Thanks to Sue Borgersen for posting advance publicity for the upcoming event (see the link below). My last trip to that part of Nova Scotia’s South Shore was great fun, talking about my Thomas Pichon books. This time the focus is on the brand-new book about the Landscape of Grand Pré World Heritage Site.
http://liverpoolliterarysociety.blogspot.ca/2015/04/special-event-visiting-author-ajb.html?spref=fb
I am pleased to copy and post here the press release issued a few days ago by Ken Donovan, about the next meeting of the Old Sydney Society on April 23.
To Members and Friends of the Old Sydney Society:
AJB Johnston and Anne Marie Jonah will speak at the next meeting of the Old Sydney Society on 23 April 2015, 7:30 PM at the Centre for Heritage and Science (the Lyceum), Sydney. The title of their talk is:” An Historical Retrospective: Louisbourg Over time and Louisbourg Reborn.”
The April 23 meeting of the Old Sydney Society features two separate but inter-twined presentations on Louisbourg. They are by Parks Canada historian Anne Marie Lane Jonah and former Fortress staffer, AJB (John) Johnston. They will reprise well-illustrated talks they gave in France in November 2014, only this time in English. John goes first with a presentation he calls “What is it, this Louisbourg?” It’s a look at the ever-changing nature of Louisbourg across a broad span of time. John begins with a few personal recollections then highlights many of the different identities the once fortified French seaport has had over the span of two and a half centuries. Anne Marie takes over with an exploration of the history of “Louisbourg Reborn,” considering the processes that led to the recreation of Louisbourg, and our relationship with it today. As well, Anne Marie will discuss the connections between Cape Breton and La Rochelle in western France, with an overview of the cooperative projects we have undertaken in the last five years.
This talk will be streamed live to the internet at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/history-speaks-lecture-series
This talk — postponed by a snowstorm back in February — is set for one week from today. I know there will be snow on the ground, such is life in NS this year, but I am very much looking forward to going to Wolfville and Acadia U to speak about the UNESCO WHS of the Landscape of Grand Pré.
There has been a change in the date of my Truro talk. It will no longer be on May 2 but rather May 28.
May 21, 10 am: I’ll be offering a well-illustrated presentation entitled “Grand Pré: Landscape for the World” to the Probus Club of Halifax, at the Fairview Legion (corner of Main and Hillcrest) in HRM.
May 28, 2 pm: I’ll be offering a well-illustrated presentation entitled “Grand Pré: Landscape for the World” at the Colchester Historeum, 29 Young Street, Truro, NS.
I want to say how much I enjoyed my trip to Cape Breton Island, Jan. 18-21. Seeing old friends and meeting new people, while talking about my unfolding writing projects, made for a grand time. I’m now looking forward to my next trip back to good old CB. That’s on April 23 when Anne Marie Lane Jonah and I will be reprising the Louisbourg presentations we gave in France back in November, at the Centre international de la Mer at Rochefort.
I was especially pleased by the event at the Port Hawkesbury Library, with a Grade 11 class from SAERC in attendance for the first 35 minutes. Hats off to the students and their teacher for the keen interest they showed. I even got a few questions from the students. I would gladly make a return trip to the library and SAERC, should some opportunity arrive. And of course to Sydney.
Some day I hope I get to speak again at Louisbourg, for that is where the idea for the Thomas Pichon Novels (#pichonnovels) was born.
To read Karo Comeau’s story on my visit to SAERC, follow this lik:
http://www.porthawkesburyreporter.com/2015/01/28/thomas-pichon-author-speaks-to-students/