I decided that today I would write a post not about Gomery, corruption, publication bans, or any of those other things that has ticked me off in the past few days. Instead, I’m going to write about a good book.
Last summer, in order to escape what had been some of the 4 most stressful and trying months of my life (I’m not going to elaborate on this), I spent a month doing some solo backpacking across Canada’s Maritimes. I made my way across Gaspesie, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and enjoyed every moment of it. Sleeping in hostels, bus stations, airports, ferry terminals, on ferries, and meeting the most incredible people.
FYI Halifax is an awesome party town: 6 nights partying in Halifax here, here, here, and others that I can’t remember = tonnes of fun, some very wild times, a game of frizbee at 4am on the front lawn of the Lt. Gov’s residence, stealing street name signs – then losing them, and a huge dent in my bank account. And St. John’s NFLD was just as good. George Street was awesome.
But, as much as it was a great time to party, it was also a very spiritual, soul searching time. There’s nothing like meditating on an Atlantic beach (wear a hat, it’s usually windy).
The entire trip was great, but the best part was being on a boat 10 feet away from 3 humpback whales – one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It is an incredibly beautiful part of our country.
While I was in St. John’s, Newfoundland, I stopped at a used book store to find some interesting reading material (I had bought the DaVinci Code in Halifax, and had finished it by then). What I found was one of the best books I can say i’ve ever read. For $1.50 at the Afterwords Bookstore (I still have the receipt in the book) I bought ‘History on the Run: the “Trenchcoat” Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent‘ by Knowlton Nash, the former National Anchorman for CBC News.
In this book, Nash writes about his time as the top CBC reporter in Washington DC during the turbulent 1960’s. The Kennedy’s (John and Robert), Martin Luther King Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Vietnam. It covers it all. What I found what touched me the most were the personal acounts Nash had with Robert F. Kennedy, including being one of the last reporters to interview him on his last trip to California, where he was shot and killed. It found it to be a very powerful acount of an important point in US history. I also liked Bobby Kennedy alot more after I read this.
So, if you are in the market for a really good book, check out “History on the Run” by Knowlton Nash. You won’t regret it.
