This just in from the governor general's john

TOUTE LE GANGLINESS: Lily Schreyer, moi,
Governor General (at the time)  Ed Shreyer, my boss and
 Expositor Publisher RickMcCutcheon and
former GG Roland Michener.

I just got and read a newly published book called Journalism for the Common Good: The Michener Awards at Fifty, by Kim S. Kierans, because I'm in it. 

On page 75. 

Me and my wife Helena. And our friend Rick.

Get this: "In Manitoulin, the Expositor team was thrilled to be invited to the ceremony at Rideau Hall. Carter and his girlfriend Helena, who later became his wife, took the seven-hour bus trip to join publisher Rick McCutcheon for the ceremony and 'to meet all the people I looked up to,' said Carter. During a bathroom break, Carter recalled running into Ottawa journalist John Fraser, who asked if Carter had his acceptance speech ready. 'Yeah, right, Mr. Fraser.'"

I love that. 

Ms. Kierans has me talking to a famous Canadian journalist in the can at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, where the governor-general lives.

In another paragraph: "Carter, a gangly twenty-three year old."

TEXTBOOK CASE: If all history
books were this readable, my 
marks would have soared over C.

How she knew about my gangliness is anybody's guess. Kim Kierans and I have only ever spoken on the phone. Maybe I have a gangly voice. 

I don't know.

What I do know is, I've read page 75 over and over. I can probably recite it from memory.  

Then I thought, maybe I owe it to Kierans to give the rest of the book a shot.

I was right. 

This reminded me of the time I read Cherie Dimaline's novel The Marrow Thieves. I picked up The Marrow Thieves because I knew and seriously like and admire Cherie, who I worked with at Chatelaine, even though (or maybe especially because) one afternoon our boss Rona Maynard compared my and Cherie's management style to that of the Keystone Kops. I took it as a compliment. Anyway, I started The Marrow Thieves because Cherie was the author but finished it because the story was so gripping. (The Marrow Thieves then went on to be a best-selling award winner. Feels great when that happens.)

I started Journalism For The Public Good because my name was in it then finished the book because it was so damn interesting and easy to read. Being easy to read is huge, in my books. (In my books. Get it? Never mind.) 

JFTPG would be a valuable addition to any history course in the country.

MEETING JOHN IN THE JOHN:
Kierans' ear for detail caught me
by surprise 
 

Or maybe a course called, "How to turn a wooden-sounding subject like the history of a journalism award into a marvelous story."

Kim (I think I can call her that now) couldn't  produce a boring sentence to save her life.

And JFTPG is the retelling of some of the most important journalism; and by extension, significant events in this past 50 years. 

I personally forget most stuff. Really do. At the time something’s going on I think “I’ll never forget this,” but then I do. Just like that.

JFTPG was like a trip back in time to events that were really important that I had completely forgotten about.  

I'm not going to go all boomery here, lamenting the old days of journalism when newspapers were fat and everybody watched the same three news broadcasts, because I don't do that. The newer ranks of journalists work harder, faster, smarter and more effectively than their predecessors; i.e., okay, okay,  me, ever  did.

Same thing applies to hockey players and school teachers. They get better with each generation.

Textbooks, too, are livelier than they used to be  Exhibit A: Journalism For The Public Good.

JFTPG is an overdue reminder that there’s tons of terrific Canadian journalism out there. And a morale boost for people like me who've made it our lives. 

If you're reading this, thanks Kim. And should you ever make it T.O... 

One more thing. (And this is not why I wrote this blog but a case could be made for it. When I was 11, I worked as a page in the Ontario Legislature. When I told big people about it, more than a few asked, "and which page are you?" I now have the answer.