20 — Friday. October 2. 1998 — North Shore News McClelland-Bantam/Vancouver Sun PUBLISHER Dan McLeod organized a protest after Vancouver's mayor banned the street sale of the Georgia Straight in 1967. Pierre Berton tells the story in his new paperback of that eventful year. Years of | John Goodman This Week Editor @ 1967. (Canada’s Turning Point — A Chronicle of Canada’s Centennial mas Pierre Berton, Seal ooks paperback, 418 pp.. $9.99. pap PP. 1967: It was a very good year. In fact, according to Canada’s Boswell Pierre Berton, our country’s 100th birthday v was the last great year. The rest has been downhill or at least a very WEST Van's Dary! Duke produc- ing psychedelic TV for the CBC. bumpy ride. _ Berton is a master:at doc- umenting the small things and then placing them in the larger context. What he arrives at is a picture of our culture far more complete than any federalist manifesto on what it should mean to be a “Canadian.” . His methodology is that of a populist — if Berton made films he could be our Frank Capra promoting Js a Wonderful Life. Perhaps - Quebec, in the James Stewart role, gets a chance (from angel Réne Lévesque) to see what Canada would be like if the province had never existed. Our centennial gives Berton lots of raw data to chew on and reflect back from a future imperfect. The rise of Pierre Trudeau, Montreal's Expo, the FLQ, the six-team NHI. and the CBC all get their due. Berton’s take on Marshall McLuhan is a classi¢ put- down portraying the media god as an idiot savant let loose in the Global Village. “He did't look a bit like a guru; he looked like a Canadian.” A sign of the times was West Vancouver TV produc- er Daryl Duke who was frightening his basses at the national network with statements like “Tam trying to approach a format which, in its ulti- mate form, could provide the first experience in psy- chedelic televi- sion.” LSD TV was a hardsell apparent- ly even in that golden year with Tory senators claiming Duke’s news program Sunday had “the flavour of perver- sion.” Duke, of course, went on to bigger and brighter things, while the CBC entropied into Fresh Prince reruns and a decades-long deathwatch. Something thar was never given a chance to survive, Vancouver's Georgia Straight, is now into its fourth decade. Berton devotes a full chapter to publisher Dan Melcod's constant battles with city officials and the police to get s Correction Notice § please note the incorrect address of the 8 ran in Sept. mar and Sept. B @ 27th North Shore News. The correct address is: 480 15th Street West Vancouver 91 3-217 7 iving danger : v LONDON writers Tariq Ali (left) and Susan Watkins recount the radical days of 1968 thirty years later. the alternative weekly sold on the streets. As poet Jamic Reid commented at the time “Some nights there are actu- ally more cops in sight than hippies.” Bummer, man. 1968. Marching in the Streets, Tariq Ali and Susan Watkins, Bloomsbury 1998, 224 pp., $45 The vear of revolution is documented by leftists Taria Ali (founding editor of Black Dwarf) and Susan Watkins (author of Feutnism for Beqinners and Marx in Love) in a chronological march through extraordinary times. This vear marks the 30th anniversary of that eventful era when “the Vietnamese victories against the U.S. war machine, the May Events in Bi i i it Bt Bt Bt ie i in a De i ie Be ie] =a~=aeseae= eI QI IV VI’I’ I!’ I’IITSe IT 4 Dr. Lai Ping Chan would like to welcome her new associate Dr. Kar-Lai Yuen Family Dentistry with a focus on Pain & Anxiety Controi Childrens and Cosmetic dentistry New Patients Always Welcome — Warm Reiaxed Atmosphere All of our neighbours and patients are invited to attend an Open House on Saturday October 3, 1998 from [1-3 pm (draw for a gift basket) 617 Riverside Dr. (North Corner of Mt. Seymour Parkway) 929-0330 5 es Re By. Be Be, Be Bee. Be. BG. be. Se. te fe. De Me Be Be bn France and the destruction of Czechoslovk socialism by Soviet tanks represented strugeles in cach of the three key sectors of the world.” The story is told through a series of dispatches culled from a combination of media reports and first-hand accounts. The newspapers