Irena Karafilly Takes Us Back to Montreal, 1970
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Fondation Foundation Help Generations help kids generationsfoundation.com 514-933-8585 MARCH 2017 VOL. XXXl N O 4 GUIDE TO SENIOR LIVING Irena Karafilly takes us back to Montreal, 1970 MONTREAL’S LEADING BUYER OF RARE COINS SINCE 1928 WE WILL GIVE YOU TOP DOLLAR FOR ALL YOUR OLD COINS & PAPER MONEY Canada, USA, World, Ancient and Medieval coins Silver, Gold and Platinum wanted in coins, bars or jewellery 1117 Ste Catherine W, Suite 700, Montreal 514-289-9761 carsleys.comsleys.com Re- this issue’s theme(s) Salinas, Ec. — The theme this issue We accompany Irwin Block along is two-fold: It’s not only our semi-an- the streets of Havana as he re-visits nual retirement living issue but we are Cuba and reports on life as it is for exploring the theme of re-. the majority of Cubans in the wake of You’ve got it: it’s the prefix re-. At Fidel’s death. In another feature story, he this 50+ stage in our lives, we do a lot interviews Joyce Wright, who is vaca- A diamond in the heart of Beaconsfi eld of re-jigging, re-invention, re-direction, tioning here in Salinas, Ecuador, about re-living, regretting, replenishing, and how she and her siblings built a class- A carefree living experience rejuvenating through travel, courses, room in Mexico. and relationships. Some have chosen As for my own re-invention here in to re-direct rather than retire. Some- Salinas, I am teaching art to children in times we re-educate ourselves about my basic Spanish as a volunteer in an new trends and re-think our die-hard educational centre that enriches chil- opinions. dren by offering computers, and now Barry Lazar, our master of culinary art and performance classes. In our next humour discusses redundancies in the issue look forward to seeing and read- kitchen. ing about these budding young artists Our theme of housing includes stories at work and at play with Guayasamin, on building houses and re-visiting the Ecuador’s most famous artist. houses of our youth, as Irena Karafilly’s Enjoy this issue and this season of main character does in her novel, The renewal and rebirth! House on Selkirk Avenue. — Barbara Moser Sales Offi ce Safe and Secure Home for the Elderly NOW OPEN Three meals a day & housekeeping services included 205 Alton Dr, corner Elm Bath & shower assistance Residence Medication supervision Beaconsfi eld Westhill Rooms Presently Available 514-524-6565 • 438-883-3583 6332 Sherbrooke West, Suite 300, Montreal adamus.ca • [email protected] Tel: 514-485-3030 • Cell: 514-726-1181 • Fax: 514-485-2932 On March 26, I’m inviting everyone over. LAURA M. WALLACE, AT CHARTWELL SINCE 2013. 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March 26 1 - 4 pm CHARTWELL MANOIR KIRKLAND CHARTWELL LE WELLESLEY 2 Canvin Street, Kirkland 230 Hymus Blvd., Pointe-Claire 438-538-8472 438-538-8474 Conditions may apply. 2 0028_20170305_MANOIR THE SENIOR TIMES KIRKLAND_LE March WELLESLEY_The 2017 Senior theseniortimes.com Times_10x7_Laura_OH.indd 1 17-02-16 09:44 October crisis sets the scene in this novel of lost love and youth Most of the narrative is set in Irwin Block midtown Montreal, and read- Where were you during the Octo- ers will enjoy walking with the ber Crisis of 1970? protagonist as she navigates the It was a period that no Montrealer streets that are still there, and back can easily forget. to the times when Guillaume, a tal- After a cell of the terrorist Front ented cellist from a poor east-end de Libération du Québec (FLQ) family, was part of Kate’s life. had kidnapped British trade What actually happened to commissioner James Earl Cross, Guillaume and their love remains Prime Minister Pierre Elliott a mystery. There was a letter. What Trudeau invoked the War Measures did it say? Act, suspending civil liberties, and This is at the heart of the story, enabling the arrest and confine- and it makes for a good — at times ment of 497 Canadians. Most were compelling — read as we slowly get never charged. to know Kate and her times, flash- The government said it was ing back and forth in time until past responding to an apprehended and present collide. insurrection. People were terrified. But beyond the dramatic devel- For several Montreal writers, the opment is that yearning for our lost period provides a ripe setting for youth, and what could