Leith Peterson, MLIS, writes primarily about Canada and Canadian Issues, History and Heritage, and Biography.  She has completed contracts with two international publishers. Her articles have appeared in national, regional and local magazines and newspapers. Corporate projects have included her research reports.  Her four produced stage plays have explored historical and cross-cultural themes.  In 2007, she completed the requirements for a Professional Certificate in Creative Writing from UWO Continuing Studies.

W R I T I N G    S A M P L E S

 

Excerpt from “From party panache to practical”

 

Back in June 1950, a group of ambitious London fundraisers hosted a Midsummer Eve festival with a “Bohemian atmosphere.”  It was held on the grounds of Headley, the spacious Richmond Street property of Mr. and Mrs. J. Gordon Thompson.

 

As nearly 600 patrons enjoyed their smorgasbord supper, an accordion player weaved in and out between the small tables.  Life-size mannequins in Bohemian attire nestled in the huge fir trees. 

 

Latvians in traditional costumes danced on a stretch of green.  A fortune-teller, a graphologist and maidens selling flowers all added to the ambiance.  Who were these fundraisers?  Why, none other than Service League…

 

 

 

Excerpt from “Og Job”

 

Among his friends, screenwriter Geoff Hart is known for jokes that end with “rally the Mexican border patrol.”  But it wasn’t until a few years ago that he pinpointed where he’d first encountered this tag.  It was in one of his favourite books from childhood, the Secret World of Og, by Pierre Berton (1920-2004).  Words Hart frequently weaves into his conversations, such as “pollywog” and “jalopy” also come from Og…

 

 

 

Excerpt from “Here’s a resolution:  spell that name right”

 

This is the season when some of us are mulling over typical New Year’s resolutions, such as eating less and exercising more.  I suggest we add another resolution to our list—to make a greater effort to spell and pronounce each other’s names right.  My first name, Leith, is a case in point.  All my life I have suffered from having my name being mispronounced and misspelled…

 

 

Excerpt from “The undesirable necessity of a playwright’s life”

 

Many of the “organizational books”…can be very useful for helping you get control of the business end of your work.  However, these books should be used with caution in terms of your creative output.  Writing can be messy and imprecise.  Applying the standard rules can be like trying herd a pack of kittens…

 

 

Excerpt from “Remembering Mom”

 

Jessie (Jay) Peterson, nee Fleming, was my incredible talented mother.

 

She was always very proud of the crook she had on her right index finger and thumb.  She said it was because her Flemish ancestors had done so much loom work their fingers became bent to the shape of their work. 

 

When she died in 1976, her friend, Colleen Thibaudeau, penned a poem that became the inscription on my mother’s grave at the Leith (Ont.) United Church cemetery.  In the poem, Thibaudeau noted that she remembered mainly my mother’s “hands skillfull and reaching out to us all/…[S]he saw so clearly the picture that was intended and painted us all into it.”

 

The more I examine my mother’s life, the more I see the truth in Thibaudeau’s observations…

 

 

 

Excerpt from “Education is the key”

 

On April 18, 1952, the London Mental Health Association got an earful from the superintendent of the local psychiatric hospital, Dr. George H. Stevenson.  According to a London Free Press article that appeared the following day, Stevenson asserted that many mental diseases are not inherited but caused by “infection” in early life.  The mother infects the child with mental illness, said Stevenson, just as the tubercular mother does.

 

“No wonder we had families challenged to declare ‘My child has a mental illness’ if the superintendent of the psychiatric hospital is saying, ‘Well, that’s because you’re a mentally defective parent,’” responds Mike Petrenko, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) London-Middlesex Branch…

 

 

Excerpt from “Let me count the ways”

 

The McIntosh Gallery has a bright red door.  This eye-catching bolt of colour is a welcome change from the staid Georgetown quarry architecture of the University of Western Ontario.  Both campus and off-campus patrons are welcome in this public gallery…

 

 

Excerpt from “Helping hands for relatives of the mentally ill”

 

A few years ago, Carolyn Dykeman was trying to help a woman who had a mental illness.  She though if she visited the woman’s home and talked with her, she could convince her to go to the hospital and check herself in.  When Dykeman arrived, the woman opened the door and her dog attacked Dykeman.  So it was Dykeman who ended up in the hospital, cut and bruised all over.  Depending on your point of view, you may think what Dykeman did was courageous or foolhardy, but it illustrates the determination of a hardy volunteer committed to helping the mentally ill…

 

 

 

Excerpt from “For the Record”

 

Records management is the systematic control of all records from the beginning to the end of their life cycles.  I believe one of the main reasons why…creative types have trouble organizing their papers is because the artistic process is not always systematic or controlled….

 

…As a writer, I wouldn’t care for someone unfamiliar with my work lecturing me about how to organize my creative output.  However, as an archivist, I also think any writer could benefit from basic guidelines on labelling, sorting and filing their papers…