Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Man of letters pens his memoir
(May 19) - Anyone who has even a nodding acquaintance with Guelph’s two newspapers will know Don Ewing. He is a frequent and fluent writer of letters to the editor. They are always short, terse and to the point. Now that his 92nd birthday is behind him, Ewing has expanded his writing to a book of memoirs.
As I Recall is a reminiscence of a life full of optimism and hope. Ewing tells his tale in 110 chapters. Like his letters, they are brief, averaging about five pages each.
He has always been a man of deep conviction. During the Second World War he registered as a conscientious objector and went to work fighting forest fires in British Columbia. Japanese families on the west coast were taken away from their communities and transported to prison camps in the interior. Ewing became aware that their children suffered from a severe shortage of qualified teachers. He offered himself for the job, and spent the last three years of the war teaching in an internment camp.
Ewing’s passions have always been for his family, his music, his church and his political party. He has served them all with an unbroken loyalty.
He was a United Church elder when the Wellington County Separate School Board hired him as their supervisor of music education in 1964. He held this job until his retirement.
I have known Don for many years through our mutual involvement in the local NDP riding association. While we haven’t always agreed about everything, I have always admired his grit and determination. Browse through his memoirs and you will see that his principles have not wavered an inch since he formed them.
It is the sort of book that you will browse, rather than read. You won’t start on page one and stick with it until you arrive at page 515. It is, strangely, the perfect book for the Internet age. Strange, because nearly all the tales he tells happened well before computers invaded our homes.
When Ewing cut his political teeth, he didn’t use a Facebook group to stay in touch with his friends. He would send them a letter, or call them on the phone. He didn’t need Twitter when he was organizing convention delegates to support a candidate or a cause.
So think Wikipedia. If you’re anything like me, you love it. Look something up, get part way through it, see a link to something else and follow it to a new revelation. Before you know it, you’re a few hours older and a few years smarter. Ewing’s book is like that. It’s not a smooth chronological thread. In Chapter 45 he tells some anecdotes about his time with the local CCF and NDP. In Chapter 57 he talks about getting the job in Guelph and eventually moving here. That’s how the book goes, and you’ll find yourself flipping backwards and forwards and sometimes sideways. You can find out about the houses he’s lived in, the cars he’s owned, the pianos he’s played, the books that inspired him and the people who shaped him.
It has been a remarkable life, and he recalls it in an often humorous and always interesting manner. We can help him celebrate it on the afternoon of May 31. That’s when he’s having his book launch at The Bookshelf downtown. You can buy a copy and he’ll sign it. You can meet his family. You can chat with himself. When you’ve done all that, you can spend time chatting with some of the people who’ve known him. Most have had pretty interesting lives of their own.
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