29 minute read
HEALTH
HEALTH Dr. Henry and the rise of B.C.’s pro-COVID protests
by Charlie Smith
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On February 4, the Guardian published a remarkable story about several British scientists. In front of the world, they admitted their errors in assessing how the COVID-19 virus is transmitted, the effectiveness of masks, and school closures.
We have not seen humility anywhere close to this level from the B.C. government.
On the second anniversary of the first COVID-19 diagnosis in B.C., Dr. Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix were given an opportunity by a reporter to say what they might have done differently in responding to the pandemic.
“I’m not sure I’m at the point where regrets are what we need,” Henry said on January 28. Then she added a caveat about how major policy changes might have been communicated better.
Dix talked about how well B.C. had responded to the pandemic in comparison to other jurisdictions.
Neither of them uttered a word of sorrow for never seriously educating the public about the airborne nature of the disease and for not launching media campaigns emphasizing the importance of keeping windows open.
They had no regrets about not providing higher-quality masks to teachers and health-care workers who administered vaccines. There was not a concern expressed about spurning demands from educators for HEPA filters and carbondioxide monitors in classrooms.
They weren’t feeling bad about not taking significant amounts of time in their
Over the past 12 months, B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and Health Minister Adrian Dix have not launched advertising campaigns highlighting that COVID-19 is airborne. lengthy and frequent media briefings to talk about scientific evidence suggesting that COVID-19 is a vascular disease that first presents as a respiratory ailment.
Nor did they express remorse about not driving home the point that COVID-19 has been associated with serious neurological problems.
The best that Henry could do was to declare that the Omicron variant is “not innocuous” on January 21 after highlighting for several weeks how it was considered to be milder than the Delta variant.
A week later, Henry didn’t express any sorrow for enraging some people by being photographed without a mask at a B.C. Lions game in August 2021. This was even after published research in peerreviewed journals had demonstrated that the COVID-19 virus can remain in the air. So, naturally, the obstinacy of Dix and Henry in fessing up to any shortcomings led to another torrent of criticism over Twitter by their well-educated critics. Dix and Henry’s response to the question about regrets was reminiscent of the lyrics of “My Way”, written by Canadian Paul Anka and made memorable by Frank Sinatra. Now, let’s move to the present. There were 91 reported deaths from COVID-19 in B.C. in the first week of February. A February 8 update from the Ministry of Health also indicated that there are 986 people with COVID-19 in hospital and 146 in intensive care. Yet as the official death toll continues to mount at an alarming rate—91 in the first week of February—there were what were essentially pro-COVID demonstrations in Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna on February 5.
I use the phrase “pro-COVID demonstrations” because if you want all mandates dropped, including the wearing of masks, you’re endorsing the unimpeded spread of the disease across the province. Therefore you are pro-COVID. (The term came from a Twitter user.)
These pro-COVID protests were attended by many sad and ignorant people who don’t have a clue what COVID-19 might do to their health.
Even more importantly, they have little idea of the potential impact of the virus on the health of anyone with asthma, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, and other serious diseases or anyone in their circle of acquaintances who is over the age of 50 or under the age of six months. They probably have no idea that those who were born prematurely are also at higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19.
That’s not just regrettable; it’s a disgrace. And if these so-called convoys turn into superspreader events that end up overrunning local hospitals with COVID-19 cases, the provincial government can only blame itself.
Maybe at that point, Dix and Henry would then express regrets for not being more forceful in highlighting the true nature of this illness. Just like the scientists who were quoted in the earlier this month. g Guardian article
Notable jump in COVID-19 child hospitalizations
by Charlie Smith
Another 25 children under the age of 10 were hospitalized in B.C. due to COVID-19 in the week ending on January 22.
The numbers were revealed in the latest B.C. COVID-19 Situation Report published by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
It showed that since the start of the pandemic, 245 kids under 10 have been hospitalized with COVID-19. That was up from 220 in the previous week’s report.
Over the past three weeks, 65 children under 10 have been hospitalized in B.C. with the disease.
That marks a 36-percent increase in total hospitalizations of kids under 10 from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to January 1, 2022.
Twenty of the 245 children hospitalized ended up in the intensive-care unit, with four of those occurring this month, according to the BCCDC reports. There have been two deaths from COVID-19 among B.C. kids under 10 year of age.
