Ronald Mackay’s first book tells of life in an isolated village in Tenerife, one of the CanaryIslands, in the early 1960s. His second, recounts his exploits during the two years he worked in Romania under the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. In 2024, he published “Windows on My Worlds”, a collection of 31 short stories. They cover seven decades and are set in many countries. In these, Ronald tries to capture tiny insights into the joys and the heartbreaks of everyday life. Recently, he put aside a draft of a Cold War novel to prepare, in Spanish, stories that take place in Spanish-speaking countries. He’ll launch this new book in Tenerife in 2026, to coincide with his being embraced as “adoptive son” of the Municipality of Buenavista del Norte.
Author: felicity936
Sharon Stevens
Our guest this week is Sharon Stevens. Sharon was born in Buffalo New York. Her first jobs were teaching high school English. But one day in 1968 she discovered Niagara on the Lake and realized that Canada was where she belonged. She entered a new career when she and a friend opened a restaurant across from the original Shaw Festival Theatre which was very successful. However problems arose, so she moved to Toronto. There she studied business administration at Ryerson (Toronto Metropolitan University) and found time to hitch-hike with her sister across Canada. After graduating she was hired by General Foods to manage one of their Crock and Block restaurants. But later the chain was purchased by the Keg company and Sharon left to set up yet another independent business.
She and her partner Rene bought a house in Trenton living there for 30 years. They loved to travel, visiting Portugal, all the eastern provinces of Canada and the Magdelene Islands among other places. After Rene died in 2014, Sharon sold the house and moved to Cobourg where she had friends. She soon settled in, participating in classes on memoir writing and joining and performing with local choirs. Music has always been an important part of her life.
NOTICE For September 7th and September 14th
DUE TO SPECIAL PROGRAMMING WORD ON THE HILLS WON”T BE BROADCASTING TODAY.
Lois Gordon
This is the last of our August holiday encore presentations. We hope you enjoy it. Lois Gordon is a writer and editor. She has published several humorous essays in anthologies and articles which have appeared in lifestyle magazines. Her second mystery novel, “Death at Iron House Lodge”, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis “Best Unpublished Novel” award in 2016, and several essays have won awards. Currently, she works part-time as an editor for a digital marketing company. Lois wrote her first stage play four years ago for a community theatre in Ancaster, Ontario. The new experience rekindled her passion for writing and she has since written three more scripts for the amateur acting company. Since moving to Northumberland three years ago, Lois has volunteered with community theatre and the Northumberland Festival of the Arts, hoping to become more fully involved with the vibrant arts scene in the county.
Ted Barris
This week we broadcast an encore prestation of a programme we made with Ted Barris last winter. Ted is is an award-winning historian with 21 books to his credit and his journalism has appeared regularly in the national press, as well as magazines as diverse as Air Force, esprit de corps and Zoomer. He has also worked as host/contributor for most CBC Radio network programs, PBS in the U.S. and on TV Ontario He is the author of 21 bestselling, non-fiction books, including many on wartime Canada. He was recently award the Order of Canada.
NOTICE for April 17th
Please note that because of special programming at 89.7 FM this coming Sunday, there will be no episode broadcast of Word on the Hills this weekend.
Thomas Harrison
WORD ON THE HILLS, wordonthehills.com
This programme was broadcast on August 3rd. Thomas Harrison is a teacher, lawyer and artist who lives on his family horse farm in rural Prince Edward County. He has taught in a wide range of settings, teaching literacy in Kingston Penitentiary, with Young Offenders in detention, in high schools and in higher education at Queen’s University Law School. He spent most of his legal career as Crown Counsel, doing policy work with the provincial Attorney General. He earned his Ph.D. in law in 2016. He has written and published journalistic and scholarly works but Searching for Richard Nixon: Finding Refuge and Making a Home in Prince Edward County is his first book-length work of creative nonfiction. Thomas is also an emerging artist who paints and acts. He will be reprising his role as Herr Schultz in the Shatterbox Theatre’s production of Cabaret this Fall at the Cape in Picton.
Phyliss Wright
WORD ON THE HILLS wordonthehills.com
This week we are playing a re-run of interviews we conducted last spring with Phyliss Wright. Phyliss Wright’s journey as a poet started in university days, when she edited a literary magazine in Colorado during the tumultuous sixties, where she also taught mountain climbing and piton-craft. She returned to writing poetry after a stint in the Marines as an air traffic controller. Poems are a way she explores the world and her own thoughts about life. Her work is shaped by her adventures in Afghanistan, Spain, Poland, and Siberia. But her formative work began in widowhood, when she served as a hospital director in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan, and then as a teacher in the United Arab Emirates. She wrote with the Kent State University Writers Group for over twenty years and still meets with them remotely. Recently she married Canadian, Eric Wright, who is a Northumberland writer. A new resident of Port Hope, she writes with the Cobourg Poetry Workshop, has two children, four grandchildren and a cat who came with her from the United Arab Emirates.
Vanessa Westermann
An avid reader of mysteries, Vanessa Westermann is a former Arthur Ellis Awards judge, holds an M.A. in English Literature and a Bachelor of Education, and has taught creative writing. Cover Art, first of the Charley Scott Mysteries, was published to great acclaim in 2022. At the heart of all Westermann’s stories are strong female protagonists inspired by the heroines in her own life. She currently lives in Ontario. Her most recent publication is Shudder Pulp (the second Charley Scott mystery) which was released on May 3, 2025)
Linda Hutsell Manning
Welcome Linda!
Linda has published four picture books, three juvenile plays, two mid-grade novels and Polka Dot Door scripts as well as a literary novel, That Summer in Franklin, a two-act comedy, A Certain Singing Teacher, a memoir, Fearless and Determined about her 1960’s teaching experiences a one room elementary school west of Cobourg. Her latest picture book, Finding Moufette, was released byPandamonium Publishers in 2023. A novella, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, released by AOS Publishers is available in bookstores and on Amazon. Linda has also written many pieces of short fiction and poetry published in magazines. Find out more at lindahutsellmanning.ca.
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