I know what you’re thinking: a paragraph should have more than one sentence in it. I’m going to ignore this and move along with an issue that confronts us all and relates to a bone dry subject: information management. Thankfully, the thinking and writing on this arid subject are somewhat counterbalanced by me listening to, “Date with the Night,” which is helping me believe that information management is so much fun!!! Even though we have reams and reams of information stored electronically, the fact that it's been digitally warehoused doesn’t make it permanent. Case in point, three awesome words for you: crashed hard drive. Just because information is stored electronically also doesn’t make it accessible. After all, who the hell can access the data stored on a floppy disk that you found at the very bottom of your desk drawer/gym bag/couch when you were looking for that present your father mother sister brother wife husband gave you and you truly have a dire need to show how near and dear to you that fabulous thoughtful timeless gift really really is.
Yes, it is true that data can be retrieved off of a hard drive, but this isn’t a given and it isn’t necessarily complete. Yes, it is true that the same guy who still believes that the 8-track and the Betamax will make a comeback can probably help you to figure what data you have on that cassette on his Commodore 64, but there’s also probably a very good reason why you don’t want to descend into his mother’s basement to find out while he “works his magic” sitting in his genuine life-size replica Captain Kirk chair.
Not that long ago, I posted on a blog when I learned that Irving Layton had died. At that time, I had never done anything like that before. I went looking for the posting mainly because I wanted to repost it here. It’s my writing and if it’s all going to go to Data Heaven one day, I want it to all go together, like the tight knit family I hope it to be. That’s the reason: it’s not the anniversary of Irving’s birth, or death. It’s just that if I don’t do it now, today, I might never do it. My mind isn’t quite what it once was just as it isn’t now what it will be.
So this is what I wrote:
We all knew this day was coming. My thoughts and prayers go out to Irving’s family and friends and to us, as well.
I too was part of a group of students that Seymour Mayne took to have lunch with Irving in Montreal as part of his third year poetry workshop. It was at a restaurant on Monkhouse if I remember correctly, and Irving ordered pizza. I remember his wife not being at all thrilled with his choice for a meal, but he was going to have a good time with us, healthier food choices be damned. What I took away from that lunch was his graciousness, his patience with all of us and our questions about the art and his passion for poetry. Looking back on it now, I’m amazed at how indulgent he was with us.
I too saw him read at Magnum, and after the reading showed him some limited edition prints that my mother had unearthed in Calgary and given to me for Christmas the year before. He was both astonished and pleased to see them and when I asked him to sign the front print he replied, “But I’ve already signed it,” which was true – they were all signed copies upon release. I responded by saying I’d like him to sign it again – and he did with his usual flourish.
At one point, Chris Pollard, Stuart Konyer and I started up Hostbox, which was a local (Ottawa) literary magazine. We decided to send copies out to quite a few writers and poets, Canadian and otherwise. Again, my memory is not what it used to be, but I believe that Irving was the only person who wrote back and encouraged us to keep with it. That was exciting stuff indeed!
And that’s been my experience with him – indulgent and encouraging. Seymour Mayne did us a great favour by introducing us to Irving.
I know I’m richer for the experience.
Upon finding the blog, I realized a couple of things. The first is that I could follow it, which is what I’ve done. The second thing I realized is that I missed something important, but was delighted to learn about, and I’ve included it below:
Fitting Tribute, the Montreal Gazette, Aug 15 06
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette
Montreal Gazette
KRISTIN MORENCY, IRWIN BLOCK of The Gazette contributed to this report, The Gazette
Published: Thursday, August 17, 2006
The naming of a new avenue in Cote St. Luc after the late Montreal poet Irving Layton is a fitting tribute to one of Canada's greatest writers, local poet and essayist David Solway says.
"I knew him for many years and considered him my uncle," Solway said yesterday at his home in Hudson.
"I would say Irving invented poetry for Canada, and he helped put Montreal on the map."
Layton, his disciple Leonard Cohen, and A.M. Klein before them, "made Canadian poetry," Solway said.
"Better to name a street after a poet than a politician or real-estate developer," he said.
Irving Layton Ave. will be a new residential thoroughfare off Midway Ave., near Parkhaven Ave., Cote St. Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather said.
"Irving Layton is an internationally renowned author and poet who spent much of his life in Cote St. Luc," the mayor said.
"There is an important local connection. We tend to name streets after people who are locally known or internationally known," Housefather added.
"We looked at various names, including (those of) other prominent local residents recently deceased, and decided on (Layton)."
A dedication ceremony is to take place in the late fall, Housefather said.
Members of Layton's family and Cote St. Luc residents will be invited to witness the unveiling of the new street sign.
Layton's family and friends will be welcome to say a few words about him at the ceremony, Housefather added.
Layton died Jan. 4 at the age of 93 after a five-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.
He spent the last years of his life at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre in Cote St. Luc.
Layton wrote more than 50 books of poetry and remains one of Canada's most prolific and revered writers.
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