In the week ending on January 22, nine youths and young adults from 10 to 19 were hospitalized with COVID-19 and one ended up in the intensive-care unit. Nobody between 10 and 19 years of age has died of COVID-19 in B.C.
The number of child and youth hospitalizations in B.C. has so far fallen short of a very rough estimate offered by University of Toronto health researcher Colin Furness in a discussion with a group called Protect Our Province B.C. on January 6. He suggested that based on U.S. child and youth hospitalizations, as many as 800 B.C. children and youths could be hospitalized over a one-month period from January 6.
There are still two weeks to go in the reporting periods to determine if Furness’s admittedly “back of the envelope” calculation will prove to be accurate. g
COMMENTARY Colbert takes aim at the Freedom Convoy fools
by Mike Usinger
Wanna find out who’s who on your Twitter feed, Facebook page, or Pinterest account? Write something, anything, and then hashtag it with the pretty clever #FluTruxKlan. Before you can say “Karen Konvoy”, you’ll find yourself unfollowed, sometimes by those you could have sworn you were a little, um, less batshit-crazy than the average anti-vaxxer.
Before we go any further, including delving into the February 3 edition of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, a couple of minor things. The first is, if you support everything from the right to abortion to the right to go to school naked, say “fuck” in front of your mom, or walk into a deli and urinate on the cheese, then you’ve got to respect the rights of your fellow Canadians to reject the jab. (Also, a gold star if you got the reference there.)
No one wants someone telling them what to do, including you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a good reason for pushing shots one, two, and three on your fellow Canadians. Like, for example, making sure there’s a bed in the hospital that
isn’t taken up by a comatose unvaxxed COVID-19 clown when your anger at the
#FluTruxKlan leads to you having an aneurysm while watching the news.
The rules here are simple. Your body, your rules. Their bodies, their rules. You can shake your head and wonder what that anti-vax idjit would have done during the polio epidemic, but you can’t have it both ways.
As for those who are convinced that vaccines are part of a corporate conspiracy by big pharma to do Christ Jesus knows what, some rules also apply. Stop pissing on the CanadianTomb of the Unknown Soldier, defiling Terry Fox’s statue, and abusing the staff at Ottawa homeless shelters because you’re hungry and forgot to pack a lunch when you left Fuckwitville, Alberta for Ottawa in your mudsplattered pickup truck.
And, while you’re at it, ask yourself what exactly you’re hoping to achieve by squatting on the streets in what’s become a tent city on wheels. Because the last time anyone checked, the vaccination rules for truckers (90 percent of whom are vaxxed, and actually drive trucks) are the same on both sides of the border. Try pulling this shit in front of the White House, and see how long your road-hockey game lasts.
What’s that? You can’t get across the border, not to mention service at the local Ottawa Tim Hortons, or into the gas station to take a dump because you’re unvaxxed? Well, that’s your choice. Your body, your rules, your choice. Live with it.
Rewinding to the top of this page for a second, what the fuck even is Pinterest, and why is it completely useless? Hands up if you’ve lost count of the times you’ve gone looking for a recipe for sumac-pomegranate lima beans, clicked on a link, and found yourself looking at a Pinterest page that lists no ingredients or instructions, but instead offers a photo with the word “Yummy” underneath it.
Anyway, back to the folks currently turning the streets of Ottawa into an Eastern Canadian version of Strathcona Park circa 2020.
In one corner, you’ve had Donald Trump declaring Canada’s Karen Konvoy cretins the greatest thing since the freedom fighters of January 6. Famed humanitarian Donald Trump Jr. meanwhile posted glowing endorsements on Facebook.
The #FluTruxKlan cabal hasn’t, meanwhile, gone unnoticed on the left. On February 3, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert took aim at Canada’s tireless freedom fighters.
Host Stephen Colbert wondered why Canadians have been waving Confederate flags in a country that can’t secede from a nation that it doesn’t belong to. He also applauded truckers for turning their backs on Spotify to spread COVID misinformation on CB radio.
And then remember that you have no right to insist that your fellow Canadians get vaxxed. But you have every right to insist they keep out of your coffee shop, stay away from your book club meetings, and go play road hockey somewhere they’ll be more welcome. Like Anusville, Alberta.
