TORONTO, ONTARIO - Unsurprisingly, FiveThirtyEight.com's Nate Silver beat me to the punch. In a post earlier today, he explained in more detail why it is not possible to determine whether 2008 was a re-aligning election, an opinion I only briefly expressed in the introduction to a post questioning the state of the US electorate last week. The immensely popular Silver and I agree that whether this proves to be an election that moves the US out of the rightward shift that has dominated since 1980 will largely be determined by the success of the Obama administration. I believe that Obama himself likely has the skill set to effect a lot of needed changes in the country--his biggest enemy will not likely be the Republicans or rogues within his administration, but in the broader Democratic Party.
Contrary to Republican claims during the campaign, there seems to be every reason to believe that Barack Obama will pursue a moderate or moderate-liberal agenda during his presidency, not an especially liberal one. For one thing, the current financial crisis means that there simply isn't the money available for lots of new domestic spending. Even if there were, Obama's tax proposal--basically restoring the tax rates on wealthy Americans in place before the Bush administration--and his health care proposal--representing far less change in the system than the now-infamous Clinton proposal in 1994--do not suggest the kind of fundamental change and increased government involvement that characterized the New Deal of the 1930's or the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. The third major tenant of his campaign after the economy and health care, a withdrawal from Iraq, hardly seems like a wild left-wing policy when it is supported by most moderates in the electorate. Obama didn't campaign against gun rights or as a promoter of gay marriage, called for a reduction in the number of abortions while maintaining abortion rights, and sounded more like Bill Cosby or even Bill Bennett in talking about parental responsibility. If he spends political capital on a left-wing social issue early in his presidency, the way Bill Clinton tried to change the treatment of gays in the military, it would be a real surprise considering that he has talked mostly about focusing on the economy.
However, that very focus on the economy and all of Obama's rhetoric about a "new politics" and reaching across the aisle may do little to satisfy his own Democratic Party. In control of both the presidency and the congress for the first time since 1994, there are some Democrats who may not be satisfied with some economic reform and stimulus and modest health care reform. To just cite a few prominent interest groups within that party's coalition, Moveon.org is impatient to withdraw troops from Iraq, unions are impatient for the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, and teacher's unions aren't overjoyed with Obama's pro-charter school positions. If those or other groups see actions they don't like, or lack of action on things they want, they may create some serious problems for Obama in trying to move forward with his agenda.
Indeed, the conventional wisdom on why the Jimmy Carter administration proved to be so unsuccessful in the late 1970's, despite a Congressional majority for the Democrats, was that Carter could not lead the more liberal factions of the party in Congress. Legendary columnist David Broder wrote a column on this way back in May, warning that Obama could face a similar problem as an outside-the-beltway figure who might want to govern more moderately.
Yet, there seem a number of signs that not only will Obama avoid the mistakes of Clinton's early presidency, but he will also avoid those of Carter. Some are structural--while few members of Congress owed Carter or Clinton any debt for winning their seats, Obama actually appeared to have modest coattails. The new Democratic members in Congress not only may not only feel some gratitude to Obama, but they tend to be from traditionally Republican areas and hence are more moderate than the rest of the caucus. Congressional leaders wanting to solidify their gains would be loathe to set up those colleagues for a loss in the next election. More importantly, Obama seems to be making an effort to reach out to Congress. While Carter's transition lead (and later chief of staff) Hamilton Jordan was from Georgia and reportedly clashed with Congressional leaders from day one, Obama has selected a member of the House of Representatives, Rahm Emanuel, to be his Chief of Staff. The wartime cooperation from the Bush administration in the transition, as exemplified by the early vetting of Obama's team for security clearance and the visit of the Obamas to the White House last week, may not directly address Congress but means there will be less distraction for the transition team so that they can focus more on interacting with Congress.
It's still very early to make any judgment, but the early indications are that President-Elect Obama may pursue a relatively-moderate, potentially very popular agenda that may actually be supported by Congress. If that does come to pass, we might indeed look back on 2008 as a re-aligning election and only a mid-point in a leftward shift of the political pendulum.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Heritage: Remembrance Day at Swansea Library
A portion of the mural outside Swansea Memorial Library in Toronto unveiled on Remembrance Day 2008
TORONTO, ONTARIO - Shortly before the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, people gather together in various places across the world in ceremonies originally intended to celebrate the armistice that ended the Great War on at 11:00 on 11-November-1918. The Great War is now called World War I, the day now celebrates sacrifice in all wars, and the day is now called Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran's Day in the United States.
