| Memor from pane 22 y brightens with age “the rules’,” he recalls. “The word may be Ladian in origin, since Rhohinton Mistry refers to “dascurji’, a similar concept meaning ‘duty’ or ‘rules of lite.” But f discovered that my Grandfather was charged with manslaughter owice in his lite- time and that when he died, the premier of South Africa, LS. Jameson, himself famous as the instigator of the ‘Jameson raid’, was one of the pall-bearers at his funeral.” Neither book is a radical departure tor Schermbrucker, since he pioneered the post-Kerouac style of “creative non-fiction” using family history, later adopted by writers like Michael Ignatieff and Carol Shields, who picked up a Pulitzer for The Stone Diaviesa decads after Schermbrucker started working that drift. . He nods to Audrey Thomas as an intluence there; “Audrey always says she can’t make things up,” he observes, “But while Fve always loved the ‘multiple points of view’ approach to truth used in Robert Browning's The Ring and The Book, or Kurosawa’s film, Rashomon, 1 discovered while writing, Mimosa that multiple points of view of the same ‘historical’ events vary as widely as anything you could imagine in fiction. My moth- er’s brother and sister recalled certain events of her life very dit: ferently and in great detail. In Mimosa, 1 synthesized their ver- sions, using elements from both, tilling in the blanks with ‘pure’ fiction. But I always based my fictional icaps on some ctual clue and much of what I ‘imagined’ was [ater verified from other sources.” Factuai clues often subconsciously lead to fictional truth and back again in Schermurucker’s work; “I once wrote a story based on a dream I had of plantiag a small tree by my mother’s grave and it growing, nourished by the strength of this remark- abie woman, into a great tree. When I visited my mother’s grave in the '80s, a huge wee had grown beside her grieve, so big and strong it had disturbed her headstone. It was the tree I'd imagined.” Imagination is the writer’s house-breaking tool, his tess e eaebtiaa te nea jimmy”, and Schermbrucker is using his freely in his latest and most fully “fictional” work, tentacively titled, The House on Venables. “I can show you the house. It’s on Venables St. near the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, but I’ve imagined the From page 29 Bowen Island: Island Pacific School, choral and instrumental music. Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.ni. $3. Open Jam Coffee House, Nov. 27, 28 at 7 p.m. Mount Scymour United Church: Christmas Carols and Dragon Dreams. Kevin Evans narrates John Rutter’s The Reluctant Dragon as part of North Shore Chorus’ Christmas concert. Nov. 27 at 8 p.m., Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. - $12/10/5. Tickets: 922- 4280. Presentation House Arts Centre: The Madd Celts. Irish, Scottish and Maritime tunes for a fundraiser to benefit N.S. Neighbourhood House Childrens’ Xmas Fund. $10. Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Celtic fid- dler Morits Behm comes Nov. 28. Information: 990-3473. St. Andrew’s-St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church: Richard Stalker. English pianist and composer drops in for an informal concert after an international tour. Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. Admission by dona- Avalon Hotel: Mark Hasselbach Trio plays jazz in the lounge every Saturday, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Black Bear Neighbourhood Pub: Tivin — X, Mondays; Mr. Flood’s Party, Tuesdays. Howe Sound Inn: Third Annual Brewmaster Dinner. Fine food served with great beer and the music of Celtic fiddler Moritz Behm. Nov. characters and their lives more fully, without modelling them direcdy en fiving people.” The story is one likely to strum a chord familiar to those who live in a society where the divorce rate tops 30" and evervone seems to have domestic arrange- ments that would require a family portrait more like Rembrandt's We Night Watch than the Norman Rockwell stercotype. “It's about what we're now calling "blended” families,” Schermbrucker explains, “The idea first came to me when FE was talking with my son from my first marriage. He was very young when we were divorced, he'd never lived with me and during our conversation he referred to ‘my Dad’, meaning his step- father. It brought me up short and made me think about the complex family relationships we now have to deal with. In our family, tor instance, we have Yours, Mine and Ours and Theirs. If we're planning a family ski trip it may involve kids from my tirst marriage, my wite’s first marriage, our own kids, and kids from my ex-wife's subsequent marriage. The children all regard each other as brothers and sisters.” It may sound like The Brady Bunch oc Eight Is Enough tor the °90s, but a writer of Schermbrucker’s ins ht and evocative power isn’t likely to produce sitcom scripts in which all of the complesities of contemporary family life are reduced to plati- tudes in 22 minutes. He looks to turn-of-the-century writers like Henry James, masters of the novel in its pre-television hey- day, as model for this work, so expect something in-depth, high-end and challenging, not bedtime reading unless you’re an insoniniac. Fortunately, writing is one of those rare vocadons in which one can actually improve with age. “Accent, like clothing style, may change; but memory does not vanish. It doesn’t even fade. It gets more intense and brighter,” Schermbrucker wrote in the 1983 introduction to Chemeleon & Other Stories, “People sometimes ask me if the stories are autobiographical. The answer is: ‘No, no — much clearer!’ ” — Bill Schernbrucker will be reading from his work and talking with the audience about the writing life on Tuesday, Noventber 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the Capilano branch of the North Vancouver District Lisrary in Edgemont Village. The event is being hasted by the North Shore Writers Association and evervone is welcome. music featuring Silverload every Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. Info: 924-1834. Marmalade Cafe: Red Nickers Jass Baud. Every second and last Sunday of the month, 6:30-9 p.m. Railway Club: Hump This. Sketch comedy from IMPolite COmpany. Every Wednesday to Dee. 9 ac 8 p.m. 579 Dursmuir. - Compiled bv Martin Millerchip 21 at 6:36 p.m. $35. Reservations: 892-2603. Jam sessions Thursday evenings at 8 p.m. with Rick Rogoza. Jack Lonsdale’s Pub: Live music Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Info: 986-7333. Lynnwood Pub: Live music Thursday to Sunday from 9:30 p.m. No cover. Maplewood Pub: Live | _ tst Anniversary Celebration! | Dinner for Two SO Ap ( appetizer, Z small souvlakis re ae x { Bino’s West Van 921-2228 J TICKETS NOW ON SALE! NOV. 25-29 GENERAL MOTORS un PLACE Lee Wed. NOV. 25 * 7:30 PM PREMIERE NIGHT SAVE $6.00 ON TICKETS BY PHONE: (604) 280-4444 aigaere Ticket Centers www.ticketmaster.ca TICKET PRICES STARTING AT $13.50 + APPLICABLE SERVICE CHARGE: BCAA Dewomsy ae “Emem Friday. November 20, 1998 — North Shore News - 31 We know — lately mutual fund investing has been a little tough, so excuse our investors if they smile while reading this. You see recently, Scotia's fumily of funds tied for second out of 170 fund families consid- ered in Canada, and were first among tie five largest banks! 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