PS Love you all, no matter what your status. PPS #unfollowed. There. Did it for you. g
The host of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert questioned why Canadians waved Confederate flags in a country that cannot secede from a nation to which it doesn’t belong. Photo by Viacom.
…ask yourself what exactly you’re hoping to achieve by squatting…in what’s become a tent city on wheels.
– Mike Usinger
VALENTINE’S DAY DINING Metro Vancouver restaurants offer love-day feasts
by Charlie Smith
Feast in West Vancouver is offering Panna Cotta for dessert, including gluten-free and vegan options; at another North Shore restaurant, Winston, in the Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood, the Valentine’s Day appetizer options include Kale & B.C. Endive Salad, Cold Cut Beef Digital, and Kohlrabi Gomae.
Valentine’s Day has arrived, and just in time for many local restaurateurs. It’s been a brutal couple of years for them, for obvious reasons—and there’s nothing like a little love in the air to get couples in the mood for a romantic meal. There are scores of worthwhile choices. Below, we’ve highlighted five of them in four different municipalities.
FEAST 2423 Marine Drive, West Vancouver Owner Geoffroy Roulleau worked at several Parisian restaurants with world-class chefs before moving to Canada in 2010, later opening Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar as the assistant director with chef Alex Chen. At his West Vancouver eatery, Feast, there’s an option of going with the threecourse Valentine’s Day menu at $85 per person from February 11 to 13, but it’s the only choice on the 14th. Wine pairing is available for an additional $45. For the first course, there are three options: Wagyu Beef Tartare, Dungeness Crab Salad, or Harvest Salad for vegetarians. That’s followed up with either Cured Duck Breast, Pan-Seared Sablefish, or Potato Gnocchi for the main. Panna Cotta is served for dessert, with gluten-free and vegan options.
H TASTING LOUNGE 1601 Bayshore Drive This Valentine’s Day meal at this popular spot in the Westin Bayshore is a little pricier than some of the others mentioned here. But, hey, you get your own private garden dome, which can certainly enhance one’s comfort level in the midst of a pandemic. The sixcourse Valentine’s Day dinner is $140 per person with optional wine pairings at $70 each. But there’s a catch—the minimum spend is $500 per table, excluding taxes and tips, so you might need to bring a third or fourth person. Of course, you can also book a room at $247 per night, with a $50 hotel credit. So, what’s on the menu? A whole lot of things, including Beef Wellington, Dungeness Crab-Crusted Halibut, or Saffron Risotto for the main course. Appies include Kusshi Oyster Duo, Burrata Panzanella Salad, and Lobster Bisque. And for dessert, Valentine’s Day diners can include Baked Alaska. The forecast calls for rain, so maybe it’s worth splurging for one of those domes.
HART HOUSE RESTAURANT 6664 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby There’s something romantic about enjoying a Valentine’s Day dinner with your sweetie in a Tudor mansion. So it’s no wonder that Hart House Restaurant by Burnaby’s Deer Lake has become such a favourite on this day over the years. The 2022 edition features a four-course meal for $88 per person, with sufficient physical distancing to keep Dr. Bonnie Henry happy. It begins with Albacore Tuna Tartare as an amuse bouche, followed by first-course options of Basque Style Seafood Soup, Homemade Pork Terrine, or Roasted Beet Salad. The midcourse offering is Wild Mushroom–Stuffed Ravioli, followed by four main-course options: Sous Vide Beef Strip Loin, Confit Duck Leg, Seared Sablefish, or Winter Vegetable Risotto. Diners can finish things off with either Basque Country Cheesecake or Warm Chocolate Cake.
THE VICTOR 39 Smithe Street Never eaten at the Parq Vancouver? Well, the Victor is no ordinary casino eatery, thanks in part to executive chef Garett Blundell. He earned his spurs creating West Coast cuisine at the Brentwood Bay Lodge and followed that up with a stint at celebrity Gordon Ramsay’s now-shuttered maze in London. For Valentine’s Day, the Victor is offering three courses for $105 per person, which can be paired with wine for an additional $69. The appetizer options are Jerusalem Artichoke Velouté, Japanese Hamachi Tiradito, and Foie Gras Torchon. There are also three mains: Winter Black Truffle Cannelloni, Chilean Sea Bass, and Brant Lake Wagyu Tenderloin Surf and Turf. For dessert, there’s Heart of Victor, which is a chocolate-and-caramel pastry with fresh berries and vanilla mascarpone Chantilly. It’s enough to get anyone to forget about the pandemic for a few minutes.
