"A delicious what-if scenario"

Thanks to the Calgary Herald’s Eric Volmers for this piece about Storied City: Early Calgary through the Eyes of Writers.

And here’s my interview with Doug Dirks on CBC Calgary’s The Homestretch.

Storied City: Early Calgary through the Eyes of Writers

Step into Lady Lougheed’s ballroom and engage in a treasure hunt through Calgary’s largely unknown literary heritage. At a fictional dinner party circa 1923, you’ll meet 12 colourful writers of early Calgary and discover their take on our changing, changeable city.

Reserve your spot at the launch on January 30 — free and open to the public. There will be stories, storytellers and vintage typewriters for you to tap out your own Calgary stories. See you there!

Beltline through the Eyes of Writers: Redux

Here are a few of the books I mentioned on my Historic Calgary Week walk — plus a few other literary treasures.

Memorial Park Library

Inspiring Life Stories: The Calgary Public Library since 1912 (2012) – Brian Brennan

Letters from America (1916) – Rupert Brooke

“Fool of the New West” (2013) – Kris Demeanor

“Timothy Findley: The Calgary Connection” (2004) – William Whitehead

“Horseman of the Plains” Central Memorial Park

The Great Karoo (2008) – Fred Stenson

Colonel Belcher Hospital (now Chumir Centre)

 The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint (2006) – Tommy Chong

Hester Apartments & Calgary’s Leacock Connections

My Discovery of the West (1937) – Stephen Leacock

The Figgs (2018) – Ali Bryan

R. H. Williams Block

“Eva Reid: Girl Reporter”(2004) – Jennifer Hamblin

“Calgary: Gateway to the Woman’s West” (1913) — Calgary Branch, Canadian Women’s Press Club

Al Azhar Temple (once located at 4th Street & 17th Ave)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s visit to Calgary, June 1923

Agatha Christie (nothing to do with Beltline)

The Grand Tour: Letters and Photographs from the British Empire Expedition (2012) – Agatha Christie

Ordeal by Innocence (1958) – Agatha Christie

The Social Credit connection

Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta (2001) – Aritha van Herk

The Words of My Roaring (1966) – Robert Kroetsch

The Aberhart Summer (1983) – Bruce Allen Powe

Aberhart Summer (1999) - Conni Massing’s play adaptation

15th Avenue

The Judas Conspiracy (aka Alberta Alone) (1976; 1981) – John Ballem

The Oil Patch Quartet – John Ballem

Nellie McClung House

The Stream Runs Fast (1945) – Nellie McClung

 Lougheed House & area

The Magpie’s Nest (1917) - Isabel Paterson

The Cow Puncher (1918) - Robert J. C. Stead

Fold Home (1950) – Flos Jewell Williams

Journey with No Maps: A Life of P. K. Page (2012) – Sandra Djwa

“Max and My Mother: A Memoir,” Border Crossings (1988) – P. K. Page

Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary (2018) – Kevin Allen

Country Music Country (1996; 2019) – Bruce Hunter

Bending at the Bow (1995) – Marion Douglas

“Been Caught Stealing: Life Inside The Lorraine” (2020) – Heidi Klaassen

 Electric Avenue

“Electric Avenue: An Infamous Chapter in Calgary’s Partying History,” Avenue Magazine (2013)-- Shelley Arnusch

Salvage King, Ya! (1997) – Mark Anthony Jarman

Cash Corner, The Beltline Y & More

The Crash Palace (2021) – Andrew Wedderburn