Books about that Good Old Hockey Game

That’s right hockey fans, D-Day is fast approaching. This Sunday is the first home game and 2011-2012 season opener of the new Winnipeg Jets! For someone who has always been a Habs fan, and is also glad for Winnipeg to have their Jets back, this Sunday promises to be a grand day indeed.  Thanks to the combined efforts of library staff and local organizations such as Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, the University of Manitoba, and the Western Canadian Pictorial Index (to name but a few), we have an incredible display on the main floor of the Millennium library filled with artifacts and information about hockey history in our province.  Take the time to see it next time you drop by!

For those who want to familiarize themselves with the history of the Jets, or just want to read about hockey, there is plenty to choose from at the library.

A new book telling the story of the Jets’ return, Back in the Bigs by Randy Turner, has just been published and is on its way to the library shelves–you can already put your name on the request list.  While waiting for the updated history, the most recent book published about the Winnipeg Jets is Scott Taylor’s The Winnipeg Jets: A Celebration of Professional Hockey in Winnipeg.  This is a gorgeously laid-out historical retrospective of the team, from its debut in the World Hockey Association with Bobby Hull to its years in the NHL and (now-temporary) departure to Phoenix.

Now, if you are really REALLY into the Jets, feast your eyes on this little rarity from the Local History collection: The Jets are Cookin’, 81-82: family recipes.  On the menu: Fergie’s Favorite Casserole, Impossible Cheeseburger Pie, Mayonnaise Cake, and The Dale Hawerchuk Monster Cookies for desert.  What better way to celebrate the return of team than to cook a former team members’ old-time favourite, am I right?  The team’s 1976 souvenir yearbook is also available for consultation in the Millennium Library’s Local History Room. 

I confess that I have never read any hockey fiction besides Roch Carrier’s The Hockey Sweater (still a classic), but there are plenty of titles that deal with hockey for all ages.  A recent one is even a mystery novel: The Penalty Killing by Michael McKinley, which tells the story of a former hockey star trying to clear his name while solving a series of murders.  While I have not read it yet, the reviews have been positive and the author has also written several other books  (both fiction and non-fiction) about hockey and hockey history.

On a different note, new audio interviews have been added to the “Voices of the North End” section of the library website.  The Winnipeggers in these interviews recall their memories of living in the North End neighborhood where they grew up and made their lives.  Go and check it out!

Revisiting the Hundred Acre Wood

There is a new Winnie the Pooh movie in theatres these days. I’ve always enjoyed reading the original stories and am looking forward to sharing them with my 2-year-old daughter when she’s a little bit older. This Winnipeg inspired bear of very little brain still has something of value to share with us, over 75 years after he first appeared in the Hundred Acre Wood. The following materials can all be found in Winnipeg Public Library’s collection.

The best place to start would be to have a look at the original stories again. “The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie Pooh”. This is a collection of the four original books: Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When we were very young, and Now We Are Six. This book includes all of Ernest Shepard’s original illustrations hand painted in watercolour. It is here where we meet Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit and Tigger for the very first time.

If you would like to learn more about the person who created these classic tales, I recommend “The Brilliant Career of Winnie the Pooh” by Ann Thwaite.

For a more personal touch, please have a look at “The Enchanted Places”. This memoir is written by Christopher Robin Milne, the only child of A.A. Milne and the inspiration for the Pooh stories. Milne reminisces on what his childhood was like and provides unique insight into his father’s character.

How Milne’s main character came to be called “Winnie the Pooh” is a fascinating story in itself, and can be discovered in “The Real Winnie: A One-of-a-kind Bear” by Val Shushkewich. This book tells the story of veterinarian Harry Coleburn. Coleburn was travelling from Winnipeg to a WWI training camp in Quebec when he purchased an orphaned black bear from a hunter in White River, Ontario for $20. The bear became an unofficial mascot for Coleburn’s regiment, The Fort Garry Horse, and was named “Winnie” after Winnipeg. Coleburn later donated Winnie to the London Zoo, where A.A. Milne and his son Christopher discovered her.

The themes and ideas presented in the Pooh stories hold universal appeal. Because of this, many writers have taken the “Hundred Acre Wood” model and adapted it to explain various “adult” concepts.

