As much as my hubby Guy loves books, he's not one to pay attention to author events, and for the most part, he's not really compelled to meet the authors of his favourite books. But there are a few writers that he would really love to meet before he shuffles off this mortal coil, and thanks to me, that list is slowly getting smaller.
Last weekend I noticed in the Globe and Mail that Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo/Chapters was going to be interviewing Ralph Nader on Thursday May 10th at the Bay & Bloor Indigo. Nader has written a new book, The Seventeen Traditions, and he was in the city doing the promotional tour.
Nader's new book is quite different from his previous works – it's a much more personal look at the early days of his life, growing up in Winsted Connectitcut, and how he was profoundly shaped by the love, warmth and wisdom of his parents. It's a small, lovely book, printed in warm brown type and full of soft, gentle sepia-toned illustrations. Each chapter discusses one of the seventeen traditions that were a part of his upbringing which instilled in Nader such a strong sense of responsibility towards community, be it on a small or large scale. Everything from The Tradition of Health to The Tradition of Scarcity to The Tradition of Charity to The Tradition of Solitude are discussed in the book.
It was certainly a fascinating night. We came early, and so got front-row seats. Nader is not the kind of guy that 'fills a room' like say, a movie star – he's quite ordinary and unassuming. But very, very bright and funny. I had no idea that he had such a great sense of humour. He shared quite a few amusing and delightful stories about his childhood and his parents, who from Nader's descriptions, seemed like extremely thoughtful, intelligent, caring people. I would have loved to have asked Nader what compelled him to write this book now, which to me seems very much like a homage to his parents; I think he wrote it because both his parents had recently passed away, having both almost reached the age of 100. (Obviously The Tradition of Health worked for his parents!)
But you see, I didn't get a chance to ask that question. After the interview a few people managed to pose questions to Nader (including my hubby who naturally wanted to know if Nader was going to run again for president, and Nader's not sure if he will, since the U.S. has made it so difficult for a third-party person to run a presidental camapaign), but it was all cut short when a group of people from the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid began a noisy protest, accusing Heather Reisman of supporting Israel's military effort, through her organization HESEG. As the protesters bellowed their accusations against Heather, she stood up, gripping her microphone in her hand, her face clenched into this bizarre tight smile, her eyes shiny and seething. She said that she would not engage with these people, and that their accusations were not true, and that unfortunately the question/answer period had to come to an end. Then the protestors starting ranting at Nader, trying to shame him for associating with Heather and Indigo. Nader was very calm – obviously he's encountered this kind of response before – and he tried to engage these people in a dialogue (which Heather's people, I think, did not want to happen; they were about to take away Ralph's microphone when he told them that no, he wanted to respond to these people). Heather had left by this time, and so it was just Ralph trying to calmly talk to these guys, who just kept shouting at Nader and ranting about Heather. Nader even made a funny quip about one of the chapters in his book being The Tradition of Listening, and that these guys could benefit by reading it. By this time police and security were escorting most of the protesters out of the store. Ralph left for a bit, while security tried to settle things down (there was one old lady in an electric wheelchair who kept screaming and ranting – I wasn't sure if she was screaming at the protestors, or about Ralph – I was pretty distracted by then).
I know nothing about this organization, nor HESEG, so I really can't comment on it at all. I certainly have other issues with Indigo, but I came there last night because I wanted to hear what Ralph Nader had to say, and I wanted to give the hubby the chance to finally meet a man he has admired for many, many years (I think Guy's admiration for Nader began after his book Unsafe At Any Speed first came out. One of the cars Nader warned the public about was the Corvair, the car my husband was in as a child, in a terrible car accident. My husband almost lost his leg in that accident). Quite frankly, the protesters came across looking like idiots, and it really wasn't the time or place for that kind of demonstration, but it definitely made for a very interesting night.
Eventually Ralph came back to sign books (as he walked down the aisle of chairs, a big smile on his face, everyone clapped and someone even patted him on the back). After Nader signed Guy's book, Guy wished him well and shook his hand. Then we had a late dinner, spending the rest of the night talking about Ralph, life, the universe and everything. What a night!
If you're interested, here's a clip from CBC's The Hour, with George Stroumboulopoulos interviewing Ralph Nader discussing his new book, The Seventeen Traditions.
And if you go to Nader's site for his book, www.seventeentraditions.com, you can even email in your own family traditions that are important to you, and they will be posted on the site.
UPDATE: Here's a link to a short video clip of the actual night. Would have been nice if they had shown more of how that crowd of protesters went after Nader...
Stay tuned for the first week of June, when I will discuss what Guy is getting for his birthday – tickets to see Gore Vidal talk at the Eglin Theatre!
