This week we welcome back Patricia Arato as part of our encore series. Patricia Arato’s book The Language Thief is her “personal story, one that has taken a life-time to unfold.” Her memoir tells of her many years caring for and rehabilitating her aphasic ex-husband and how, because of that work, she became the driving force behind an independent speech recovery centre, which has become a model for similar centres around the world. The Aphasia Institute – Pat Arato Aphasia Centre operates today in Toronto, supporting people affected by aphasia as a result of a stroke/brain injury.

As we continue our encore series, we welcome again, Beth Bruder, who, at the time of this interview, was Vice President at Dundurn Press. Beth is experienced in all aspects of publishing books, both nationally and internationally. She worked in the reference world of Wiley Canada before transitioning to Canadian trade publishing at Dundurn Press. Beth served on the council of the Association of Canadian Publishers and was a founding member and chair of the ACP committee that launched The 49th Shelf, a unique Canadian book-discovery website which helps readers find Canadian books in all genres. Beth talks about why she loves publishing and what publishers look for in a manuscript

Our encore presentation this week is from December 2014 when we interviewed memoir writer Diane Taylor. Diane has had several careers as a medical lab tech, a teacher, a sailor and a writer. She is the author of The Gift of Memoir and is well known as a workshop presenter and teacher of memoir writing. She started writing while sailing in the Caribbean because life on the ocean and in the islands was so fresh and immediate, she felt an urgent need to record it, to re-experience it in words. A book resulted: The Perfect Galley Book. 

In this week’s encore presentation from July 2014, we talk to Erika Rummel. Erika  is the author/editor of many non-fiction, historical works, and an established novelist. In 2020 one of her historical novels, THE INQUISITOR’S NIECE, a story from the time of the Spanish Inquisition, received the award for “best historical novel” from the Colorado Publishers’ Association. In 2021 three books on which she worked during 2018/19 came home “to roost” all at the same time: the first, a translation from the German of a biography of the philosopher and humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam; the second a non-fiction book about the man who was Austria’s Chancellor when the Nazis occupied the country in 1938 and who was imprisoned until he was liberated by the Allies in 1945. The book is about the strategies he and other prisoners used for their emotional and intellectual survival. The third book is a new historical novel, THE ROAD TO GESUALDO, set in 16th century Italy. Other books include A NOBEL AFFAIR, an edited collection of correspondence between Alfred Nobel and his mistress, Sophie Hess, THREE WOMEN AND ALFRED NOBEL, and THE PAINTING ON AUERPERG’S WALL.

For our encore summer presentation this week we welcome Richard Pope. Richard was born in Toronto and lived and birded there until 2006. He is a retired professor of Russian literature and culture. Richard is a long-standing member of the Toronto Ornithological Club, The Ontario Field Ornithologists, and the Willow Beach Field Naturalists. He is the author of a number of books about birds and their relationship to humans. He and his wife, Felicity, live and bird in Cobourg, Ontario.

Join us for an encore presentation of interviews with Sher Leetooze we made in November 2014. Sher wanted to write all through school, and to that end submitted material to the annual High School Year Book. In 1994 she published her first local history book and it was an instant success. Sher went on to publish the history of all the other townships in the former county where she lives. From this sprang other books, WW1 Nursing Sisters, Clarington’s Home Children, and a History of the Churches of Old Durham. In between these she wrote a trilogy following the people known as Bible Christians from England to their new homes in Canada. Sher then went on to compile genealogy source books, gardening books, wild plant books and a couple of cook books. And if that isn’t enough, she’s also written a book of short stories, a novella, The Queen’s Pawn and a novel called Finding Sean McRory.

This week’s summer encore interview is from November 2014 with Melody Crowe. Elder Melody Crowe is an Ojibway woman from the Alderville First Nation, where she has lived all her life. Melody is an Eagle Feather Carrier and for more than 25 years she has taught the Ojibway language and culture to children, youth, adults and elders. She is the recipient of many awards including the Honouring our People Award Sept 2015 from the Ogemawahj Tribal Council and a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in the Preservation of Language and Culture from the Union of Ontario Indians in 2007. Melody holds an Honours BA in Indigenous Studies from Trent University and, as a student, was the recipient of both the Joyce Moonias Award and The K. E. Kidd Awards from the University. She has worked as the First Nation Liaison for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board since 2001.

Joel Varty is CTO of Agility CMS, where he’s spent over 21 years working as a builder of content management platforms, now at the intersection of AI and content infrastructure. Joel is a frequent speaker, blog writer and video content writer. Joel holds a BA in English from the University of Guelph and regularly writes on his long commute to Toronto. Outside of work, he has coached high school football, directed musical theatre, and spent considerable time on stage as an actor and singer. He lives in Port Hope, Ontario with his two kids.

A former newspaper reporter and editor, Janet Richards lives and writes in Belleville. A word lover, art dabbler and stand up comic, Janet has two published poetry collections. In this encore program from the summer of 2014, Janet tells us about her life as a journalist and editor for a small-town newspaper, as well as her debut poetry collection, Glass Skin (Hidden Brook Press) a collection about life in Quinte, documenting the extrordinary in the ordinary.

Mark Richardson is a journalist and author. Based in Cobourg, Mark is the former automotive editor of the Toronto Star and now contributes regularly to Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, among other publications. His books include Zen and Now, Bird on a Wire, The Drive Across Canada, and Running on Empty. This encore program from the summer of 2014 is a conversation about The Drive Across Canada – Mark’s experience driving Canada’s longest road and travel with the adventurous pioneers who helped make it a reality.