have been, their creative imagination, the latest that will stir memories in all of us. being The House on Selkirk Avenue The House on Selkirk Avenue, by Montreal-based Irena Karafilly. Guernica Editions, 301 pages, $20, In the opening chapters, the is available in Montreal bookstores. central character, Kate Thuringer, [email protected] recalls her youth and, a one-night Photo: Monique Dykstra Interview with Irena Karafilly stand on a train to Paris. Irena Karafilly walks us through local history She has a university degree in Irena Karafilly talks about the English and music, speaks three As the narrative unfolds, we pher at the Edmonton Journal, genesis of her novel, including languages, and is hoping to improve follow Kate through the twists that almost 50, and is married to a memories of her own experience in her French with a stay in the French her life takes as a result of encoun- doctor, whom we never meet but October, 1970, when her neighbour capital. She is thinking about a ters that seem to be innocuous. only hear about in her thoughts. was arrested. See page 4. medical intern’s marriage proposal. This is not a political book. The Does she love him? Kate doesn’t October crisis comes into play even pose the question. because of Kate’s relationship with a Like many of us at that time, ending Québécois whose involvement lead- Selling a Property or our teen years, Kate is floating in a ing to his arrest, like most of those sea of uncertainty. What happens on detained in real life, turns out to be Downsizing? the train is a portent of events she is peripheral. unable to control. But it had a profound effect on his And always, ever-present in this relationship with Kate. His name It’s important to review your financial picture to see how selling your carefully crafted and engaging is Guillaume. He reappears when property can impact your financial goals, including retirement and your story, are regrets, the what-if’s that Kate returns to Montreal to visit income needs. Knowing how busy life gets, I can provide you with can overtake one’s thoughts during her daughter Megan, studying advice when and where it’s convenient for you. 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Scotiabank includes The Bank of Nova Scotia and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including Scotia Securities Inc. As used in this document, the term “Scotiabank Investment Specialist” refers to a Scotia JOHN 514-560-7720 Securities Inc. mutual fund representative. Scotia Securities Inc. is a member of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association. 7707 Shelley, Montreal (Call for appt.) 3063-2017-0202 R3 theseniortimes.com March 2017 THE SENIOR TIMES 3 McGill student days sparks themes in novel Irwin Block the sense that all writing is ultimately autobiographical. “I am dissatisfied Born in the Russian Urals, Irena with having only one destiny, and Karafilly received her post-second- fiction writing provides the illusion ary education at McGill and was a of correcting this sadly irrefutable student there in October 1970. Her fact.” Karafilly says she has always neighbour was the nationalist singer been propelled by a vivid imagina- Pauline Julien. tion and the need to write about “I happened to be living on Mon- her observations. treal’s Selkirk Avenue … and I was “As far back as I can remember, I’ve awakened in the middle of the night felt the need to inhabit other people’s when the police arrived to arrest her,” skins. Even as a child, encountering a Karafilly wrote in an email. blind person, or an amputee, or just “Many years later, I chanced to be someone with a facial twitch, I would Atlantic City • May 15-19 back on the street with an out-of-town go around trying to imitate the hap- 4 nights at Tropicana friend and the memory of that distant, $45 casino credit 4 dinner buffets less stranger. My mother did her best tumultuous autumn was unexpect- $525 dbl $725 single to beat it out of me. I did not like to be edly stirred up. I shared it with my Mohegan Sun Earth Towers & Foxwoods spanked, so I became a writer.” friend and we ended up discussing the June 12-15 Karafilly, who divides her time 3 nights at Mohegan Sun New Earth Towers October Crisis, and then anglophone- between her home in Montreal and Visit to Foxwoods Casino 3 buffet vouchers 1000 Islands Tour $99 francophone relations.