While larger ceremonies take place in Ottawa for the nation, at Queen's Park for the province, and at the cenotaph outside Old City Hall for Toronto, the neighborhood of Swansea still holds its own event. It was this event that I chose to attend, and I was far from alone--more than one hundred people gathered for the event.
Toronto city councilperson Bill Saundercook spoke at the 2008 Swansea Remembrance Day ceremony
Amongst those laying wreaths at the ceremony were newly-elected Member of Parliament Gerard Kennedy, Member of Provincial Parliament Cheri DiNovo, and city councilperson Bill Saundercook, as well as representatives of the Canadian Legion, Swansea Town Hall, and--my favorite--the Memorial Library itself. Saundercook gave the most memorable speech, briefly touching on three of his previous Remembrance Day experiences and noting that there was always more to learn about the experience of those who had served their country.
Rather than creating a physical memorial after the Great War, the then-independent Village of Swansea chose to create a Memorial Library, located since 1959 in the present Town Hall Building. Thus, the library is always a part of Remembrance Day in Swansea, but this year was something special.
The Swansea Historical Society had been working on a mural to make it more clear what had led to the establishment of the Memorial Library. After the completion of the traditional Remembrance Day ceremony outside, most attendees crowded into the lobby of the Town Hall to watch the unveiling of the mural.
The new mural outside the Swansea Memorial Library was revealed on Remembrance Day 2008
At the top of the mural, twenty-two crosses pay tribute to the twenty-two Swansea residents whose lives were lost during World War I. Below that are scenes from the war, including photos with some of the 150 men that served and did return to the village. Below that are painted scenes of the Village of Swansea as it existed in that era. On hand for the unveiling were the some of the descendants of those who had fallen. The always-energetic former mayor of Toronto, David Crombie, stood next to me as the cross bearing the name of George Crombie was revealed.
Remembrance Day 2008 was truly something special in the Toronto neighborhood of Swansea.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Media: The End of KGO as We Knew It?
TORONTO, ONTARIO - When KGO radio talk show host and longtime KGO-TV anchor Pete Wilson tragically died of a heart attack during hip replacement surgery in July 2007, it may have been a portend that a golden age at that San Francisco institution would come to an end.
At the time, all seemed as well as could be when a beloved media figure loses his life unexpectedly. As tributes to Wilson poured in, veteran host Gene Burns--no stranger to filling in after the death of a host, as he had done on KGO following the suicide of evening host Duane Garrett in July 1995--held fort on the 2-4 pm afternoon shift until a permanent replacement, long-time broadcaster Gil Gross, was named the following September.
The signing of Gross continued a long-standing tradition of quality talk radio at KGO-AM. The station was one of the pioneers of the concept of talk radio. New program director Jim Dunbar started moving the station that direction in 1962. By 1978, the format was not only established, but KGO Newstalk 810 became the #1 radio station in the San Francisco market, and it amazingly has held on to that status ever since. It is a feat almost unparalleled in North American broadcasting.
It's not hard to understand why. The weekday daily lineup of talkers at the station when I first became aware of it in 1992 was basically a list of radio legends--Ronn Owens, Dr. Dean Edell, Jim Eason, Lee Rodgers, Michael Krasny, and Ray Taliaferro. Owens, Edell, and Taliaferro remain in the same time slots to this day. Eason has retired, Rodgers now does the morning show on sister station KSFO, and Krasny moved to KQED-FM public radio in 1993. As each slot opened, KGO would recruit a broadcast heavyweight from another market--someone like Gene Burns--or insert a local talent into the format--someone like Pete Wilson, previously known for television work. Because of the station's reputation, the big names would come.
Through a series of owners (most notably Disney when it acquired ABC) and new management names, the tradition rolled on. Gross, who had on his resume such positions as ABC news anchor, a national night-time talk show syndicated by CBS, and regular fill-ins for Charles Osgood AND Paul Harvey in a 30-year career before being signed by KGO, was actually just a typical hire for the station.
Yet, since the hiring of Gross, KGO has been in decay. Evening host Bernie Ward, who had spent most of the time since 1993 in the weekday 10 pm-1 am time slot, was indicted on child pornography charges on 6-December-2007. The station initially took him off the air yet stood behind him, but as evidence mounted that the charges were founded, he was fired at the end of the year. Ward, who ironically had been a Catholic priest, done a "Godtalk" show on KGO Sunday mornings since 1985, and led the station's Thanksgiving Charity drive that had raised over $4 million over the years, ultimately admitted to passing pornographic pictures of children and is currently serving a prison sentence that will last until at least 2014.