WINSTON 228 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver Lower Lonsdale has emerged as a dining hot spot in recent years. So if you’re in the neighbourhood between February 11 and 14, Winston chef Douglas Lee has created an unusual four-course Valentine’s Day menu at $65 per person. It includes three choices for the first course: Kale & B.C. Endive Salad, Cold Cut Beef Digital, and Kohlrabi Gomae. Turnip Baconator and Smashed Sunchoke are the two options for the second course, followed by either Nine Finger Cavatelli or 99 Hour Smoked Pork Neck Ssam for the main. Desserts consist of strawberry confit— billed as Strawberry to the Fifth Power—or a Quenelle of Bubblegum Streusal. To Winston’s credit, it opened right before the pandemic, in February 2020, and has managed to remain in business, thanks in part to its emphasis on farm-to-table dining and its partnerships with many local suppliers. g
For Your Valentine
Made in Italy
VALENTINE’S DAY Romance for adults: wine, rom-com, and takeout
by Rachel Moore
If opposites attract, then Henry Golding and Constance Wu in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians (above) is the perfect Valentine’s Day pairing with Road 13’s red-and-white (Syrah/Viognier) wine set.
Applying makeup for an hour before cramming into a skintight dress is definitely not how we want to spend this Valentine’s Day. Instead, we’re looking forward to uncorking a bottle of wine whilst wearing a sweatsuit combo worthy of a spot on What Not to Wear.
For adults, the Hallmark holiday has become an excuse to relax with a glass of wine in one hand and a box of Chinese takeout in the other.
Since we’ve been in close proximity with our significant others for the entire pandemic, there’s not a whole lot to talk about anymore. Watching a romantic movie together is a wonderful way to avoid bombarding your partner with hypothetical questions or sparking a nonsensical argument.
Since 2022 is off to a rocky start, we’ve saved you the trouble of researching B.C. wines that will delight your taste buds while Will Smith delights your eyes. Before your trip to the nearby liquor store on February 14, check out these five wine and rom-com pairings.
RED BARN WINERY’S 2019 SILENT PARTNER CABERNET FRANC/HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS Nothing goes better with a sophisticated Cabernet Franc than a film about an advice columnist writing on how to get a man to leave you in 10 days. You can sip on this medium-bodied, earthy Cab Franc with tasting notes of mixed berry jam and plum while watching Kate Hudson lose her shit over a “love fern”.
Red Barn, a winery in the Okanagan Valley, produces wines that encompass the unique flavours and smells from the surrounding environment. Its Silent Partner Cabernet Franc is dry with a long finish and bell pepper–like flavours, sharing the same intensity as a dark red wine. If you’re ordering delivery for dinner, we suggest pairing this savoury B.C. wine with hamburgers topped with blue cheese.
We promise that this bottle of Cab Franc will be empty by the time that the unbelievably charming Matthew McConaughey takes his shirt off.
LIQUIDITY’S 2019 DIVIDEND/ FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL This full-bodied red blend is a combination of Merlot from Blind Creek Vineyard in the Similkameen, Cabernet Franc from Oliver’s Golden Mile Bench, and Cabernet Sauvignon from Okanagan Falls. Liquidity’s 2019 Dividend features hints of vanilla and a rich palate with fruity flavours like black currant and black cherry.
The wine’s delightful, complex taste pairs perfectly with what is arguably one of the best romantic comedies to ever exist: Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
The chemistry between heartbroken Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) and the lady whom he meets on his Hawaiian vacation, Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis), is one of a kind. Because it was coproduced by Judd Apatow, the film has impeccable comedic timing, sex jokes, and a generous amount of profanity.
Hamburgers, charcuterie, cheesy pastas, or a large quattro formaggi pizza will complement this red blend.
THE 2020 PINOT GRIS FROM VALLEY COMMONS/VALENTINE’S DAY Few things—other than topless romcom hunks—get us more excited than a refreshing, fruit-forward wine with an aesthetically pleasing label. This 2020 Pinot Gris has distinct tasting notes of apricot, honey, and pineapple, making it an exemplary match with the ever-so-sweet film Valentine’s Day.
