book week

Ukrainian schools and Marty Chan

I got up this morning at 7am, washed, packed, dressed and checked out by 7:45 and went down for breakfast. I was being picked up at 8:30 but my ride came early. Fortunately, I’d had a chance to finish my breakfast.

First stop was Ridna Shkola and the young children. These are Ukrainian language Saturday students. Taras had asked me to tell them why I didn’t speak Ukrainian. It all has to do with the prejudice directed at my father when he was a boy. He was beaten every day at school for speaking Ukrainian. And his and his siblings’ names were all anglicized. He didn’t want that for my sister and I so we never took Ukrainian. I told those kids that they were very lucky to live in Canada now; a Canada that was more tolerant. I think it was the sheer exhaustion of the week, but I began to weep. I hate it when that happens. The poor kids. A teacher brought me a tissue and I took a deep breath. Then I did a storytelling session with Enough and we talked about the Holodomor.

From there, Taras drove me to St. John’s Cathedral and I did a session with the Ukrainian language high school students. I enjoyed talking to these students. Mostly I have been presenting to younger students this week so it was a good change for me.

When I was finished, Taras helped me out with my luggage and Marty Chan met me outside.

I hadn’t met Marty in person but we play wordscraper on facebook quite regularly. We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant and we had a great visit. I was enthralled with Marty’s journey to becoming a writer and playwright and broadcast journalist. There were many parallels in our early lives. He dropped me off at the airport and right now I am on the second flight. It is 9:50pm and I will be in my own bed in about three hours.

It was an amazing Book Week. I met such great kids and so many fabulous educators. I love Alberta hospitality. If I were to move out of Ontario, Alberta would be where I would want to live. I love the friendliness and the wide open spaces. I love the vast sky and the fact that people can pronounce my last name without hesitation.

An addendum. It is Monday November 24. I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon and the MRI showed that I do have a torn meniscus. A “serious” tear, he says, but fixable. My surgery is scheduled for just before Christmas.

Sherwood Park, Camrose and Enough

I slept soundly last night. The Coast is a really comfortable hotel. Helen picked me up at 9am, so I had a chance to have a shower and wash my hair, have a leisurely breakfast with an extra cup of coffee, and read the paper. I did two back to back readings at the Strathcona Public Library. Big groups, but nice kids. Then Helen and two of the library staff took me to a pasta place with fantastic homemade pasta. I locked myself into the bathroom for about 5 minutes and was panicking, but the door finally did open. The restaurant was so loud that no one heard my banging and calling out. Helen drove me to Camrose and we had trouble finding the library. Got out my trusty GPS yet again and arrived – about 4 minutes late. There was a good number of people waiting patiently for me to arrive in the meeting room in the basement. I think there were 20 or so people, both kids and adults. Not a bad turnout for the middle of the day. I began presenting as I peeled off my coat. I presented for over the allotted hour because when I wrapped up, everyone remained sitting and kept asking more questions. We left at around 3 or 3:15. There was a traffic jam on the main street as we were leaving. An accident had recently occurred. Scattered over the street were hand tools – wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. We were diverted onto a parallel street, and when we got to the front of the traffic, we could see a pick-up truck with the front all bashed in. There were several other cars that had been dented. The poor person in the truck likely lost his livelihood when he lost all those tools.

We got back to the hotel at about 4:40 so I had a bit of time before my 5:30 pick up to wash and change and put on an extra layer of nail polish. My ride came 17 minutes early. Fortunately, I was ready except for wet polish. I left without my coat. The weather was mild and I didn’t want to smudge my nails.

This next venue was a wine and cheese with the Ukrainian Orthodox Women’s Association. This group is donating a copy of Enough to every elementary school in Alberta.

They asked me to be at this wine and cheese and to be the speaker because this was the launch of their program. I wore non-blue jeans for this special occasion. I had an ivory jacket and black wool pants, but still wore my boots – my knee has been somewhat sore all week. It took me about 20 pokes to get my Princess Olha medal on the lapel. I felt that this was an appropriate venue for wearing it. They had copies of Enough for sale at the event and it was really nice to chat with people from the Edmonton Ukrainian community. They gave me two standing ovations. One when Nadia mentioned what I received the medal for, and again, after my speech. I signed books and then Mary took me back to the hotel. I was a bit anxious because I thought I was going to be back by about 7:20. Nadia had mentioned that there was another event at the hall and they had to be out by 7. I had made plans to meet my friend Connie Forst for dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel and I had visions of her sitting in there by herself wondering where I was. It turned out she had a late start coming into Sherwood Park herself. I had time to change back into jeans and we arrived at the restaurant at the same time. She had her sister Caroline there as well. Caroline is a librarian at a Sherwood Park public school. Connie is a public librarian. I was also hoping to meet Karen Bass in person. She was coming in to Edmonton with her friend Gisela to do some interviews, but we hadn’t emailed in over a week so I wasn’t sure if that was still on. Just as our dinners arrived, Karen and Gisela also arrived. Karen is also a librarian, so it was like old home week. We stayed and chatted to nearly midnight.

When I got back to the room, I didn’t even attempt to pack. Just washed and flopped into bed.

Book Week begins — destination Jasper

This was a day of complete travel. I got up at 5am and was picked up by airport transportation at 5:50am for a 7:25 flight out of Hamilton. I had a three-plus hour flight to Calgary, and a three hour stopover there, then on to Edmonton, a three hour wait there, and then a 5 hour bus drive to Jasper. During my stopover in Calgary, I met Calgary author Anne Meticosh for conversation and breakfast. At Edmonton Airport, I met with Ron Baker, a storyteller who is also touring Alberta this week. We had an early supper. By the time I got to my hotel room, I was thankful for a shower and a comfy bed. They put me on the second floor and there was no elevator. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, but I have a torn meniscus and my knee is fragile. It was quite the challenge getting my luggage up the stairs.

The bus ride was a highlight of the trip. It was actually a van with Sundog tours and John, the driver, was a font of historical info about Jasper. When he found out that my grandfather was interned at Jasper in WWI and that’s why I wanted to start my book tour here, he offered to take me to the site of the internment camp the next day.

Below is a photo I took from downtown Jasper:

And here is the Marmot Lodge, where I stayed:

Presentations by Author, Marsha Skrypuch

Saturday November 15th, 1:30-2:30pm
Jasper Public Library
500 Robson St, Jasper , 780.852.3652

Monday November 17th, 3:30-4:30pm
Devon Public Library
101-17 Athabasca Ave, Devon, 780.987.3720

Tuesday November 18th, 4:00-5:00pm
Mary C Moore Public Library
101 5214 50th Ave, Lacombe, 403.782.3433

Wednesday November 19th, 8:45-9:45am
Sundre Municipal Library
2-310 Center Street North, Sundre, 403.638.4000

Friday November 21st, 9:30 am and 10:30am
Strathcona County Library
Unit 300, Sherwood Park Mall
2020 Sherwood Park Drive, Sherwood Park, 780.449.5822

Friday November 21st, 1:30-2:30pm
Camrose Public Library
4710 50th Ave, Camrose, 780.672.4212

Friday Nov 21st, 5:30-7:00pm

Hosted by UWAC at

St John’s Cathedral Cultural Centre Solarium
10611-110th Ave, Edmonton
Wine and cheese at 5:30 with presentation to follow.

On this eve of the official Holodomor commemoration, Marsha will read from Enough, which is set during the 1932-33 genocide in which Stalin starved up to 10 million Ukrainians. The Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada, Alberta Council, will purchase a copy for every elementary school in Alberta. Contact Geraldine (780.475.5875), Nadia (780.475.7547) or Shirley (780 475 5875).