The North Shore News Is publised by Korth Shore Froa Press Ltd., Publisher Petar Speck, from 1139 Lonsdale Avatue . VIM 214 PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (101) ‘ Bier *¥ 9Q6-2031 (114) AicCredie-Sports/Community Editos 085-2131 (147) ~. , LETTERS TO THE EDITOR “Letters must include your name, full address ‘ " & telephons number. va Internet: trenshaw @ direct.ca ~ COMPUTER BBS - 980-8027 © "User (D:mallbax © © Passwort: Fetters Wort: Shore News, Sounded in 1969 us an independent auztun newspaper and qualified wader Schohie 111, Paregronh 111 of the Encise Tax Act, i publishod ‘cach ” Wedhezdoy, Friday aad Suraiay by North Shore Free Press Ltd Cae nbs Mel Sala Prstet Agee Entire contents 7 © 996 North Shore ee Press Ld. & Good for the Games N Olympic high-five for sport. It is doing many bodies good. It has a restorative effect on the soul, and effords an inspirational opening to world unity. ; Nowhere is that more evident than in Atlanta, site of the centenary ver- sion of mankind’s _Breatest interna- tional sporting ever and performance- -enhancing drugs; disregard complaints about the food, the transportation, the weather. Disregard all of the above and regard instead the competition itself. ‘Therein lies tonic for the soul and pride in self as a member of husmanity. ’ Observing the achievements of the /world’s best athletes underscores the Disregard those ‘sho would deni-/ brilliance that is man. grate the Olympic Games as an orgy of ‘money-making for slick entrepre- neurs; disregard those bearing tales of backroom deals with athletes and their agents; disregard tales of paid- off judges, cheating athletes, steroids ~ AUTHORS! Authors! ' Today, a little midsummer's a diversion about writers and voices, near and far. . ; First, near: A couple of old —. ‘no, make that “mature” — jour- -nalists working out of a North Vancouver wordshop, O° Keefe Communications, have produced an engaging little book called The Klondike’s “Dear Little Nugget”, which chronicles the rise and. fail - of a colorful newspaper that . chronicled the rise and fall of a colorful town: Dawson City during the 1898 gold rush. The authors are lan Macdonald and Betty _ O'Keefe, who respectively — if not respectiully — toiled for The Vancouver Sun and The Province so long ago that I, a:1963 arrival in - town, caught only the last few years of the former and none of the latter, Betty having departed by 1961, I received a letter from old colleague Macdonald in April, advising me of this joint effort at writing a book and its publication (by : Horsdal and Schubart, Victoria, $12.95, paper- back). “Please don’t hesitate,” Macdonaid urged | me, “to trumpet it to the world. It's no Gene With the Wind, but you might find it interesting.” . Well, even I could figure out it was no GWIW, as it is known to aficionados of the film version. It is quite a bit smaller, at 151 pages.’ - Also, nowhere in it did I see such shocking pro- ~ fanity 2s in GWTW's: famous phrase: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a camn.” The newspaper that the Macdonald-O' Keefe team describe was The Klondike Nugget, which - ‘flourished from 189 98 to 1903, its path pretty well Role models for youth; role models for the middie-aged; role models for the aged. Those in competition glow with a divine light. Partaking of their efforts unites us following the up-like-a-rocket, down-tike-a-stone trajectory of Dawson City itself. - Completely uninfluenced by affection, old collegial ties, or even the fact that the authors fur- nished me with a free copy, | can sincerely state that this little _book gives an excellent, concise, well-written history not only of the Nugger but of the famed gold rush itself. Betty and Ian are in the last throes of producing a second book that I hope you never find useful, Earthquake: Your Chances, Your Options, Your Future , a detailed study of what The Big One would wreak in the Lower Mainland, to be pub- lished in September by Cavendish Books, North Vancouver. My only criticism of the present book is that the pictures are too small, Staring at a minuscule photo of the Nugget staff in 1898-99, I’m almost certain I'can spot {Aacdonald. Second from the left — right, Ian? Qao00 A veteran and skilful word-werker of another kind, Charles McLean, whose free-wheeling ‘ Radio Free B.C. on AM 1040 was a prickly oasis amid the smooih talk of Radioland, abruptly van- ished from the scene 10 days ago. Charles, a lawyer and man of the world, quit: cold and walked’ away from a station whose man- agement, I happen to know, rated him very high- ly. One ‘rumor was that his departure was caused ~ by pressure from Jewish groups offended by a McLean program a few months ag0 in which he in that brightness, which, for a brief’ 16-day period, displaces the ‘dark forces that far too often play, centre _ stage in world affairs. : That the games still “persevere is indeed an olympic achievement: — given the state of the modern world. They are a small slice of peace-time glory originated and carried on bi y. the human race. : Take a moment to observe ‘them, become involved in them, draw inspi-. ration from. them. And know that you are ‘part of something much bigger than your. own: interviewed’ a wide tang peopl by phone, David Irving, banned fr mc ida about the Holocaust... - Definitely rio truth to that suppo! iti “told. The real reason is that Charles was tired o his 6 p.m.-9 p.m. stint every weeknight ‘and want ed to move into the'afternoon stot of the (eso superb) Jim Nielsen, who recently moved to the.” Okanagan. Hope Charles will return, omewhiere and soon, ooo On the other hand, Richard J. Needham won’ rt be back. The former Toronto Globe and Mail.” columnist died last week, age 84. What a shock he gave to Newspaperland whe his column emerged in the 1960s! He had an approach that was completely original, and-his, Pied Piper pieces captivated the Flower Children of that generation — and Canadian women, Th latter, he (somewhat repetitiously) declared far too fascinating to be wasted on Canadian’ men, and his columns related (somewhat repeti tiously) his numerous lunchtime ¢ encounters with same, The man behind the column was, I fear, much less enthralling in person, and at some point . Needham soured, He became scathing toward th young and (amusingly) cynical about humanity. . As if following the echo of the pipes he too- tled so beguilingly in the 1960s, he dropped out decade ago a and becameé’a courier in, Toronto, his: typewriter silent. «” — The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides ina debate to be heard..The coluranists published i in the News present di iffering points of view, but”: ‘those views are not necessarily those of ther news paper itself :