6 ~- North Shore News - Friday, August 4, 2000

VERYTHING came up rosy at
the North Shore Garden Tour
last Sunday.

To the nine people and families
who threw their garden gates open to
the public, thank you. There is no

> telling how many hours you toiled to
get your yards just so.

For guests, at $10 a shot, there was
no end to the enjoyable beauty and

colour on one of our hottest days of

the year. The volunteers and master
gardeners also should be commended
tor their work and congeniality. _

Ladybugs, bees and butterflies flew
around the flowers while straw hatted
guests meandered through the curv-
ing, colourful landscapes. This boun-
ty of beneficial insects was all around
because knowledgea’sle. gardeners
don’t use pesticides.

Healthy gardens are not a chemical

VIEW POINT:

A natural Eden

dump site despite what some week-
end gardener wannabes think.
Splashing plant and animal-killing
material in yards like water is not gar-
dening, it’s chemical warfare. And
although gardens may look good
after pesticides, the effect doesn’t last
long. Another chemical assault is
soon needed. You won’t sec too many
ladybugs, bees and butterflies in
those yards. The poor critters can’t
stand it.

And neither should the rest of us.

North Shore residents should take
a lesson from the excellent gardeners

around us who have balanced, beauti-~

ful yards that are pesticide free or vir-
tually so. It’s time for all yard-tenders
to put away their masks and protec-
tive clothing. These days yards need
to be environmentally friendly, not
just pleasing to the eye.

mailoox

| Noel remembered

Dear Editor:
‘A big thank you to-the
“nurses and doctors at Lions

Gate Hospital.
We -are writing to-sin-
cerely thank the staff of

“-2nd-floor West. at Lions’

Gate Hospital. Our father
‘spent ‘the last five days of
his life on. chis ward. Our ©

our father reccived was so
incredible, from _ necessary
to.‘sincere;;; it, “made the. -

women: who . made , our
father’s ‘last. days a good

‘memory ~
Sus, David and: Jenniser

‘May T convey to yous my
pest renpathy on: the:, -
passin, locl Wright. .
Ald sient enever had
the’ privilege - of. meeting
“him, [enjoyed his column:
and his wonderful little say-
“ings: at. the conclusion of.

* Always -

‘ such. I have alwa ays respect-
ed the North Shore News
for the diversification of
opinioas sad the fact that ic
‘is the only ‘news wspaper that
truly embraces “freedom of
speech,” and I feel Nocl
Wright had a very strong
hand in this.

I feel very privileged to
‘have been involved in a very
small way with the News

With numerous “letters to

: the: editor” and am_ very
grateful that a vehicle suc
as yours exists.

To you, the people who
worked with Noel Wright,
and I am sure are going
through your own grieving

“process, please accept my

support. You were lucky to

have: worked with such a
geod person.

“Bue Cook _

North Vancouver

"Dear Editor: os
_For more year’ than af
can-. -remember:. =: Noel

Wright’s column wa Gane of :

‘the first items I-réad on
receiving | your:
interesting, _fre-
quenily topical, he will be
sorely missed and: quite
_ irreplaceable. I am so sorry
to learn that he did not get
his Scandinavian trip -in
’ before leaving us.

‘Ralph Carder

paper. .

- minister res;

*. Agreement be

NAPSTER USERS
CALL FOR.
BoYcott OF
RECORD
FIRMS -

FROM NOw
ON — NO MORE
LISTENING To
THEIR Music

FOR FREE.

New ‘baby’ talking free trade

ZZZZZ, let’s jazz up this sleepy
summer with a National
Enquirer-style headline:

T HELD A SENATOR'S BABY IN MY ARPS!

Yep, and the senator
is 65-YEARS-O.

“It took me nine
months to produce,”
said Sen. Patricia
Carney, uncharacteristi-
cally demurely -—
demure is not Sen. Pat’s
usual stance — as I deli-
cately gave the fat litde
fellow 2 playful boopsic
on my knee.

But I did not fear
that, as sweet little new-
borns are prone to do, he would goo
up some unassimilated meal and spoil the
perfect crease on my expensively-cut
trousers.”

