Hey… there’s a PARK there!

Millennium Library Park - November 2011

If you haven’t been down to Millennium lately, you’ve just GOT to come down and check out the developments in the Millennium Library Park.   They’ve started trucking in the dirt for the green spaces, and suddenly it all makes sense! You can see which parts will be cozy park areas, which will be water features, and if you look from above, the boardwalks and sidewalk patterns are really striking.  Come check it out–before it’s buried for the winter!!

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

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