However, instead of replacing Ward within a few months (as Ward had followed after the exit of Krasny in 1992), KGO has been using various hosts in the time slot for nearly a year. Most often, Christine Craft and Charles "Karel" Bouley have alternated two-week stints in the time slot. The station had been known to try out hosts in the past--most notably when Garrett and now-ABC network newsman George Weber split time following Rodgers' exit in 1994--but never for this long. (By contrast, Ward's other shift on the "Godtalk" program has been ably held down by San Jose State professor Brent Walters since April.)
Karel may no longer be an option for permanently filling the slot, or even continued fill-ins. On his own weekend show on 1-November-2008, while he thought a microphone was off, he uttered a series of harsh, unrepeatable obscenities against Joe the Plumber, the better-known name of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, the John McCain supporter who received much attention toward the end of the presidential campaign. Facing fines from the Federal Communications Commission for airing the obscenities, KGO suspended Karel, and based on his removal from the station's web site, may soon officially fire him. San Francisco Examiner columnist and blogger Brad Kava has probably best summarized Karel's situation on his blog.
With three hours open every day on its schedule (Ward's 10-1 weeknight shift and Karel's 7-10 weekend shift), KGO now appears to be fraying. Even the normal hosts don't seem to be as good as they used to be. When I traveled in California some weeks ago, I was appalled to hear Ronn Owens unable to get the facts straight about the Masked Avengers' prank call with Sarah Palin, and Gene Burns was incredibly ignorant about some of the basic facts surrounding California's Proposition 1A on high-speed rail despite choosing to talk about it for an hour. It displayed a stunning lack of show preparation that had so long been the hallmark of at least the daytime KGO hosts. I had actually been in listening range to hear Karel's incident, but he had so failed to impress me on previous shows over the years that I hadn't bothered to tune in long enough to find out what topics he would be talking about, much less listen to the whole show.
Just adding to station's predicament, other AM leaders (including KGO rival KCBS All-News 740) are moving to the FM band, and the new Arbitron Portable People Meter that is replacing log books as the basis for ratings may have a negative impact on well-known stations like KGO. Has the end of KGO as San Francisco's #1 radio station finally arrived?
The present situation at the station may not quite represent a crisis, but the next few weeks will be telling. Either management will act and KGO will re-establish itself as the English-speaking world's premier talk radio station, or the slow decline will continue, and more and more listeners will turn to podcasts and competitors. For now, the heady days before the death of Pete Wilson seem terribly far away.
At the time, all seemed as well as could be when a beloved media figure loses his life unexpectedly. As tributes to Wilson poured in, veteran host Gene Burns--no stranger to filling in after the death of a host, as he had done on KGO following the suicide of evening host Duane Garrett in July 1995--held fort on the 2-4 pm afternoon shift until a permanent replacement, long-time broadcaster Gil Gross, was named the following September.
The signing of Gross continued a long-standing tradition of quality talk radio at KGO-AM. The station was one of the pioneers of the concept of talk radio. New program director Jim Dunbar started moving the station that direction in 1962. By 1978, the format was not only established, but KGO Newstalk 810 became the #1 radio station in the San Francisco market, and it amazingly has held on to that status ever since. It is a feat almost unparalleled in North American broadcasting.
It's not hard to understand why. The weekday daily lineup of talkers at the station when I first became aware of it in 1992 was basically a list of radio legends--Ronn Owens, Dr. Dean Edell, Jim Eason, Lee Rodgers, Michael Krasny, and Ray Taliaferro. Owens, Edell, and Taliaferro remain in the same time slots to this day. Eason has retired, Rodgers now does the morning show on sister station KSFO, and Krasny moved to KQED-FM public radio in 1993. As each slot opened, KGO would recruit a broadcast heavyweight from another market--someone like Gene Burns--or insert a local talent into the format--someone like Pete Wilson, previously known for television work. Because of the station's reputation, the big names would come.
Through a series of owners (most notably Disney when it acquired ABC) and new management names, the tradition rolled on. Gross, who had on his resume such positions as ABC news anchor, a national night-time talk show syndicated by CBS, and regular fill-ins for Charles Osgood AND Paul Harvey in a 30-year career before being signed by KGO, was actually just a typical hire for the station.