One of the first to do this was Benjamin Hoff with “The Tao of Pooh” and “The Te of Piglet”. Hoff uses the Pooh universe to discuss some basic beliefs in Eastern Spirituality.

Not to be outdone, John Tyeman Williams gives Western Philosophy the “Pooh” treatment in “Pooh and the Philosophers”.

“Winnie the Pooh on Problem Solving” uses the interactions between Pooh characters as a basis for explaining some self-help coping mechanisms.

Roger Allen must have been encouraged by the success of this book, because it didn’t him long to write a follow up on management principles. It may seem a bit of a stretch to have a stranger visit the Hundred Acre Wood and explain management principles based on the work of Drucker, Levitt and MacGregor, but this is exactly what happens in “Winnie the Pooh on Management”.

Trevor

Getting a Clue – About Mystery Fiction

What attracts readers to mystery fiction? Simple curiosity? A desire to uncover the truth?  A need to see justice be done? The thrill of resolving a puzzle? All of the above?

Like many gamers, I have begun playing the excellent video game L.A. Noire, a detective console game in which one plays at solving crimes in 1940’s Los Angeles – as if you are in an interactive novel. And what better way to further immerse oneself into the gaming experience than to read a good mystery novel or two? But where to begin? The library has a huge selection of mystery fiction with lots of recommended authors and well-loved characters.

There are of course the Victorian classics like those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is still one of my favourite detective stories, especially the dynamic interactions between Holmes and Watson during this investigation.

Inspector Maigret’s stories, by French author George Simenon, are set in Paris between the wars. These books are a fond favourite due to the slow tempo of the intrigue that contrasts with that of  more contemporary thrillers.

A little more modern and hard-boiled, Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, and Dashiell Hammett’s Maltese Falcon are two of the un-missable authors of noir detective stories, where the plots are more action-oriented. The heroes, usually private investigators, must use their physical skills as well as their brains in order to succeed in a world more morally ambiguous and less orderly than depicted in Victorian mysteries. An added bonus is that both authors have seen some of their works adaptated for the silver screen so you can watch Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade on DVD at the library.

Of course, I always have a preference for detective stories with strong historical elements.  A good example is local author Allan Levine’s Sam Klein Mysteries series, notably “Sins of the Suffragette” and “The Bolshevik’s Revenge,” which brings 1910’s Winnipeg to life. He weaves intrigue around the issues of this period in history, including women’s rights and the Winnipeg General Strike, which adds an extra element of enjoyment for readers who enjoy historical elements in addition to a good whodunit.

In the same vein, the Murdoch Mystery series by Maureen Jennings explores the world of 1890′s Toronto, highlighting the harsh living conditions of the majority as well as describing police methods of the time.

These are only a few personal recommendations and I encourage anyone to share their own. It is after all a genre that is not lacking in quality titles.

- Louis-Philippe

Introducing Voices of the North End

Most cities have neighbourhoods with distinct identities and reputations, for better and for worse. In Winnipeg, the North End has a reputation as the “rough” part of the city. However, among those who call the North End home, not everyone agrees that this reputation is deserved.

Local author and historian Russ Gourluck recorded over 60 audio interviews with current and former residents of Winnipeg’s North End while doing research for his book The Mosaic Village: An Illustrated History of Winnipeg’s North End. In the interviews residents spoke candidly about their memories of growing up in the neighborhood, school experiences, and their favorite places to hang out, shop or work. They also discussed the North End’s reputation and how it has changed over time. Some of the interviewees have since become prominent Winnipeg personalities in their own rights.

After the publication of Mosaic Village, Mr. Gourluck generously donated copies of these interviews to the Winnipeg Public Library in the hopes that they would be made accessible to the public. The library has just launched a new section on its website: Voices of the North End, where the complete series of interviews will be made freely available for everyone to listen to. Eight interviews are currently available with the remaining interviews to be released over the coming months.  The first batch is comprised of interviews with notable Winnipeg personalities, including two candidates from the recent mayoral race.

As a teaser for coming attractions, take a listen to some excerpts from interviews that will be posted to the Voices of the North End webpage in the near future:

Arie Perlmutter talks about “City Bread”

John Marczyk tells of his memories of Selkirk Avenue