August 13, 1979

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Frontlines

The allure of la Laure

As far as limousines go, it wasn’t outrageous at all. Had it been Hollywood, it would have been at least a block long and fully loaded: bar, TV, stereo, the works. But, after all, this was Grand’ Mère, Quebec, so Carole Laure was swept onto the set of her latest film, Gilles Carle’s Fantástica, in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz 300 SD—one of the more restrained models, a five-seater, fuel-saving diesel. By Wayne Grigsby11 min

Sports

Passing the buck on Canadian content

Jamie Bone, the young quarterback from the University of Western Ontario, might be forgiven for thinking that the gods—or, worse, the Canadian Football League—were against him that day in late May, 1978, when he reported to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats training camp. By Derm Dunwoody6 min

Books

A bridge over the tricky waters of neoconservatism

Popular journalism is not without its uses. It keeps readers up-todate on newly discovered hairline cracks in DC-l0s, informs us of the latest ex-head-of-state in sunglasses turning up in Miami and keeps us in touch with the candid confessions of Margaret Trudeau and Betty Ford—including those more properly confined to discreet chats with their gynecologists or best girl-friends. By Barbara Amiel6 min

People

When he was in Montreal for a week in July, Ottawa-born crooner Paul Anka packed Place des Arts every night and partied like a true celebrity at the ever-so-elegant Régine’s disco. In Toronto last week, he gave a repeat performance. On opening night, after rendering two hours of sterling showmanship during which he ran through oldies such as Puppy Love and Diana, compositions he has done for Frank Sinatra (My Way) and Tom Jones (She’s a Lady) and lush new material from his album Headlines, Anka was whisked off to a party at a star-grazing disco called Heaven. By Marsha Boulton5 min

Canada

Swept away by the breeze in the blue sky of August

At 5:30 a.m. the northern Alberta dawn was shrouded in thick fog. In the parking lot of the Grande Prairie Motor Inn, rows of misshapen lumps loomed eerily in the gloom but the aliens from inner space were merely hot air balloons, trussed in tarpaulins, ready to race. By Suzanne Zwarun5 min

World

Zimbabwe on their mind

"It’s the best club in the world—the French would love to have something like this,” said a Canadian diplomat last week as 39 delegates, representing that quarter of the world’s population who were once part of the mighty British Empire, sat down in the middle of Africa to discuss their modern-day problems. By Dan Turner5 min

Business

The gas man’s silent parting

The scene at dinner the evening before the June 20 annual meeting of Union Gas was convivial. Chairman Malim Harding, President and Chief Executive Officer William Stewart, two other members of the board of directors and some of the invited investment-community guests dined at one table amidst laughter at what has become a highlight in Chatham, Ontario’s social season. By Roderick McQueen4 min

World

Dry kindling and the raging fire

As President Jimmy Carter and his top military aides were arguing the politics, principles and guns of Central and South America last week, a small band of guerrilla soldiers hiding out in the mountains of El Salvador was adding $27 million—the proceeds of half a dozen kidnappings over the past year—to its kitty. By William Lowther4 min

Column

Behind the myths of bravery and pluck, there was no pride or glory at Dieppe

Engrained in the memory bank of every Canadian adult are those epic battles: Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Midway, Corregidor, Guam. They are, of course, famous American war names, drilled into our compliant minds 30 years ago by a barrage of Saturday afternoon movies featuring those celebrated soldiers in the foxholes, Errol Flynn and John Wayne. By Allan Fotheringham4 min

Canada

Goin’ down the tobacco road

Some people were saying it had come up on the wind from the Virginias. Others suspiciously blamed neighbors and friends for importing it, however inadvertently, in some seedlings from Florida. Whatever the source, perenospora tabacina, a bluemould fungus from the same family as the one that blighted crops and caused a potato famine in Ireland in the late 1880s, crept through about 500 farms in the Southwestern Ontario tobacco belt, causing millions of dollars worth of damage to a crop ready for harvesting. By Judith Timson4 min

August 61979