THE SUMMIT

                                                                              

  Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 9:14 PM

  Dear Dan,

  Your blog sits deliciously and comfortably 

  in my mind.  Excellent work!

                                Sincerely,

                                   Peter

  ____________________________________________

AND, FINALLY... :)

   According to the radio reports, another storm is rolling

  in; so, a good time to bring this blog to a conclusion!!!

  ____________________________________________

  Despite his expertise in all things political, 

  R.B. Bennett's high minded idealism would sometimes

  shine through:

  As he put it in a private letter in July 1935, 

 "We cannot accept unemployment as a natural and

   necessary consequence of a social system."

  [p. 223]

  ____________________________________________

  Dr. Waite, Peter, I remember the day that I first

  thought of trying to interview you about your new

  book.  A month later, I wrote you a letter. 

  So, I offer you a sincere...

  Thank you, Lieutenant !!!  :)

                    ----- Dan

    

                                                                               

THE NULLABOR ETC.

                                             

   Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 7:39 PM

   Peter:)

   Guess who was a few hundred kilometres from

   Johannesberg, when RB was passing through?  You

   guessed it - 19 year old Nelson Mandela !

                                ________

   I'm surprised that one of our early Prime Ministers

   was able to see exotic places, like the Nullabor Plain.

   __________________________________________

   Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 8:05 PM

   Dear Dan,

   In 1936 RB was out to see the reality of the British

   Empire.  As for the Nullabor and the great railway,

   a decent history of Australia should give it to you,

   or better, Australian railways.  Still better, take the

   CPR from Calgary to Vancouver.  It was breathtaking

   in 1947 and still is, and far better than the Nullabor.

   The interior of Australia has to be seen to be

   believed.

          Ever yours,

                  Peter

A CENTRAL BANK...

                                           

   Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 8:12 PM

   Peter:)

   If RB had not pursued the idea of Canada being able

   to do things like "settle its own bank rate" - if the

   central bank idea did not become a reality till well

   after RB's tenure...how would this have impacted

   the lives of ordinary Canadians?

   _________________________________________

   Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 9:32 PM

   Dear Dan,

   In re bank rate:  prior to the Bank Of Canada, we

   had a very inelastic monetary system. 

   See Fullerton !

   ------------------

   Fullerton, Douglas H.  GRAHAM TOWERS AND HIS

       TIMES:  A BIOGRAPHY.  Toronto: 

       McClelland & Stewart 1986.

   [From the Bibliography of Peter Waite's book]

OPATIJE... :)

                                                                            

    Peter Waite, ca. 1990's, walking in Opatije, on the

  northern Dalmatian coast.

  _________________________________________

  Fri, Sept 13, 2013 at 8:14 PM

  Peter:)

  Congratulations on your generous donation of the

  PB Waite Papers!  [Saw reference to it, at the back

  of your book.]  I'll be taking a peek at that!

  

  Why do you think that RB was so much more 

  understood on Juniper Hill, than on Parliament

  Hill?  [Juniper Hill being the 96 acre estate near

  London, England, where RB spent his retirement

  years - well liked by his neighbours.]

  __________________________________________

  Fri, Sept 13, 2013 at 9:25 PM

  Dear Dan,

  P.B. Waite Papers do exist both in PANS and at Dal,

  but are of little use at the moment:  the bulk of them

  are still at my house.  Be patient for a year or so.

  As for RB at Juniper Hill vs. Ottawa the answer,

  surely, is the weight, the constant, unceasing weight

  of responsibility.

                 Sincerely,

                 Peter

  

  

SWEET TALKER, CONTINUED

                                                                                   

    Thu, Sept 12, 2013 at 6:07 PM

   Dear Dan,

   How delightful that you have followed up Janie Carton!

   You and I are rivals; I rather took to her myself.  As for

   RB's replies if I had seen any I would certainly have

   included something of them.  As it is, all I have is her

   memory of his reply, " Be sure and come again when

   you can't stay quite so long! "  I knew nothing of her

   later career.  But I know nothing about Google-ing

   either.  But I have two talented daughters so your

   suggestion will be followed up.  I'm fond of children's

   books.  I have a good collection in both languages of

   Tin-tin.  I did a lot of reading with the girls at bedtime,

   ending up with Dickens.  We were ruthless about TV

   selection, but the 1969 moon walk was certainly an

   exception as were several BBC things on PBS.

          And many thanks for your most

          cherishable letter.

          Sincerely,

          Peter

   ____________________________________________

   Maybe Dr. Waite is new to GOOGLE-ling, BUT...he

   certainly is an authority on the traditional methods

   of academic research.  The above photo shows an

   item that may not be familiar to young students of

  today:  a card from a library's card catalogue!

  [No, I didn't steal it. :)  On the contrary, I saved it

   from a most undignified fate - a pile of these cards

   was offered up by a library, as scrap paper for the

   library's patrons.]

JANIE: THE SWEET TALKER

                                                                       

           

  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 8:22 PM

  Hello, Peter!!

  Fascinating story about that tradition.  You were right

  about the effect.  I remember how the class became a

  bit more quiet, when you strode in without saying a

  word.  You looked stern, but, of course, we soon found

  out that you were anything but - your open, 

  approachable personality quickly became evident.

  [I suspect that the stern  look, was simply a byproduct

  of an early morning class, after a whole summer of

  waking up - whenever!]

  ____________________________________________

  Charlton Heston.  That was my first impression, when I

  saw your profile, as you waited for the class to become

  silent.  A resemblance which came to mind, since

  MIDWAY had been in movie theatres just 6 years before.

  Jane Carton...besides RB, my favorite character in your

  book.  She was a bit of a flirt, but I sense that beneath

  this casual demeanour was a sensitive, intuitive woman.

  I'm sure that RB enjoyed her letters, BUT - I noticed

  that you did not include any of his responses!  [I hope
  they did not end up among the trees near UNB!]

  I heard her voice...on the internet...Jane Carton's.  I
  wanted to learn more about this very charming woman,
  so I went looking.  Maybe you know that her kids spent
  the war years in Ottawa.

  Just google the following, using quotation marks:

  "60 Going On 16:  Polly Carton's Garland"