The lighthearted flick follows several interconnected love stories and boasts a big-name cast that includes Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, and Taylor Swift.
Valley Commons winery has its own vineyard in Fort Langley, but it also partners with farmers throughout the South Okanagan.
Call us “classless”, but we love pairing Pinot Gris with Nando’s flame-grilled peri-peri chicken. If you have time to cook a meal at home, we recommend pairing the crisp white wine with rustic vegetables, marinated mushrooms, and grilled fish.
EVOLVE’S 2018 MOMENTO/HITCH This new release from Evolve was created to unite friends and is a velvety blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. Each wine was aged in American and French oak barrels for two years before being carefully combined.
When sipping on a glass of 2018 Momento, you’ll recognize blackberry, black cherry, raspberry, and plum flavours. The red blend is easy to enjoy and unpretentious, which is why we think it pairs well with the cinematic masterpiece that is Hitch, starring Kevin James and Eva Mendes.
Total hottie and powerhouse actor Will Smith plays Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, a selfproclaimed “date doctor” who teaches men how to charm women. It’s hilarious, heartwarming, and will leave you feeling hopeful if you have yet to find love.
When it comes to dinner, order a funghi alfredo with a side of garlic sauce from Pizza Garden and call it a night.
ROAD 13’S PERFECT PAIR SET/CRAZY RICH ASIANS If there’s a better pair than Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and Nick Young (Henry Golding), it’s the Road 13 2019 Viognier and 2018 Syrah. These two wines comprise the winery’s Valentine’s Day gift set and will keep your partner preoccupied while you slip into something more comfortable—and by that, we mean a grubby Tshirt from 1998.
Road 13 is located in the heart of the South Okanagan and is known for producing flavourful wines that fuse nature and science.
The 2019 Viognier is described by its maker as “complex in the right ways”— which we find triggering, as we’ve been called the opposite a handful of times. Pear, quince, and papaya form it’s delicate, fruit-forward aroma. Upon your first sip, you’ll discover tasting notes of vanilla bean, caramelized apple, and pear with a subtle citrus finish.
Like all Viogniers, this well-balanced wine should be served with roasted chicken or grilled seafood.
The 2018 Syrah from Road 13 is quite different in comparison to its companion, but everyone knows that opposites attract. We find the incredibly attractive couple in Crazy Rich Asians to be a textbook example of this dynamic.
This full-bodied wine features tasting notes of cooking spices, black cherry, and smoky oak. Because Syrah is such a food-friendly wine, we recommend pairing it with a meat-heavy meal or grilled eggplant. g
BEER Some beers seem a perfect fit for movie nights
by Mike Usinger
Beers made for James Bond, ghost stories, and Rob Roy include (clockwise from left) Main St. Brewing ‘s Double or Nothing IPA, Shadow Play Dark Ale, and Innis & Gunn’s Cherry Kriek.
If you’re looking for something to bind the following beers together, think vaguely cinematic, at least in spirit. Cue up Rob Roy, any Bond film starring Daniel Craig, or A Ghost Story, pop a cap or a tab, and get ready to lose yourself in another world.
MAIN ST. BREWING DOUBLE OR NOTHING IPA Give Main Street Brewing a round of applause for not only spinning a good backstory, but in the tradition of the folks behind the James Bond franchise, keeping a good thing going. Double or Nothing’s beginnings spring from the adventures of Holly Hoppington, the brewery’s fictional special “I.P. Agent”, who supposedly sourced the ingredients for last fall’s spy-themed beers Norwegian Rendezvous and Trouble Weighs A ’Tun. A sequel of sorts, Double or Nothing IPA (inspired by last fall’s winning 007 flick No Time to Die) has a plot synopsis that goes like this: “Main St.’s latest seasonal series pits the plucky fictional IPAgent against evil henchmen and nefarious villains in a variety of European locales as she races against time to secure secret recipes and essential ingredients.”
Exotic-sounding right? Those expecting a hop-wars nuclear option are looking in the wrong place, as Double or Nothing is light on the bitterness and bursting with grapefruit and pineapple action. Add a double-honeyed finish with a pleasing malt undertow, and you’re immediately left wishing for a sequel. No problem there as Hoppington is already headed back into action for Main St.’s upcoming spy-themed release That Sinking Feeling Italian Pilsner.