Yet, since the hiring of Gross, KGO has been in decay. Evening host Bernie Ward, who had spent most of the time since 1993 in the weekday 10 pm-1 am time slot, was indicted on child pornography charges on 6-December-2007. The station initially took him off the air yet stood behind him, but as evidence mounted that the charges were founded, he was fired at the end of the year. Ward, who ironically had been a Catholic priest, done a "Godtalk" show on KGO Sunday mornings since 1985, and led the station's Thanksgiving Charity drive that had raised over $4 million over the years, ultimately admitted to passing pornographic pictures of children and is currently serving a prison sentence that will last until at least 2014.
However, instead of replacing Ward within a few months (as Ward had followed after the exit of Krasny in 1992), KGO has been using various hosts in the time slot for nearly a year. Most often, Christine Craft and Charles "Karel" Bouley have alternated two-week stints in the time slot. The station had been known to try out hosts in the past--most notably when Garrett and now-ABC network newsman George Weber split time following Rodgers' exit in 1994--but never for this long. (By contrast, Ward's other shift on the "Godtalk" program has been ably held down by San Jose State professor Brent Walters since April.)
Karel may no longer be an option for permanently filling the slot, or even continued fill-ins. On his own weekend show on 1-November-2008, while he thought a microphone was off, he uttered a series of harsh, unrepeatable obscenities against Joe the Plumber, the better-known name of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, the John McCain supporter who received much attention toward the end of the presidential campaign. Facing fines from the Federal Communications Commission for airing the obscenities, KGO suspended Karel, and based on his removal from the station's web site, may soon officially fire him. San Francisco Examiner columnist and blogger Brad Kava has probably best summarized Karel's situation on his blog.
With three hours open every day on its schedule (Ward's 10-1 weeknight shift and Karel's 7-10 weekend shift), KGO now appears to be fraying. Even the normal hosts don't seem to be as good as they used to be. When I traveled in California some weeks ago, I was appalled to hear Ronn Owens unable to get the facts straight about the Masked Avengers' prank call with Sarah Palin, and Gene Burns was incredibly ignorant about some of the basic facts surrounding California's Proposition 1A on high-speed rail despite choosing to talk about it for an hour. It displayed a stunning lack of show preparation that had so long been the hallmark of at least the daytime KGO hosts. I had actually been in listening range to hear Karel's incident, but he had so failed to impress me on previous shows over the years that I hadn't bothered to tune in long enough to find out what topics he would be talking about, much less listen to the whole show.
Just adding to station's predicament, other AM leaders (including KGO rival KCBS All-News 740) are moving to the FM band, and the new Arbitron Portable People Meter that is replacing log books as the basis for ratings may have a negative impact on well-known stations like KGO. Has the end of KGO as San Francisco's #1 radio station finally arrived?
The present situation at the station may not quite represent a crisis, but the next few weeks will be telling. Either management will act and KGO will re-establish itself as the English-speaking world's premier talk radio station, or the slow decline will continue, and more and more listeners will turn to podcasts and competitors. For now, the heady days before the death of Pete Wilson seem terribly far away.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Photos: Trip to California, Part I
TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site features the state of California.
The first segment of a trip to California involved a flight from Toronto, Ontario to Los Angeles, California on 25-October-2008 including aerial views of the Grand Canyon. A layover in Los Angeles afforded time to explore north of Union Station with a focus on Chinatown. Then, on 26-October-2008, a ride was taken on Amtrak's detouring Coast Starlight through Soledad Canyon to Palmdale and then through Tehachapi Pass to the San Joaquin Valley and up former Southern Pacific tracks to Sacramento.
Margin Notes: Mutts, Women, Fox and Coupland
TORONTO, ONTARIO - I found it interesting that Canadian commentators have seemed to take more notice of US President-Elect Barack Obama referring to "mutts like me" during his press conference on Friday. By invoking the concept of a mutt, or a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed, Obama may have been trying to move toward a truly post-racial view. Almost all Americans are mutts of some kind, even if they identify with a race. It's rather hard to deny I'm Caucasian, for example, but when I once tried to articulate the various nationalities of my ancestors a friend in college summed it up by saying "okay, you're a mutt." If the United States can adopt a "mutt" identity much as Mexico has adopted a "mestizo" identity, perhaps it can move beyond racial distinctions someday. Of course, there is an alternate etymology of the word--if we're all mutts, it could mean we're all muttonheads.
* * * * * *
The 24-seat New Hampshire Senate now features 13 women, making it the first legislative body in the United States to have a female majority. As notable as this might be, no less than former President Bill Clinton pointed out that even New Hampshire has not achieved the level of female representation as Rwanda, where the parliament is 56% women. That's right, Rwanda leads the United States of America (and Canada, for that matter).
