Fair Comment - Don Sawyer

Final column? I hope not

Let’s face it. Writing is a pretty lonely business. Basically, you are all alone with your computer keys -- and often injudiciously snarling at anyone (who in my case is usually my long-suffering wife) who tries to break the selfimposed solitary confinement. When on the job, writers are living entirely within their own heads, churning over ideas, grasping for the right words, looking for the image that will make everything clear and the world a heaven on earth. And your audience? Well, it’s kind of like driving along a secondary road in Saskatchewan at night. There is the odd silo or glittering light, so you know there are people out there, but you never see them.

So it’s a pleasure beyond compare when that audience makes an unexpected appearance. In recent weeks a number of incidents have reminded me of why I write. Last month I received a wonderful (hand-written!) card from a reader in Fernie, thanking me for my column “The Real Inconvenient Truth,” and urging me to plan on coming to town for some outstanding skiing. Then a woman we know who grows organic fruit near Oliver was in town. “We look forward to reading your column every month,” she confided. Really? Way down in Oliver? Wow.

And then just the other day as I was perusing the shelves at Canadian Tire for a car seat that might ease my back pain (another occupational hazard), a man looked at me closely. I pretended not to notice.

“ I know you,” he said at last.

“ Uh, really?” He was a small, middle-aged man, and he sure didn’t look familiar.

“ Yeah, I just read your article in North of 50. I recognize you from your picture.”

“No kidding,” I beamed. “What did you think of it?”

“It was OK. You made some good points.”

We writers are a sensitive bunch, and I’m sure my face fell.

“ You always make me think,” he added hastily. “And that is a darn good magazine. Good writing,”

Yes, it is a good magazine. And over the years that I have been writing for North of 50, it has become one of the outstanding publications in the Thompson-Okanagan- Shuswap. TJ Wallis, the editor, had a vision for North of 50; she wanted to build a new kind of magazine for the region, a progressive voice that dealt with local social, environmental and economic issues while reminding readers that we live in a larger world full of wonder and interconnectedness.

She brought on columnists (and even paid us), solicited quality original articles, featured investigative pieces on land use and politics, ran pieces on global issues that no one else would touch. She encouraged her regular writers to be provocative and controversial (sometimes, I am sure, to her chagrin). Tackle difficult issues, she told us, but make sure of two things: your columns are well written and relate to the lives of our readers.

What a pleasure. What a privilege. And over the four years I have been writing for her – and for you -- she has been unwavering in her support and the pursuit of her vision.

Over that time I have had a chance to share my views on (as I look back on them) a bewildering array of topics: lessons we can learn from solving crossword puzzles ,the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the lives of the people of New Orleans, the demise of teaching as a profession of passion, the complexity of the emigration issue, the need to be sensitive to cultural differences, the systematic attack on social programs by the BC Liberals, the latest controversy around spelling and the use of “social media” shorthand, the disastrous shortcomings of the “professional reliance” model in our province that puts the foxes in charge of the hen house, the impact of residential schools, community planning lessons to be learned from European examples. The list goes on – nearly 50 columns.

And what has made all of this so much fun is the knowledge that people throughout the interior of BC are letting me join the dialogue on important issues by reading and considering my ideas.

But things have changed. North of 50 was one of the first free-distribution papers in our area. Now that niche is flooded with throwaways of dubious value that clog shopping centre entrances. The slowing of the economy has meant fewer dollars are available for papers totally dependent on advertising. A quality free-distribution publication is no longer possible.

So, is this my last column?

I sure hope not. TJ’s vision of a progressive voice for our region has never been more relevant. The need for views and articles that challenge us to see the complexity of the region and the world we live in while celebrating our achievements has never been greater. The lack of a regional publication that critically analyzes the environmental and social issues of our time and place leaves a giant black hole.

To fill that hole, TJ is taking a bold new step – the creation of a reader-supported magazine that expands on the quality and progressive perspectives developed over North of 50’s nearly 10 years of publication. This will be a magazine that unabashedly presents a voice seldom heard in BC’s interior – the voice of working people, youth, elders, aboriginal communities, labour, the environmental movement. The 99%. It will be a magazine that solicits advertising not only from those who wish to attract business, but who also believe in fair trade, equity and justice and who wish to promote these principles.

It will be a magazine for the rest of us, and I would love to be a part of it.

Don Sawyer is a writer, educator and former Director of Okanagan College’s International Development Centre. He lives with his wife in Salmon Arm. You can contact Don Sawyer by email at donsawyer@ telus.net or by mail at Don Sawyer c/o North of 50, Box 100, Armstrong, BC V0E 1B0. For more information on Don’s writing and development work, visit his web site at www.thenortherned.com.