June 2011 - Arts and Letters Club

Spring Revue PhotosMerry-Go-RoundFrom L to R: Damon Lum, Sheila Craig Waengler, John Rammell,Ellen Edmonds, Karina Rammell, Rob Prince, and Wilson West.The Company of Merry-Go-RoundFrom L to R: John Rammell, Martha Spence and Rob PrinceWHAT’S ON IN JUNEWriters TablePlease join us on Friday, June 3, at 12:00 noon in theLAMPSroom when our speaker will be Rae Fleming on“Writing: That Blend of Desperation and Elation.” Rae willsurvey his varied career as a writer, editor, and, for the pastyear, as a journalist. He will explain sources and inspirationfor his books and articles, and, importantly, given the factthat the financial rewards are few, what drives him tocontinue. Expect him to be blunt about the frustrations ofwriting and publishing. He will attempt to explain, as hesees it, the nature and perils of biography, no matterwhether it be commissioned or unauthorized: memberswill recall last year’s acclaimed and controversial PeterGzowski: A Biography. He will reveal a new love: shortarticles, many of them profiles, published in a livelymagazine called The Ramara Chronicle.Rae Fleming grew up in an Ontario general store wherestory-telling was as important as over-the-counter sales.His education began in a one-room school nearby, and inhigh schools in Lindsay and Fenelon Falls. In 1962 hemoved to the enormously large city of Toronto to studymodern languages. After a few years of teaching at theprimary and secondary levels, he returned to university in1979, this time to the University of Saskatchewan wherehe earned an MA and a PhD in history. His doctoral thesiswas a biography of railway builder Sir William Mackenzie,who came from Kirkfield, Ontario, not far from thegeneral store of Rae’s childhood. Today, Rae is a ResearchAssociate at the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies andIndigenous Studies, Trent University, Peterborough.Bring your lunch from the Great Hall buffet table to theLAMPSroom at 12:00 noon or join us for Rae’s talk at1:00 pm. For further information, please contact DonaldGillies at 416-960-8326 or dgillies@ryerson.ca.8 June 2011