I got a lot of moving feedback the first time I wrote about my mother, Catherine, in The Long Goodbye, published three years ago on this blog. After she died last Christmas, I expanded on the story of our relationship and turned it into a magazine piece for Glow Magazine. It’s in the May issue, on newsstands […]
Future shock
Originally published in May 2013 in Blog
Shitty things can happen when good people do nothing. This is my interview with Story Board, the blog for the Canadian Media Guild and the Canadian Writers Group. The internet spreads stories, voices and awareness, when we use it well. The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #8 – Alison Garwood-Jones In this regular feature, Story Board asks Canadian writers […]
Spotlight: vanishing accents
Originally published in April 2013 in Blog
SPOTLIGHT is Society Pages’ newest column focusing on questionable occurrences I’ve been covering music, and especially music and the internet, a fair bit lately. Here’s a piece I published last year that tackles the mystery of singing and accents. Enjoy! In 1981, Sheena Easton was a 22-year old club kid with a glossy pout and a Lady Di shag […]
Hot off the press
Originally published in April 2013 in Blog
Goodbye, Mommy
Originally published in December 2012 in Blog
Catherine Lucy Garwood-Jones (1928-2012), Hamiltonian extraordinaire, died on Sunday, Dec. 9 after a ten-year battle with Alzheimer’s. Pre-deceased by her husband Trevor in 2011, Team “Cath and Trev” changed the face of the city they loved so much — he through architecture and she through her commitment to health care, education, music and family. Catherine’s […]
Riding the tube
Originally published in November 2012 in Blog
Photography by Emma-Lee UPDATE: In June 2013, Emma-Lee’s album “Backseat Heroine” was the winner of Best Adult Contemporary album at the 2013 Independent Music Awards. [I] was propositioned by a guitar picker this summer. Or, rather, the writer in me was. And that’s “ghitaahr pick’r,” if you say it like you’re June Carter Cash, as I’m wont […]
Life is beautiful
Originally published in September 2012 in Blog
Our understanding of breast cancer shifted this week. Through genetic analysis, U.S. scientists working for the National Institute of Health’s Cancer Genome Atlas were able to identify four types of breast cancer. More specifically, they discovered that the most deadly form of breast cancer — the “Triple Negative” — acts a lot like ovarian cancer and a […]
His Worship
Originally published in July 2012 in Blog
In conversation with Google’s Robert Wong
Originally published in July 2012 in Blog
I recently sat down with Robert Wong, the co-founder and Executive Creative Director of the Google Creative Lab. You may not know about the lab, but its products are unforgettable. Take “Parisian Love,” a 52-second video the lab produced that’s all about “search” and the serendipity of finding true love through the internet. This video […]
Game on!
Originally published in June 2012 in Blog
Newsflash: It’s official, three-time World Champion boxer, Mary Spencer, is heading to the London Summer Olympics next month! Word came down this morning that she was awarded a wild card. When I interviewed Mary this past March, she was preparing for the Olympic qualifying tournament in China. Being the World Champ, most assumed she would make […]