STANLEY PARK SHADOW PLAY DARK ALE Famous for its inspiring beauty—the spectacular seawall, towering trees, and sandy swimming beaches—Stanley Park has a lesser-known dark side. Do a little research (which is to say hop on amyscrypt. com) and according to first-name-only San Francisco-based ghost hunter Amy, Vancouver’s crown jewel has numerous haunted sites.
For the ghoulishly inclined, ghosts reportedly make regular appearances at the Vancouver Rowing Club (where early Chinese residents buried their dead on the shoreline), Lion’s Gate Bridge (riptides have taken countless victims), and Deadman’s Island (famous as an early city morgue). All this makes Stanley Park Brewing’s Shadow Play Dark Ale a no-brainer to reach for the next time you’re stumbling around Vancouver’s largest urban forest during the witching hour.
While described as a medium amber brown, appearance-wise you’ll be pouring what Spinal Tap might describe as nonemore-black. The high-carbonation factor makes Shadow Play unmistakable as an ale, but taste-wise it’s not far off from a robust coffee porter, complete with Kahlua and burnt orange-peel undertones. Don’t forget to crack one open for the ghosts.
INNIS & GUNN CHERRY KRIEK Scotland is known for many things on these shores, including but not limited to: kilts, bagpipes, haggis, and the Loch Ness Monster. (That 90 percent of Scottish folks don’t wear kilts, play the bagpipes, eat haggis, or believe in the Loch Ness Monster is entirely beside the point). While cherries aren’t usually associated with the likes of Robbie Burns, Rob Roy, and Robert the Bruce, they are most certainly a thing in the land that’s given us Sean Connery, Shirley Manson, and William “Groundskeeper Willie” MacDougal.
Innis & Gunn’s Cherry Kriek starts with fruit picked in an orchard just down the road from the Scottish distillery, after which the beer spends three months maturing in oak casks. If you’re a long-time Innis & Gunn fan then you already know the wood makes it good, and you’ll definitely pick up on the warm oak as well as subtle vanilla here.
Innis & Gunn Cherry Kriek is decidedly low-key on the fruit front—subtly tart, elegant, and almost wine-like. That makes for a refreshing sipper that’s surprisingly understated, making it something you wouldn’t expect from the big-and-bold land of deep-fried Mars bars, highland dancing, and a towering medieval castle on every second street-corner. g
Neverland
Scan to confess
The Georgia Straight
Confessions, an outlet for submitting revelations about your private lives—or for the voyeurs among us who want to read what other people have disclosed.
I moved to Vancouver to escape all my coupled friends having kids, buying houses, and growing up. I grew up anyway but now lack the equity of partnership, family, and home. I continue living in a purgatory where I never take off and I never land.
Friend’s pain
Supposed to keep quiet about a friend. On the outside, they look so successful. House, wife, kids career, successful friends and a tight family. But he’s faking it. He’s in love with someone else, someone poor who would tarnish his rep. He compares it to a bad addiction, but he’s miserable where he is. He’s that much in love and the worst part is it’s been going on for a decade. Ten years of quiet indecision and I feel helpless. It’s like watching him dies slowly inside, and I can’t help. I can’t get advice either because it’ll blow the secret and I promised to keep my mouth shut.
Confession
I slept with someone years ago and then later on found out through social media that she got pregnant. She never told me.
A writer wanted fame
He had a band that could’ve gone places but that’s in the past. His attempts to write, while good, have largely gone unnoticed. His ex was perfect and doesn’t want him back. As he approaches his forties, he now gains his followers by way of Tinder. Perhaps, this is happiness for him but it isn’t exactly what he had planned. He may never understand why.
Visit to post a Confession
BOOKS Author reveals resilience of interned Jewish artists
by Charlie Smith
Bestselling U.S. novelist Meg Waite Clayton learned many things while researching her eighth book, The Postmistress of Paris.
Her main character, the wealthy adventurer Nanée, was partially inspired by Chicago heiress Mary Jayne Gold. She worked with journalist Varian Fry to save about 2,000 Jewish artists and intellectuals in France.
Clayton not only had to dig into the details of this extraordinary Second World War rescue mission, she also needed to learn about French internment camps where Jews were imprisoned after fleeing Germany.
