4 minute read
A Life’s Journey by Doug Jordan
Book Review by Margaret Shaw-MacKinnon, with photos by Sidney Shapira
There is something grand about the person who chooses the heroic, courageous, creative approach to the difficult and exhilarating journey through life to death. While all of us experience the vagaries of life—we live, struggle, love—only some are moved to reflect on life through artistic creation. We find ourselves grateful to those generous souls who strive to hold onto and name individual and universal experience to enrich us all. Such a person is Doug Jordan, retired teacher, and lawyer, who, in his book The Gate and Other Poems on a Life’s Journey, brings us into his whimsical, endearing, uplifting, profound and engaging existential expedition through life. Another such person is Sidney Shapira, retired teacher, and principal, who enriches Doug’s collection with his compelling accompanying photos and thoughtful book design. It is with delight that I contribute this brief review to spark reader’s curiosity, as long ago, when I was in Junior High at Laidlaw School in Winnipeg, Doug Jordan—renowned for his kindness, humor, and shrewd insight into kids—became one of my favorite teachers, and Sidney Shapira was one of the friendly kids in those fondly-remembered school days.
The collection consists of thirty-four poems, written between 1965 and 2021, a span of 56 years that reflects in a fascinating way our rapidly changing world and the evolution of the poet from the Blakean innocence to experience. Readers are sure to be touched by the poet’s deepening wisdom, as we move through one poem after another—from the speaker in the opening poem, “The Poet’s Lament (1965),” the comical young man who pokes fun at himself, at his own youthful hubris and desire for acclaim, to the mature speaker of the later poems who has bravely faced the death of his beloved (“The Gate (2019)”) and the onslaught of Parkinson’s Disease (“Research Blues (2019)”). Reader’s will likewise appreciate the poet’s themes: perseverance despite broken dreams; the heroic and humorous life-affirming response to the deepening sadness of life; appreciation for beauty; the value of love, friendship, and selflessness. For retired teachers, Jordan’s book offers a great read—fine poems reflecting a life lived passionately and with love. Shapira’s photographs of beautiful Winnipeg along with those he chooses from Jordan’s personal collection, richly enhance the reading experience. For teachers thinking of publishing their own work, whether poetry, memoir, or fiction, consider Doug Jordan’s and Sidney Shapira’s book as an inspiring model for how to act on creative dreams! For Doug Jordan’s friends, colleagues, family, former students, and poetry afficionados, The Gate and Other Poems on a Life’s Journey will become a treasured keepsake, not to mention a guide on how to live life consciously and with meaningful engagement. n Margaret Shaw-MacKinnon, October 25, 2021 Margaret Shaw-MacKinnon, B.F.A., M.A., is a writer and visual artist.
In Memoriam
September 2021
Joan A. Butler – Stonewall, MB John R. Calder – Ste. Anne, MB
October 2021
Mabel Agar – Kamloops, BC Louis O. Bourbonnais – Winnipeg, MB Ruth W. Breckman – Winnipeg, MB Peter Brown – Winnipeg, MB Steven L. Daun – Winnipeg, MB Allan W. Delavau – Winnipeg, MB Doreen Demare – Winnipeg, MB Shirley E. Drinkwater – Saskatoon, SK Judith A. Foubert – Beausejour, MB Earl F. Gibbs – Winnipeg, MB Kathleen R. Harvey – Winnipeg, MB Phyllis M. MacGranachan – Russell, MB Norma A. Nevison – Winnipeg, MB Mona C. Nickle – Steinbach, MB Jacob Peters – Winnipeg, MB Agnes C. Remias – Headingley, MB Helen A. Sigurdson – Winnipeg, MB
November 2021
Robert W. Arnason – Gimli, MB Beryl Bingham – Winnipeg, MB Albert P. Bryski – Winnipeg, MB William P. Chrustie – Winnipeg, MB Sachiko Guilbert – Winnipeg, MB Nestor R. Guspodarchuk – Winnipeg, MB Judith J. Hattie – Whitemouth, MB Celine A. Houde – Winnipeg, MB George Lysak – Stonewall, MB D. Barry McLachlan – Neepawa, MB Daniel J. McLellan – Winnipeg, MB Melvin P. Penner – Blumenort, MB Michael Storoschuk – Winnipeg, MB Donald B. Suderman – Winnipeg, MB Stephen Woloschuk – Winnipeg, MB
December 2021
Judith L. Broeska – Winnipeg, MB Sharon A. Chanas – Winnipeg, MB Gerard J. Desharnais – Winnipeg, MB Conrad G. Erickson – Brandon, MB Kenneth W. C. Harvey – Winnipeg, MB Gregory M. Kibsey – Anola, MB Claudette A. Lambert – St. Georges, MB Louisa J. Loeb – Winnipeg, MB Lawrence Overby – Winnipeg, MB Anita C. Peters – Winnipeg, MB Lilian M. Queen – St. Rose, MB Wayne H. Sherwood – Prince Albert, SK Margaret E. Stephen – Winnipeg, MB Esme L. Stewart – Winnipeg, MB Jean M. Taillefer – Winnipeg, MB Richard C. Williams – Winnipeg, MB
Life Members
(Presented at age 90 to RTAM members)
October 2021
Metro Burym – Winnipeg, MB Helen Tomlinson – Saskatoon, SK
November 2021
Thelma M. Enns – Winnipeg, MB Bernice G. Grunenke – Winnipeg, MB C. Glen Hanna – Brandon, MB Shirley Maurice – Winnipeg, MB Walter Shurraw – Winnipeg, MB Hillel A. Taylor – Winnipeg, MB
December 2021
Olga Blixt – Sprague, MB Genevieve Ferg – Penticton, BC C. Velma Snitka – Dauphin, MB A. Hal Sveistrup – Rivers, MB Anne Wiens – Gimli, MB
