Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

IAN BROWN SHORTLISTED 2016 RBC TAYLOR PRIZE Regrets? For journalist Ian Brown there are a few but not for the big things. Ian regrets the book not read, should he read three long classics or just the one he knows he will enjoy, does he have enough time to finish?  Face to face Brown is the kind of man you just want to be friends with; smart, funny, educated and able to hold his own in a conversation. His takes on life have you laughing and thinking at the same time just as they do in his recent memoir ' Sixty, ' shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize. In Sixty Ian kept a journal of his 60 th year with a touching honesty that left no wart untouched. Baring his soul was powerful and in many ways liberating for him giving him an outlet to vent all of his emotions of a mentally challenging year. Putting words to paper is what writers do but baring your soul can be like walking into a minefield. Catching a bite at Fresh and Wild during a lunch time interview I

BOOK SHORTLISTED FOR RBC TAYLOR PRIZE   Canadian David Halton grew up in London during WWII with a father who was rarely home. Matthew Halton was the voice of Canada, sending reports home for the Toronto Star and CBC from the front lines. His stories from the battlefields kept Canadians aware of what was happening daily but today that voice has been largely forgotten, or was until David put ink to paper. Dispatches From The Front brings this extraordinary man to a new generation. Born in Pincher Creek, Alberta Matthew may have grown up with humble means but his parents made sure that their children read the classics, cultivating a love and thirst for knowledge. David reflected how his grandmother had the writing bug reporting for the local paper where Matthew would write his first stories. When at 12 Matthew asked to write for the paper the editor sent him out to cover a local campground as a lark thinking nothing would come of it. Matthew not only covered it but wrote with s

. The Growth of the Modern World Via The League of Nations A Review of Susan Pedersen's The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire By KJ Mullins-Toronto History Today:  For historian Susan Pedersen the League of Nations was a fascinating period of restructuring the Imperial World to Nation States while attempting to maintain old school ideals of how to govern the masses. Susan Pedersen (middle) wins the Cundill Prize Nov. 2015 Pedersen was in Toronto this November as part of the shortlist for the 2015 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature.  Just hours before she took the prize we sat down to discuss her book The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire.   "I didn't write my book as a comment to current affairs, that is for the reader to draw on." Pedersen stresses that she is a true hardcore research historian and that her focus is on the world prior to 1945, not on the present day. Narrowing in on the mandate

. Cotton, Slavery and the Caribbean An interview with Columbia University author/scholar Sven Beckert By KJ Mullins-Toronto Trinidad Guardian:  The Caribbean played an important role in the growth of slavery in the Southern United States, the Industrial Age and the booming cotton trade of the 18th century. While cotton was never as large an industry in the Caribbean (as what happened with sugar) the islands played an important role in the growth of the United States and fostering the Industrial Revolution. Author Sven Beckert explores this historical period in depth along with other aspects of the cotton industry in his award winning Empire of Cotton: A Global History. The Pulitzer Prize finalist was   in Toronto for the Cundill Prize took time to discuss how the slave trade, growth of Island cotton plantations and the Caribbean slave revolts influenced the booming slave trade within the southern United States.   “I wanted to bring the economy of the United St