October 22, 1979

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Frontlines

Clayton Ruby’s people power

Sturgeon Point, Ontario. The placid waters ripple in the sun. The bright maples and silvery pines rustle peacefully, far from the aggressions of the world. Toronto civil liberties lawyer Clayton Ruby teeters in a collapsible chair on the lawn of his country estate, chain-smoking cigarettes and aggressively denouncing all of the world’s political and social conventions. By Fred Blazer7 min

Frontlines

Livin’ on a cloud— of smoke

They met in Vancouver at the tail end of the ’60s. Chong: “I was running a halfway house in Canada for Americans who didn’t want to fight in Vietnam. We were under federal laws to fulfil certain racial quotas and we had an opening for a Mexican or an Indian ...” By Patricia Goldstone7 min

Canada

Round 1 and up for the count

At times during the first week of the new Parliament, it seemed as though Canadian voters had grounds for a class-action suit—receipt of used goods after a five-month wait. There was Joe Clark in the Commons, standing for the first time to the right of Mr. Speaker, but calling Pierre Trudeau “prime minister.” By Robert Lewis6 min

Frontlines

More than a bronzed mettle

Being an avid climber I read your article on climbing, Muscling a Way to the Top (Sept. 24), with great interest. The sport of rock climbing has been served an injustice by your article simply because of the macho image which it portrayed.

People

Despite its title, Ben Wicks’ Book of Losers is actually a winner. The initial printing of 15,000 copies has almost sold out and its 53-year-old author/cartoonist isn’t surprised because “the climate is right for losers.” He did not, however, anticipate personal loss this year, but quite unexpectedly the roof over his easel is being sold out from under him. By Marsha Boulton6 min

44h

Fashion

The sweet smell of decadence

Historians sometimes refer to the dark and middle ages as a thousand years without a bath. They may be tempted to refer to our time as the years when free men and women did nothing but bath-and-spray. “When times get tough,” explains a 30-year veteran of perfume and cosmetic sales, Margaret Sykes, at Eaton’s in Toronto, “women spend on scented bath oils or a name perfume rather than a dress.” By Barbara Amiel6 min

Sports

The boys of shiver

Baseball is the summer game, or was. The World Series is the fall classic, or used to be. The game that has changed so little in its 108 years changed dramatically in 1971. Before Oct. 13 of that year, World Series games were played in the afternoon. By Hal Quinn5 min

Frontlines

The crystal balls are tuned in on Manitoba

In Manitoba, where Sterling Lyon ousted the NDP government of Ed Schreyer in October, 1977, a political depression has settled over Progressive Conservatives. There is a definite sense of déjà vu as reports from Ottawa now talk of belt-tightening and bureaucratslashing. By Peter Carlyle-Gordge5 min

Column

Let’s see, now, that’s four touchdowns in three innings for Guy Lafleur...

On the night last week that the opening game of the World Series was postponed for the first time in the 76 years of its existence, the St. Louis Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks in the launching of another National Hockey League season. The next night, snow turned the playing field in Baltimore into what used to be called “a veritable quagmire” if not “a sea of mud,” and 10 NHL teams played hockey in Los Angeles, Quebec City, Toronto, Chicago and Pittsburgh. By Trent Frayne4 min

October 151979