CNN’s Piers Morgan and his guest Colin Firth were talking last night about how tough it is for Brits to make it big in the United States. Which got me to thinking that Canadians are doing just fine in that department, thank you. Even ten years ago Canada boasted multiple comics (Martin Short, Eugene Levy and Jim Carrey), some singers (Shania Twain, Gordon Lightfoot and Anne Murray), broadcasters (Peter Jennings and Peter Kent) and a movie star or three (Donald and Kiefer Sutherland, Christopher Plummer.) As for business, however, there were more failures than successes in the U.S.market (Canadian Tire,...
The demise of Key Porter set off a brief flurry of anguish that another Canadian publisher had gone under. The more protracted debate has been about the general lack of good editors at publishing houses. Indeed, Key Porter is a sad tale. They published my most recent book, BlackBerry: The Inside Story of Research In Motion. The Fenns, Harold and Jordan, deserved a better fate. So did Anna Porter, a co-founder, who sold them the business but left her name on the door. Anna ranks among the best in the business as do Doug Gibson and Phyllis Bruce, all three...
Let’s take another look at the Globe and Mail redesign, five months on. In October, when I blogged on this topic, I said I liked the redesign but I no longer do. Will there be enough to read, I wondered? Maybe not. Ads matter more, I suggested. Got that right. A good place to begin is with what I like. Specific writers continue to appeal. They know what they’re doing and can turn a phrase. Gary Mason on British Columbia, Christie Blatchford most of the time, Adam Radwanski all the time, Roy MacGregor on hockey, Patrick Martin on the Middle...
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