“For example, at Camp des Milles, there were artists and writers and musicians,” Clayton tells the Straight by phone. “And so even in this old brick factory, where the brick dust was so thick that it made the floor lumpy to walk on and it filled their lungs, they still created art.”
One of her characters, Edouard Moss, is a Jewish photographer from Germany who is being kept in Camp des Milles. Clayton points out that even under such gruelling conditions, the inmates created a cabaret in an underground cavern that was once a kiln.
“They wrote plays and performed them,” Clayton adds. “They wrote operas and performed them. It was really inspiring—the fortitude of people in those circumstances—and the way art and literature and the creation of it carries people through difficult times.”
Clayton praises historian Donna F. Ryan’s 1996 book The Holocaust & the Jews of Marseille: The Enforcement of Anti-Semitic Policies in Vichy France for helping her understand what took place in those years.
After the invasion in 1940, the Nazis ruled northern France and the Atlantic coastline to Spain. Southern France was ruled by a new French government in Vichy, which cooperated with Germany in rounding up Jews, many of whom were later murdered in Auschwitz.
But these internment camps for fleeing German Jews were actually set up before the invasion—a testament to the degree of antisemitism in France at the time. Camp des Milles, now a museum in southern France, is where 10,000 people of 38 different nationalities were interned from 1939 to 1942.
The character Nanée takes extraordinary risks to save Jews in the face of this.
Among those whom Mary Jayne Gold helped save in southern France were artist Marc Chagall, writer Hannah Arendt, and Nobel Prize–winning biochemist Otto Meyerhof.
“With the exception of Edouard Moss, the artists and writers named in the novel, including André and Jacqueline Breton and Max Ernst, are based on real people,” Clayton writes in an author note and acknowledgements. “The depictions here are meant to honor those involved in these rescues, but all, including Varian Fry, are to some extent a product of my imagination.”
Clayton is drawn to historical fiction because the research helps get her into the world that she’s about to create before she even starts writing.
She likens creating a novel to writing a marathon. The former lawyer didn’t start writing until she was in her 30s—and even then only after growing up as a huge reader.
“If you woke up in the morning and you had never run and you said, ‘Okay, I’m going to get up and run a marathon,’ you would never finish it,” she says.
“For writing, I just get up every morning and I sit down and I write,” she adds. “I write word after word after word and it eventually becomes a novel.”
As she works her first draft, she tries not to look back and judge what she has done because she feels that she can do this in later drafts.
“Often, I don’t know until I get to the end of a novel what it’s about, what needs to be brought up, what needs to be cut, and even what I need to know,” Clayton admits. “I try to be kind to myself and not have expectations. And that works for me.” Clayton doesn’t feel that there have been enough stories about the courage of women in the Second World War, which is one reason why she wrote The Postmistress of Paris. And in this instance, she was driven to complete the book by one woman in particular: her mother. In the fall of 2020, Clayton’s mom, Anne Tyler Waite, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. That prompted Clayton to call her agent for the first time ever to warn that she might not meet her deadline.
But Clayton also really wanted her mother to see the book. Fortunately, Clayton’s editor, Sara Nelson, agreed to read a “pretty raw first draft” and worked with her on a weekly basis to finish it on schedule.
“The first galley that went to anybody went to my mom,” Clayton reveals.
Sadly, her father died a few weeks after that, but he was able to read her dedication to her mother. Clayton says that her mother is still alive, “thanks to the miracles of modern medicine”.
“I would like to emphasize it’s a very optimistic book,” she states. “The San Francisco Chronicle called it ‘Casablanca Rick had an artsy bent’.” g if
| TICKETS AT VANARTGALLERY.BC.CA
JAN 15 - MAR 20, 2022
Major Sponsor Community Partner Media Partners
For All Time: the Shakespeare First Folio is co-organized by the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Art Gallery and is curated by Dr. Gregory Mackie, Associate Professor, Department of English Language and Literatures and Katherine Kalsbeek, Head, Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library Image Credit: Yangos Hadjiyannis, at Kre.is Immersive U.S. writer Meg Waite Clayton’s newest novel, The Postmistress of Paris, shines a light on the bravery of those who opposed the Nazis in southern France during the Second World War.
Meg Waite Clayton will speak at the 2022 Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival: the virtual edition at 8 p.m. on Wednesday (February 9).
