I had suggested the idea of a festival to celebrate Broadway’s unique artistic heritage to local gallery owner John Noott in 2007 when I returned there with finished copies of my bookCarnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting. John promoted the idea, a committee was formed and the first festival took place this year and was a great success.
I took part in a performance ofCarnation, Lily, Lily, Rose adapted from the book. There was a splendid exhibition of paintings by John Singer Sargent and members of the Broadway colony that was opened by Sargent’s great-nephew, Richard Ormond as well as a full complement of other exhibitions plus concerts, plays and tours. The next Broadway Arts Festival will take place in June of 2012.
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I also knew that kids were fascinated by the stories about prisoner of war camp and how the men dug tunnels and made amazing escapes.
So I submitted an outline and sample chapter for a book to be calledPrisoner of Dieppe. Scholastic approved this and I spent most of ’09 working on it. And I found I really enjoyed doing it. I used a lot of dialogue for which which I think I have a knack. Having done a lot of Dieppe research for the non-fiction book I thought I would have a headstart. But I soon found I needed to do a whole lot more. Invaluable help in this was provided by my Dieppe veterans, particularly Ron Reynolds of Port Hope. I would call Ron several times a week with questions about tiny details (what kind of uniform did Lord Mountbatten wear?, did you have toilet paper in POW camp?) etc. Even at 90 Ron’s memory was crystal clear – and he never exaggerated or embroidered any of the details, he always told it like it was. I had decided to dedicate the book to Ron but sadly, I had to change the dedication to ‘In memory of Ron Reynolds’ since he died on April 18th. I gave a eulogy at his funeral on the 22nd and read a few excerpts from the book that incorporated Ron’s experiences. Some men were broken or embittered by their POW experiences but Ron retained his kindness, sweetness and irrepressible high spirits through all his 91 years. Photograph: with Ron Reynolds at a Port Hope Book talk. “Gee, you don’t ask for much!” was my reaction when I was contacted by the Forest of Reading Awards about making a video for their website. I’m delighted that my book DIEPPE: Canada’s Darkest Day of World War II has been nominated for the 2010 Silver Birch Award and am enjoying giving talks in schools that participate in this amazing reading program. But I’m a bit of a techno-peasant and had never made a YouTube video before. I asked my young nephew about this and he said: “It’s no big deal, you can do it with your MacBook.” He showed me how to do it and then wrote out instructions for me. I then spent a morning working on it and managed to succesfully upload it to YouTube. View the video below: I was thrilled to hear that BREAKOUT DINOSAURS: Canada’s Coolest, Scariest Ancient Creatures –Return! has been nominated for the 2010 Hackmatack Award. This marks the third of Canada’s ‘tree’ awards for which this book has been nominated. These hugely successful reading awards programs select a list of Canadian books for young readers and students are encouraged to read as many of them as possible and then vote on their favourites.Breakout Dinosaurs was nominated for the Silver Birch Express Award in Ontario last year, is up for the Red Cedar Award in British Columbia this year and is now nominated for Atlantic Canada’s Hackmatack Award for which the winner will be announced next spring. While it’s nice to win one of these awards, being nominated makes you a winner already since the schools and libraries purchase copies of your book and you receive fan mail from lots of young readers.
DIEPPE: Canada’s Darkest Day of World War II has been nominated as one the the non-fiction selections for the Silver Birch Award 09/10. It’s always exciting to be selected for one of the provincial ‘Tree’ Awards and Ontario’s Forest of Reading is the biggest award program of all. Sponsored by the Ontario Library Association, the Forest of Reading is an amazing reading motivator where kids vote for their favorite books. Being nominated means that the schools and libraries buy your book and frequently invite authors in to give talks. It’s capped off with a big awards ceremony in May where hundreds of kids attend to cheer for their favorite books.
Here’s a selection:
“Brewster’s attention to detail and his ability to present the material in a student-friendly manner, complete with compelling illustrations and facts that have been overlooked or hidden for decades provides for a memorable, informative and essential point of reference for all Canadians…” —London Free Press, Aug.15, ’09 “As in his earlier books, Hugh Brewster gives a clear, thoughtful and moving account of this tragic time in Canadian military history.” —Deakin Newsletter, Summer ’09 “Brewster is a master craftsman of history, his research impeccable and deep, his storytelling as fine as any bestseller of fiction. Kids should learn history and learn it’s not boring. Brewster’s books will do that.” —Halifax Chroncile-Herald, July 26, ’09 Just when I was beginning to despair about publishing a book in August, DIEPPE: Canada’s Darkest Day of World War II receives its first revew and it’s a rave! Toronto Globe & Mail children’s book reviewer, Susan Perren, wrote of DIEPPE on August 1st, 2009:
“[DIEPPE] can be described quite simply as superb. It is superb in the way it sets out the context for the raid on Dieppe…Superb, too, in the way Brewster, using archival photographs, first-person accounts from surviving combatants or memoirs, and the connective tissue of his beautifully crafted text to tell a story that is equal parts horror and valour.” One couldn’t ask for a better review! Thank you Susan Perren! Don’t ever believe that in the age of blogs and Amazon reader reviews that real, thoughtful reviews in real newspapers don’t matter. |
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