I are seriously indebted to both Stuart McLean and Garrison Keillor, for getting us through quite a few winters here at Birch Hollow, situated on a grassy knoll, across from The Bog, and just up the dusty road from Muskoka Bay, of the greater Lake Muskoka. When our young lads had, by ruthless persuasion, taken possession, of either the television or the stereo, we had the choice of an old cassette-tape player left over from the 1980's, and of course, both author's books kept within a long-arm's reach, of our toasty-warm hearthside chairs. As the wind would remind us of a storm approaching from just over the lake, and the snow tapping at the window pane became the harbinger of that winter metamorphosis, the stalwart vigor that goes back to pioneer days, having the company of these fine authors, all of them in fact, made many a commonplace night in the heart of Muskoka, as warm as it was enthralling.
My fantasy performance one day, would be to have both Stuart McLean and Garrison Keillor on the same planking of theatre-stage, sharing the evening, regaling us with the "stories about story telling," we'd really like to know……and we'd pay dearly to have the opportunity.
Speaking of opportunity, wishful thinking and prayers answered. Here's a good neighbor story I want to share with you. And it happened right here in Gravenhurst. Today in fact.
A couple of weeks ago I bared my soul (which is as naked as one can get), confessing a blunder of epic proportion; and with crushing poignancy, a few well chosen words about the wife I let down once again. You see, silly me, I underestimated the spell Mr. McLean has on us Muskokans. I must apologize to Mr. McLean for not appreciating the true weight of celebrity. Rushing about is something city people do, and we laugh at them when they're not looking. We're usually pretty laid-back here, especially in November, as we're still recovering from the busy summer season, which of course stretches past Thanksgiving these days, to the annual Bala Cranberry Festival near the end of October. We're a tourist region so this is good. Suzanne had given me money to keep at our main street music and antique shop, to purchase two tickets for the Vinyl Cafe at the Opera House. As God is my witness, and as a God fearing chap, I mean that,….. I had every intention of ambling over to the box office, (our stride in the off-season) which is less than seventy five yards away, to make the ticket purchases. Every day, when Suzanne would ask, I'd say, like about a bazillion other spouses, "I'll look after it tomorrow."
Well by golly, I let the hours and days pass, and I finally asked son Andrew, who works at the Opera House, how the tickets for the Stuart McLean shows were selling, believing they might have been as high as fifty percent sold. Just not one hundred percent gone. My heart sank. You could hear it thudding-away at about my belt buckle. "They've been sold-out for a week," he said, with the question in return being, "Tell me you didn't forget to buy mom her show tickets?" We Currie's, like foreign films, communicate by stark expressions, a lot of the time, and I'm told mine, at that moment, ranged from horror and disgust, to fear and loathing, as to what I was going to tell my dear bride. The "Dear, I screwed up again," opening admission, has been used so many times in our house, it has lost all significance. She turns away with "the look," before I even get to "screwed up."
Suzanne is a big fan of Stuart McLean and the whole premise of the Vinyl Cafe. Ironically, we helped open one of those for our sons, who also grew up listening to the story teller, on road-trip Saturdays, and on long ventures to Algonquin Park. We'd even turn up the van radio, at our campsite, so we wouldn't miss the ongoing family chronicle. It was always funny to see folks walking by the campsite, some with canoes over their heads, asking us if that was Stuart McLean on the radio. I often wondered if he really knows just how imbedded he is in Canadian households and more than a few wilderness campsites. Well Suzanne got over the bad news, but decided that my lack of follow-through, wasn't going to thwart her efforts to create a special edition "Vinyl Cafe" cookie, as a sign of respect for her radio hero, Stuart McLean. You're absolutely right. She's making them in the shape and color of vintage vinyl. For the past week she's been experimenting with variations of cookie and icing, to more closely represent a record….just one you shouldn't put on a turntable. She's got the first Vinyl Cafe cookie for official taster Fred Schulz, ready for Friday morning, and like a February Groundhog, if he comes back for seconds, it's a good batch. If he sees his shadow, it's going to be a long and cold winter
This all began, because Suzanne has been baking cookies for the Saturday morning hot-stove league, of musicians and assorted cronies, who have been visiting the vintage music shop, in the old Muskoka Theatre building, for the past seven years. Now the lads aren't sure whether the gang comes for lively conversation or just for the free cookies. So we asked Suzanne, as a recognition of the Vinyl Cafe's visit to Gravenhurst, if she could come up with a kilo of cookies for the old gang, and a few others……with a tin of course, for Mr. McLean himself. Maybe he will find this a kind gesture, or a bit of sentimental silliness, but once the locomotive will, of my dear wife commences chugging and steaming along on a project, there's not much that can stand in her way until the station is successfully reached…..and on schedule. All week I've been tasting the still-warm prototypes. Not bad. Of course there's no dieting in this house…..ever.
But you know, the best news, is that one of the kindest souls ever,…… who having read my recent blog……about missing the opportunity to buy tickets for the show, gave me a call today, to let me know she had a ticket available to offer Suzanne. Opening night. It was proof that angels do dwell amongst us. Being speechless for only the third time in my life, I gave her a big hug on the phone (I asked her to imagine the sensation of a heartfelt embrace), and I have had this cheerful domain of attitude all day. Gads, I feel like Ebeneezer Scrooge after the visits of the three spirits, and it's a really nice sensation……knowing there are such kind and considerate folks in our community. This is what it means to be a homeowner. A good neighbor in a good town.
When I told Suzanne the good news, she started to well-up with tears, but this time, it wasn't because of something I'd done, or left undone. It was a well received bit of news after a long school day, and we both want to heartily thank our spirited friend, for thinking of Suzanne…….and helping an old writer make amends to his long suffering partner. She will be at the show with "bells on" as they say.
The donor wishes to remain anonymous. To her, I say with great respect and friendship, continue to read between the lines……as the ogre who writes them, is really a big softy!
I'm glad you were all able to meet here today. I am so pleased to have such a good news story…..about a great performer coming to our Opera House stage, the commencement of the Christmas season, and the charity that truly does begin at home. Hear, hear! Please come and visit again. Remember my Christmas Sketches of Gravenhurst coming by December Ist, to this site.
"As I sit at my desk, day in and day out, answering my phone, paying bills and scribbling away in between, I know that my lamp and I share this fundamental fact; neither of us is really necessary in this big wide world of light. But bidden or unbidden, we are here nevertheless. Here by the grace of some big unknown thing. And while we are here, we will shine when we are called to, and do our best to shine as brightly as we can, shining away until the dark morning when someone will forget to turn us on." February 6, 2005. Stuart McLean, "Vinyl Cafe Note Books."
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