Category: Uncategorized

dogs and leashes

I am a former dog owner. We had a German Shepherd when I was a kid, and I had Pepper, my dear Miniature Schnauzer, for nearly 15 years.

I know that dogs need to run. And I also know that they’re woman’s best friend, but…

I resent it when I’m on a walk and a big unfamiliar unleashed dog comes bounding up at me. The dog MIGHT be harmless and MIGHT be friendly, and invariably, the owner will say, “He won’t hurt you.”

I’m sure most are completely harmless. But when Pepper was just a pup, he was attacked by two large unleashed dogs just as the owner was saying, “They wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

Pepper nearly died. He had puncture wounds all around his neck and down his back. I literally had to beat the dogs off him. After that, I began to carry a stick as protection.

I don’t have a dog anymore, but I do take 10 kilometer brisk walks three or four times a week. There are beautiful walking trails all over Brant County and I have walked on many of them. Usually, when a person with a dog approaches, they’ll quickly leash the dog til I pass. In addition to this being the law, it is also common courtesy.

A few years ago, I was jogging down the street. An elderly neighbour was walking her dog on the other side of the street. I was quite a ways away, but the dog pulled the neighbour, got away from her grasp, and lunged at me. The dog bit me in the butt.

Now I’m not one to give up on my exercise easily, so I continued my run. When I got home, I realized that I had blood down my leg and a puncture wound in my butt. I called the neighbour and she told me I was a liar. She then said that if the dog did indeed bite me, then it was my fault for running past the dog. I further inconvenienced her by reporting the incident to the police and from then on, the dog had to be muzzled. I wasn’t so much worried for my butt as I was for the very small children in our neighbourhood.

Years passed with no more bad dog (or should I say bad dog OWNER) incidents.

Then a few weeks ago, a black lab bounded, unleashed, down one of my favourite rail trails. I stood stock still, holding my breath.
The dog bounded past me. The owner passed thirty feet later. I said to her, “I would appreciate it if you would leash your dog.”

She said to me, “He won’t f-ing hurt you.”

Hmmm. Very pleasant.

Since then, I have seen her a number of times, and she seems to take pleasure in having the dog bound right up to me while she lollies along, not even watching her dog. She has an extraordinary vocabulary of obscenities too, which she uses as she passes. Perhaps a muzzle is in order.

I got a photo of her and her unleashed dog last week. And I have reported her. HA!

Awesome Sunday

The Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society hosted a wonderful event in honour of my novel, Nobody’s Child, on Sunday.

This event was unlike any I have ever been to. For much of the proceedings, I sat in the audience and listened. The master of ceremonies talked about my novel and my background and the fact that I’m not Armenian. Then he introduced a group of elementary students who had volunteered to be readers. Then he introduced Professor Lorne Shirinian, who is a writer, Armenian historian, and son of a Georgetown Boy.

Lorne got up and did a “review” of Nobody’s Child. I don’t mean the sort of review that you read in the paper. It was more like a detailed dissection of the novel. When he reached certain points, he would ask one of the students to get up and read a selection from my novel that illustrated his point.

It was a moving experience for me to sit in the audience and to listen to this. It was obvious that Lorne admires Nobody’s Child and his perceptive interpetation was interesting for me to listen to. The students’ readings were moving too. It was all the more moving because Lorne and the students had all lost family in the real life Armenian Genocide.

As I listened, I found myself close to tears. The characters in Nobody’s Child have been in my heart and mind for nearly 20 years now. They are real people to me. The selections chosen were the most heart-rending ones: those most difficult to write.

Then it was my turn to speak. I simply said a few thanks and then suggested people ask questions. The common theme of all the questions was, “What made you write about the Armenian Genocide when you’re not Armenian?” and “These characters, the setting, the geography is so accurate. How did you manage that?” Others wanted to know why I wouldn’t have written about a tragedy that was more accessible, like the Holocaust.

I explanined that this story made me write it. I did not go out in search of it. When I first interviewed Carl Georgian for a magazine profile way back in the late 1980s, I had never heard of the Armenian Genocide and didn’t know about the Georgetown Boys. What he told me of his father’s experiences chilled me to the bone. I couldn’t sleep at night because so many questions were swirling around my brain. That one interview started me on a ten year quest for information and answers. And it resulted in many books. In addition to Nobody’s Child, there is The Hunger, published in 1999 that also touches on the Armenian Genocide. And in June, Aram’s Choice will be published, and next year, Call Me Aram. And I am currently writing Daughter of War, the sequel to Nobody’s Child.

I hope that by illuminating the lives of these characters, I can put these ghosts to rest. What we forget, we are bound to repeat.

The reason I write about this and not a genocide that is more “accessible” is because the Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century. It was shoved under the carpet and forgotten. Perhaps if that hadn’t been done, other 20th century genocides would have been prevented by public uproar.

Presentation at the Armenian Cultural Centre in North York

Just wanted to let you know that the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society is sponsoring an event for Nobody’s Child on Sunday April 30th at 2pm.

It will be at the Armenian Community Centre
49 Hallcrown Place,
North York ON

Refreshments will be served before the presentation.

I will be there signing books and giving a short talk. Students from the ARS Day School will be reading selected passages.

It’s open to the public.

Woman of Influence

I got a lovely letter in the mail the other day. It was from the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations. This organization has been around for 122 years. This year, they have decided to honour six Canadian Ukrainian women who:

“have maintained their culture, language and heritage and who have attained or made a significant impact in their careers.”

I am honoured to be one of the six chosen. Here are the other five:

Lida Baday, Designer
Luba Goy, Entertainer
Laryssa Patten, Scientist
Mimi Kuzyk, Actor
Bohdana Zvonok — Mountain Climber

Just one last pass-through for Kobzar’s Children!

The anthology — Kobzar’s Children: A Century of Untold Ukrainian Stories — is coming out in June. Because the photos are black and white and the book is all text rather than an illustrated story like Aram’s Choice, it can be reproduced in Canada, rather than in Hong Kong like Aram’s Choice.

The editing and formatting and proofing is complete. The photos have all been placed and the captions have been added. I did the acknowledgements page yesterday.

Now I am just waiting for the final final final page proofs. That should arrive tomorrow I think. Then I look it over with a fine-toothed comb and hope against hope that I don’t miss any tiny errors.

I am so excited about this anthology. It is the first time I have been an editor. The stories are all fabulous and I am pleased and proud. And I can hardly wait to sign off on the final page proofs. Sort of like sending a child to kindergarten!

Lethbridge Limo and The Ladies of the Trinity

On Monday, I did a book signing from 3-ish til 5pm, then was picked up by The Ladies of the Trinity in A LIMOSINE!! Can you imagine? I saw the limo pull up, and some people waiting in the lobby with me said, “Oh, it must be Mayor Bob dropping by.” Lloyd Sereda, from the Lethbridge Ukrainian community had emailed me to let me know that I would be picked up by a limo, but I thought he was joking. What an amazing welcome!

The limo service was Lethbridge Limo (lethbridgelimo.ca) and the driver was Dave Duckworth. He was a real gentleman! You could tell that he enjoyed his job. They even rolled out the red carpet for me. If you are ever in Lethbridge and want to be treated like royalty, call Dave!

It was a wonderful visit with the Ukrainian community. Dinner was delicious and company was interesting. I sat beside a woman who was 101 years old with vivid recollections of the past century. After my presentation, they gave me two dozen roses and then Dave drove me around the town. An unforgettable experience!!