Wednesday, February 15, 2017

STUART McLEAN: MY FAVORITE CANADIAN STORY TELLER

    Today we lost a Canadian classic: Stuart McLean a beloved Canadian storyteller.

     Stuart had a radio show, the Vinyl Cafe. where he read his own stories about a fictional family of Dave, Morley , Stephany , Sam ,Arthur the dog and a whole neighborhood of various  neighbors. You felt as if you were part of this neighborhood and listened every Sunday for the episode.  Most people could see themselves and many people they knew in his stories.

    The stories usually centered around some inept behavior that brought about mayhem. One of Canada's favorite stories was "Dave Cooks the Turkey." It was read at every Christmas season.

    Stuart also included some unique Canadian music. He loved to find great performers who were not well known. I discovered some interesting music by listening to Vinyl Cafe.

    Stuart also took his show on the road. It was extremely popular. I went to see him when he visited our town.

    Stuart published a number of books with his stories. I have "When We Were Young" and have read several other of his books.

    Stuart has won a number of literary awards and an Order of Canada.

    I will miss Stuart McLean. He sort of glued us together as a Canadian society.

Stuart McLean's The Vinyl Cafe, features music and humor, often regaling stories by McLean about Dave, the owner of a second-hand record store, his wife Morley and their children, Sam and Stephanie.