There is a campaign underway to convince the federal government to stand up for the rights of creators.

The request is that the Copyright Act be amended and reinforced, because it was seriously undermined by amendments passed by the previous government led by Stephen Harper. Those changes permitted wholesale copying of books by universities without the authors of the books receiving any compensation.

The campaign is called Creators Calling on Ottawa. Writers—and other creators—are encouraged to send messages to the responsible federal politicians. Those individuals are the Prime Minister and two of his ministers.

@JustinTrudeau

@FP_Champagne

@pablorodriguez

A sample message from a writer could be:

To keep creating Canadian stories like the ones I write, the education sector needs to pay for the use of our work. The government needs to fix the Copyright Act.

The message is to be accompanied by a photo of a writer holding up one of their books. Like this:

Something a little different has come my way.

It’s an inquiry from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography to write a short biography of Mathieu da Costa.

For those not familiar with the name, Da Costa is the earliest known person of African descent—for whom we have a name—in Canadian history.

I have written about Da Costa before, and I am pleased to take this on for the DCB.

I think that was it.

Last Monday evening’s performance at Truro’s Marigold Cultural Centre by The Lincolns was almost certainly the end of a very long musical run, dating back to 1960.

And what a run it was, lasting more than 60 years. In its heyday, the band delighted audiences across the Maritimes throughout the 1960s.

Then, more selectively, there were periodic reunions starting in 1978, and occurring again every so often until last Monday, October, 18, 2021.

Of course, I’m sorry to see the end. Never before and never again will I ever have a book launch like that. But what a wonderful way for the band to go out.

Bravo, Lincolns!

Long live live music everywhere.

My presentation on the “Kings of Friday Night: The Lincolns” (Nimbus Publishing) was warmly received by about 60 people at the first meeting of the Truro Probus Club in a year and a half.

The power was back.

I do not mean the electricity in the outlets—though that too was back on after a power failure cancelled the book launch / Lincoln show the day before.

No, I mean the power of music and stories.

On Oct. 18, 2021, at Truro’s Marigold Cultural Centre, under the glow of a rising giant moon, The Lincolns put on a magical show, while I told some of their stories to an audience that told us after the show was over that they loved every single minute.

Two members of the band—Rod Norrie and Layne Francis—have been Lincolns for 62 years; others have been playing with them for over 50. And though they reunite only now and then, they are still able to bring it, rocking the crowd.

It was the first time Paul Eisan sang with the band, and he was great, singing seven numbers. Then, as a surprise to everyone, Charlie A’Court made a guest appearance, enthralling the crowd with “Dreams to Remember” as a tribute to the late Frank MacKay.

Followed by a moving recording of Frank singing “Danny Boy.” When the music and talk was over, it was time to speak with the author and the band, and get books and CDs signed.

The power was back.

It’s what this shot doesn’t show that was the real highlight of the moment.

On Friday, I was at Skmaqn—Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst National Historic Site on PEI. I was there to be interviewed on camera for a film about the history of the site.

The location selected to film my bit—which probably took 30 minutes—was a wooden folding chair located surprisingly close to the edge of sandstone cliff. Maybe a foot from the edge. The drop over the edge was perhaps 12 to 20 feet.

It was when I was first seated in that chair, that I took this shot.

I wouldn’t have been injured too badly had the chair collapsed—it was ocean below not rocks. The chair stayed where it was put, and I didn’t lean back at all. And the interview went well everyone said.

Had I been facing the other way, and seen how close I was to the edge, I might not have been able to find my words as well as I did.

The fellow seated on the left, with papers in his hand, is Jesse Francis. He and I are soon to release our second book, “Ancient Land, New Land”, which incidentally is about the same site where this filming took place.

Also noteworthy in the photo is the fellow on the far right. He was not dressed warmly enough for the seaside location, so Parks Canada’s Barb MacDonald went into the nearby visitor centre and found something for him to wear. Yup. It was a Compagnies franches justaucorps exactly like those worn at the Fortress of Louisbourg.