READING CORNER
If the month of March and St. Patrick’s Day have you contemplating diving into a book or two by one of Ireland’s own, Loreena thinks you might enjoy these selections.
Peter Woods/Christy McNamara, The Living Note: The Heartbeat of Irish Music
Loreena first encountered the musician/photographer Christy McNamara while reading a 1997 Aer Lingis on-board flight magazine, which featured a story about the traditional Mummers parade in Ireland. The story was accompanied by Christy’s photographs of the Mummers, which had an immediate impact on Loreena.
“As soon as I saw Christy’s incredible photographs I knew I had to try and get him involved with my music video of The Mummer’s Dance,” she says. Christy did become involved and proved to be of immense assistance, known affectionately as the ‘local fixer’ who helped smooth out problems and facilitate progress on video production. The book, The Living Note, was a collaborative effort, written by Peter Woods and illustrated with Christy’s photographs. The book conveys the deep and lasting spirit of Irish music, and explores how it maintains and passes on its traditions from generation to generation. As the dust jacket reads, “This is the story of every musician but none in particular. It is really the story of the spirit of Irish music and its place in the hearts of people.”
Order this book from Amazon.com
Robert McLiam Wilson , Eureka Street (1989)
This is an award-winning story about a Cambridge dropout turned drifter. The main character, Ripley Bogle, has a razor-sharp intellect, keen powers of perception and fabulous good looks. “Bogle careens through the wild streets of homelessness and Irish identity, all the while regaling us with the tale of his ragged Belfast past – and the events that led up to his extraordinary existence,” says one publisher.
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YOUR GREEN GUIDE FOR LIVING
St. Patrick’s Day is associated with all things green, but green living can and should last all year round. The Greenpeace Living Guide was recently published by Greenpeace, the international, independently-funded organization that works to protect the environment.
The book offers everyday solutions to help you live a ‘green life. The 200-page guide is packed full of tips on environmentally responsible living at home, at work and in the community and provides insight into the root causes of environmental issues around the world. It also covers everything from food and flooring to toiletries and transportation. You can order the guide through the Greenpeace website (or by calling 1-800-320-7183 – Canada only.)
DEATH OR CANADA
Film documents hope, tragedy of great potato famine
Death or Canada has been nominated for an Irish Film and Television Academy Award and is produced by Craig Thompson and his Canadian company Ballinran Productions. The great potato famine took place between 1845 and 1849 and more than a million people died of disease and starvation and another million left their homeland in search of new lives abroad. As tragic as it was, this mass migration is credited for the spread of Irish culture around the world. For many of them, it was a choice between certain death in Ireland or hope for a new life in Canada. It also brought Toronto, Canada to its knees in the summer of 1847 when more than 40,000 sick and dying Irish refugees – double the population of the city at the time – descended on the developing frontier town. The docudrama, which has also aired on RTÉ in Ireland and the History Channel in the UK, is narrated by acclaimed Irish-American stage and screen star Brian Dennehy. Those of you interested in your own Irish heritage or simply the history of the famine in general are encouraged to watch this incredible two-hour film, which is also available as a DVD through the official Death or Canada website.