* * * * * *
If you'd like to learn more about the Masked Avengers who pranked Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin during the final week of the campaign, check out this week's C'est la vie from CBC Radio One. This program provides weekly insight into francophone Canada for anglophones, and this week's show is especially amusing. Listen to the show to hear them compare their various pranks, including Britney Spears, Bill Gates, and Jacques Chirac as well as Palin. The contrast between Gates and the other pranks was particularly revealing.
* * * * * *
The cable television network may be a different story, but I actually had a hard time detecting any bias in the Fox News web site during the campaign. They tended to provide a raw live feed of the debates that had no commentary whatsoever, and their news stories--as opposed to their commentaries--actually used quite balanced and accurate word choices. On election night, I noted the headline "Momentum Builds" and text clearly describing excitement amongst Democrats after Pennsylvania was called for Obama. Could it be that their on-line staff takes a different attitude than their on-air staff?
* * * * * *
Film-maker Spike Lee's interviews on election night were especially amusing. To any question, his answer would be "Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama. Obama, Obama. Next question?" It reminded me of a commentary by CBC Radio One's then-Sunday Morning host Ian Brown during a certain trial in Santa Monica, California in 1994--"O.J., O.J., O.J. O.J., O.J. O.J., O.J in my car. O.J., O.J. on the wall..."
* * * * * *
Apparently Canada is feeling so worried about revisionism in the United States that we're now getting defensive about the War of 1812, which just in case you've forgotten, Britain won. Author Douglas Coupland is concerned about "creeping revisionism" surrounding the War of 1812, and has dedicated a new monument in Toronto to specifically tweak US revisionists. Perhaps Coupland is on to something--read the Wikipedia article on the War of 1812, which currently describes the conflict as a draw. In terms of territory, this is accurate, but generally when a nation sets out to take over territory and fails to do so, this is considered a loss, not a draw.
* * * * * *
This week, what I believe to be the last physical reminder that I lived in Massachusetts, save for photographs by a Cambridge-based photographer on my walls, disappeared as a Market Basket-branded carton of cotton swabs finally ran out, three years after I left Boston. I tended to frequent the downscale Market Basket while living in New England, never feeling fully comfortable about Star Market and successor Shaw's--the irony is that now that I live in a place with many downscale markets like No Frills, Price Chopper, and Food4Less, I most often shop at Loblaw's, which is more like Shaw's than Market Basket.
* * * * * *
The 24-seat New Hampshire Senate now features 13 women, making it the first legislative body in the United States to have a female majority. As notable as this might be, no less than former President Bill Clinton pointed out that even New Hampshire has not achieved the level of female representation as Rwanda, where the parliament is 56% women. That's right, Rwanda leads the United States of America (and Canada, for that matter).
* * * * * *
If you'd like to learn more about the Masked Avengers who pranked Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin during the final week of the campaign, check out this week's C'est la vie from CBC Radio One. This program provides weekly insight into francophone Canada for anglophones, and this week's show is especially amusing. Listen to the show to hear them compare their various pranks, including Britney Spears, Bill Gates, and Jacques Chirac as well as Palin. The contrast between Gates and the other pranks was particularly revealing.
* * * * * *
The cable television network may be a different story, but I actually had a hard time detecting any bias in the Fox News web site during the campaign. They tended to provide a raw live feed of the debates that had no commentary whatsoever, and their news stories--as opposed to their commentaries--actually used quite balanced and accurate word choices. On election night, I noted the headline "Momentum Builds" and text clearly describing excitement amongst Democrats after Pennsylvania was called for Obama. Could it be that their on-line staff takes a different attitude than their on-air staff?
* * * * * *
Film-maker Spike Lee's interviews on election night were especially amusing. To any question, his answer would be "Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama. Obama, Obama. Next question?" It reminded me of a commentary by CBC Radio One's then-Sunday Morning host Ian Brown during a certain trial in Santa Monica, California in 1994--"O.J., O.J., O.J. O.J., O.J. O.J., O.J in my car. O.J., O.J. on the wall..."
* * * * * *
Apparently Canada is feeling so worried about revisionism in the United States that we're now getting defensive about the War of 1812, which just in case you've forgotten, Britain won. Author Douglas Coupland is concerned about "creeping revisionism" surrounding the War of 1812, and has dedicated a new monument in Toronto to specifically tweak US revisionists. Perhaps Coupland is on to something--read the Wikipedia article on the War of 1812, which currently describes the conflict as a draw. In terms of territory, this is accurate, but generally when a nation sets out to take over territory and fails to do so, this is considered a loss, not a draw.