and periodicals used include Black Dwarf, The Guardian and The Observer trom London, Das Argument from West Berlin, Paris's La Nouvel Observatenur and New York's Village Voice. Dramatic images first pub- lished in the radical press help to illustrate the test. An excellent bibliography makes this a great place to start further research on alternative culture. be i oe he he me i fe mm i i me me hm Bridget-speak documents the daily struggies @ Bridget jones's Diary — Helen Fielding (Picador, London 1996 $15.99) Thursday, 24 September: weight (hat Arc vou joking? P grew up here!) alcohol units 2 dad ta served at book club — can't look anti-seciah, calories 1246 unul 7 pam. ceveellent) then 3245 bv end of book club meecung targh. vote to sel must dnd book clib with poor cooks ay members), cia: rettes, O (excellent! Such restraint! bvtreme pride unnl remember Fdon’t smoke. 7:00 pan. Book club gathering. First in eight weeks. Extreme stress at seeing group duc te lack of new clothes or new man to discuss. Bringing newly prey nant best friend to meeting in cHort to deter conversation from nay dull Hite. ‘Topic: hot bot hot beok du jour Bridges Jours’s Diary, ow: book selection tor the summer. War and Peace it isn’t and to trv and analyze our book club’s selection of the past month would be a rave injustice. And unlike so many other reviewers out there whe are using the often shallow rambiings by British author Helen Fielding to dis- cuss the destruction of feminism by Bridget and her television counterpart Ally MeBeal, bam choosing to simply laugh. Out loud. Its.a treat to read a baok so fanny and so current that is abo thoughtful and well writ- ten, although many critics alse faulted Ms. Fielding for capi- talizing on what they claimed was simply a chronicle of her own life. She denies this and believe me, | initially tried to write this entire column in Bridget-speak and it was ¥. difficult. And I'm about as Bridget-esque as you can get. Case in point: 7:30 p.m. At book club. Extreme envy and jealousy felt when fucky book club member told of her new dietary restrictions duc to an unknown food allergy. She's losing, weight soo easily. Not fair. Note to self: must find obscure tood allergy to help lose final 10 Ibs. For those absolutely insstent on some academic insights into this hilarious novel, think iride and Prejudice. The dark, swarthy hero isn't called Mark Darcy for no reason. But beyond that, just enjoy! It’s a light and easy “read that you are sure to finish within a couple of days. For those of you who are ready to move on to our next selection, this October, we are reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, ($33. 95, Villard Books New York. 1997), the gripping non-fiction account of a series of fatal events that occurred on Mc. Everest in May 1996, This is also avail- able in paperback. Our first non-fiction selee- tion, but one that promises to keep us turning pages until the wee hours of the night. Q0OG On a different note, fans of legendary Canadian author Pierre Berton will be pleased to learn of his upcoming presentation at the West Vancouver Secondary School Theatre. The event is jointly spon: sored by the West Vancouver Memorial Library and the Wes Vancouver Museum and Archives. Internationally renowned for his prolific writings on Canadiana, Berton will be speaking about his recent work, The Klondike Quest on Friday, October 23rd, at 7:30 p.m. For more information and tickets, ‘Please contact the West Vancouver Memorial Library. Happy reading! — Megan Verchere can be reached at mverchere@ibim.net - or fax the News at 985-2104, Laser Printer Service On the North Shore Expert Service at your office or ours. ¢ HP, Okidata, IBM/Lexmark, Canon, Panasonic & most bronds © Premium Quality Remanufactured Toner Cartridges * Guaranteed satisfaction © We refill ink Jet cartridges MECAN VeRcHERE BOOK REVIEWS “Pierre Berton will speak about his recent work, The Klondike Quest on Friday, October 23rd, at 7:30 p.m. at West Vancouver Secondary School Theatre.” Open Mon. - Fri. 984-7661 204 Donaghy Av., North Von _ RESELLER & OKIDATA tulf . BC LASER AUTHORIZED ‘® Beeree