ne RTE BRCM at aah Sa A tasteful tribute to a hed New cookbook stirs memories By John Moore Contributing Writer - WHEN Bruno Gerussi passed away suddenly a year ago, this country lost more than one of its pre-eminent actors and broadcasters. To the people of more than 50 countries worldwide where the CBC series The Reachcombers was shown, _Gerussi, in the role of the wily-as-Odysseus Greek log salvor ‘Nick Adonidas, per- ‘sonified a “new” Canada — a ‘country at last outgrowing its traditional French and English solitudes. A country of hard-working immigrants COOKBOOK is Nancy ‘Morrison’s toast to her partner Bruno Gerussi. “whose pride in their own her- itage..was'as fierce as their . love for their adopted land. For... West Vancouver . “lawyer Nancy Morrison, the loss was devastating. ‘Since 1972, she and Bruno had . been all the best things two :people can be to each other, a couple whose personal chem- “istry worked even in the most - intimate’ room in the house — the kitchen. (More secrets are shared and sins confessed over kitchen tables than in “=. bedrooms.) " - They were introduced by former Cabinet Minister Judy LaMarsh, whose law practice Morrison joined in 1963, and “Morrison, observes, “When Bruno and Judy were around ‘there was always FOOD,” in this case a Thanksgiving feast. A man-: whose ebullient love of life, food and compa- ny ‘gave hedonism a good name, Gerussi met his perfect match in Nancy Morrison. “Bruno was a wonderfully intuitive cook. He had the touch,” Morrison says. “With “interviewers his Mediterranean _ back- ground he was never afraid to take risks in the kitchen or anywhere else. My own back- ground is the more cautious Prairie tradition; very orga- nized, very much follow- Grandmother’s-recipe. I learned to love his inventive- ness and he learned to appre- ciate my organizational skills.” “Appreciate” is probably an understatement, given Gerussi's famous fondness for hosting big parties, at the end of the Stratford Festival or the blowout wrap parties in Gibsons when Beachcombers’ shooting schedules ended for the sca- son. The couple, whose din- ner parties became legendary, often insisted on personally catering large special occa- sions like friend Gary Lauk’s 50th birthday party. Guests at their functions were expected to bring more than an appetite to the table, where conversation was as lively and eclectic as the cui- sine, “Bruno was very ‘smail p’ political,” Morrison says, “He read everything and was very wise. Even though The Beachcombers was created by Marc and Susan Strange espe- cially for him, he insisted that Pat John be a full partner, a .fully developed character instead of a token. It also had a strong woman, Molly, as 2 central character. The scripts dealt with racism and sexism and did it almost without vio- lence — there were no guns except in the last episode.” In recent years, when would ask Gerussi what projects he had in hand, he would often refer to a cookbook he was work- ing on with his partner, For the former host of TV’s Celebrity Cooks, friend of star chefs like Umberto Menghi and a fellow who'd been slip- ping off to The Savoury restaurant in Deep Cove to treat himself to their Rack of Lamb Jakarta for two decades, it seemed logical, ‘even ‘inevitable that culinary classic would emerge. . But though Bruno would happily take second billing as sous chef to Morrison, con- tentedly chopping vegetables and chatting as she cooked, there were certain kitcheri jobs he balked at. (One was washing dishes — having supported himself through a repertory ‘scholarship in Seattle by washing restaurant dishes from 1 to 4 a.m. every night.) As Morrison notes in her introduction, “he was impa- tient with the details, and the thought of organizing the writing and having to collect and confirm the recipes did not appeal to him.” West Vancouver publisher Pamela McColl had been pursuing the couple about the cookbook project for over a year before cornering, them in the kitchen to come up with a concrete plan. Six weeks later, Bruno Gerussi died. The initial shock of losing someone deeply loved is so profound that time seems to stop. You go threugh the motions of living without memory or desire; suspended in a limbo of grief. It usually takes some event or project to make you take possession of your grief, instead oF being possessed by it, and for Nancy Morrison it was the gentle urgings of INTRODUCING A NEW WAY TO TAKE THE GUESSWORK OUT OF YOUR - MUTUAL FUND INVESTING At National Trust, we believe that before we even begin to discuss investment options, we first have to understand your persona! needs and financial goals. To do this, we need to get to know you better. That's why we've developed the Personal Investment Plariner. PERSONAL INVESTMENT PLANNER This is one way we get to know you. We sit down with you to work out what kind of investor you are and the mix of investments that are right for you. Then, we can help you choose a National Trust Mutual Fund model portfolio that will help you meet your goals. Park Royal Shopping Centre friends to “Da the book.” Doing the book, she dis- covered, was a healing process: “I began ta make dishes once loved, some long ignored, and = memories flooded in of Bruno and me in the kitchen, with friends and family, dining out, enter- taining in, travelling.” The result is more than a souvenir — it’s a kind of unique album in which friends and family are all rep- resented not by photographs but by favorite recipes. Some are familiar, like Umberto’s famous Pernod prawns, oth- ers are treasured secrets from the pantry of Nancy’s mother Jessie or Bruno’s mother Nona’s sauce-pot, But they add up to a cook- book written by and for peo- ple who actually love to cook and cat rather than look at food. Is a cookbook a trivial epi- taph to a long and stellar career? The portrait of Gerussi on the cover, raising * a glass of nectar in a toast,’ offers an answer. “Food iS” life,” it says, “Enjoy!” THE NATIONAL TRUST BEACON ASSET ALLOCATION SERVICE Research has shown that 80-90% of investment success comes from the right mix of investments. This new National Trust service helps you find the right mix. Once your model portfolio has been selected, our portfolio managers monitor the asset . mix through all market conditions, rebalancing as necessary, to 7 : keep your investment strategy on track. THREE GUARANTEED INVESTMENTS © National Trust also has a choice of three diverse guaranteed : on investments. 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