* * * * * *
This week, what I believe to be the last physical reminder that I lived in Massachusetts, save for photographs by a Cambridge-based photographer on my walls, disappeared as a Market Basket-branded carton of cotton swabs finally ran out, three years after I left Boston. I tended to frequent the downscale Market Basket while living in New England, never feeling fully comfortable about Star Market and successor Shaw's--the irony is that now that I live in a place with many downscale markets like No Frills, Price Chopper, and Food4Less, I most often shop at Loblaw's, which is more like Shaw's than Market Basket.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Radio Pick: Privilege on This American Life
TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's radio pick comes from perhaps the only show that could
put this week in perspective, Chicago Public Radio's This American Life.
The charter of the show is to capture American culture, so where else could one turn in such a significant week to capture the moment? Ira Glass and company did not fail, putting out a show that includes perspective on race in America, the late Studs Terkel on the Depression, and other tales around the theme of challenging privilege in this 59-minute broadcast.
Listen to streaming MP3 of This American Life "Who Do You Think You Are?"
* * * * * *
A couple other items deserve honorable mention this week. For those who wish to look back on the campaign, NPR's Weekend All Things Considered put together a nice montage last Sunday demonstrating how the campaign interfaced with popular culture. Everything from Paris Hilton to Tina Fey was included in the piece which can be heard at this link.
Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, has been cited here before for offering relevant information on Barack Obama's background in Illinois. His Simon Says commentary this week again gave an interesting perspective on Obama as a cunning Chicago politician. Listen to the commentary from this link.
put this week in perspective, Chicago Public Radio's This American Life.
The charter of the show is to capture American culture, so where else could one turn in such a significant week to capture the moment? Ira Glass and company did not fail, putting out a show that includes perspective on race in America, the late Studs Terkel on the Depression, and other tales around the theme of challenging privilege in this 59-minute broadcast.
Listen to streaming MP3 of This American Life "Who Do You Think You Are?"
* * * * * *
A couple other items deserve honorable mention this week. For those who wish to look back on the campaign, NPR's Weekend All Things Considered put together a nice montage last Sunday demonstrating how the campaign interfaced with popular culture. Everything from Paris Hilton to Tina Fey was included in the piece which can be heard at this link.
Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, has been cited here before for offering relevant information on Barack Obama's background in Illinois. His Simon Says commentary this week again gave an interesting perspective on Obama as a cunning Chicago politician. Listen to the commentary from this link.
Heritage: Tennison on Krieghoff
A sign from a Krieghoff exhibition to which Bill Tennison had contributed
TORONTO, ONTARIO - While born in Amsterdam, painter Cornelius David Krieghoff spent most of his 19th-century life in Canada and thus is regarded as a premier Canadian artist, and he is particularly beloved here for his focus on Canadian winter landscapes. Among those especially appreciative of his work is Swansea Historical Society member Bill Tennison, who spoke about Krieghoff and shared some of his extensive collection during the society's meeting at Swansea Town Hall on 5-November-2008.
Tennison has collected Krieghoff works for much of his life, and his common interest in Krieghoff fostered a friendship with the late newspaper mogul Ken Thompson. Between the two of them, Tennison and Thompson provided the resources to complete special exhibitions on the artist in Canada and to help historians determine the status of many purported Krieghoff works--including one that proved to be completed on one half by Krieghoff and one half by another artist.
Bill Tennison held a print of Krieghoff's "Bilking the Toll"
Of the 1100 to 1300 Krieghoff paintings ("we're still finding them," Tennison notes), probably the most famous are the 33 (known, anyway) variations of "Bilking the Toll" in which a horse-drawn sleigh runs through a toll booth in the snow. Tennison noted that 30 of them have the sleigh going from right to left, while only 3 have them going from left to right.
Like many artists, Krieghoff was not fully appreciated during his lifetime, and while he did not die starving poor, neither did he die as wealthy as the sums that his works command today would imply.
Bill Tennison answering an audience question
The holiday season is when Krieghoff is most noted today. His many works on early Canadian scenes tended to depict the winter, and hence make excellent Christmas cards and other winter holiday fare. The overview of Cornelius Krieghoff's career from Bill Tennison served as an appropriate signal that the holiday season--and winter--is just around the corner.
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