For one thing, I was wearing filthy
summer shorts, the venue being the
sunny patio in front of our cottage on
Saturna Island, where dressing up usually
means putting on a fresh plaid shirt. For
another, Patricia’s baby is in fact a book.

With gestation from last September to

. May, midwived by Key Porter .

Publishing, and christened Trade Secrets,
this book is certain to be both (1) well-

- written and (2) historically of much

interest. ©

That's (1) because Patricia was a
financial pages columnist for the.
Vancouver Sun, where I, a fresh-faced -
newcomer, met her as an obscure copy
editor 37 years ago. And (2) because she
was the Brian Mulroney government’s
sible for the Free Trade
tween Canada and the

economies of both countries.
The book, however, is not a conven-
tional one in format or anything cise. It’s
much more personal than the usual polit-
ical memoir. It dwells as much on
Parricia’s passionate
love for B.C.’s coastal
communities, on which
she’s a hands-on expert,
as on the oft-brutal
trade negotiations with
the Yanks.
“Some people have
called me a bulldozer,”
said she, looking at me
with her round blue ©:
eyes as ifhoping I =. .
would protest: “Dear
me, no, Patricia, no,
never that.” I merely looked pained. -
Doubdless she saw through the ruse.
Let’s just say that Sen. Pat is as tough
and tender as they come.
The only cloud over our gab about
life and politics - — Patricia’s spirited... ;
: opinion is that Indian leader and Indian
women’s rights advoca te Gail Sparrow.
“should be premier,” and, you' know, I -

think she’s got something there — was |.

that I couldn't read much of the book, -
which was in proof form, just loose pages
(she flattered me that I was the first per-
o other than her and her editors to see
it).
That pleasure will have to wait until
publication this fall. Felt like a nice,
warm little baby, though, and i it didn’ t.
leak on my bare Knees. ;

What a grand idea — Carolanne |
Reynolds’s spontaneous and imaginative
plan for a tea today, near the Ferry

*., Building, wich Murchie’s donating the.

008726, Malling ‘fates avatable on request. Entire :
contents © 2000 HCN Publications Company. Ail
“rights * reserved. Average circulation - for

inesday, Friday and Sunday is 61,582." -.

West Vancouver...»

_ United States, which transformed the

tea, marking Queen Mother Elizabeth’s

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must inctuae your
name, full address and telephone. number. .
mbecker@esrews.com

_ tater: Hours News Tips: 995-2121 (piees i oe

100th birthday.
oo

Very heartening for West -
Vancouverites incensed about Horseshoe
I -ay terminal expansion is 2 recent”

Vistoria_ Times Colonist article by former:
BC Ferries captain John MacLean, a
Nanaimo resident.

His view: “Bite the bullet and build a
new ferry terminal at Sea Island right
beside Vancouver Airport. ... On comple-
tion move all the up-Island traffic there.
from Horseshoe Bay and Tsawwassen. I

~ ber the West Van people would love
that.”

*, Over the moon, I assure eu, Capt.

MacLean. Or most of us.

I stubbornly hold to the view that I
like BC Ferries’ Nanaimo service out of ~

“Horseshoe Bay — except when I want to

use it. Then I’m delighted it’s there. °°
Yes, I'd prefer a compromise: Anew

: major terminal such as MacLean env:
‘ sions, and reduced service (say, four.
: ings a day) to the island from Horseshoe.
= Bay. Boy, what an on-the-fence
O00

"Noe! Wright’s death has brought si
cere outpourings of grief from many,
including his News colleagues

In all honesty, I can’t join in —
except selfishly, because i too will miss
his lively prose... ~~
But — sad for him? Not a bit. No
lived heartily, had a cheerful outlook,

“remarried happily, in old age travelled
-widely and largely enjoyed good: health

and died quickly just days after writ:

, ing his last column.’

That, reader, is truly ‘writer’ "s death,

“No tong, poignant decline: No bitterness

that time and fashion had passed him

7 “Facsimile

> 9as-1635