You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty by Dave Barry (Putnam, $31)

I first encountered American humourist Dave Barry 25 years ago at the American Booksellers Association convention (now known as Book Expo America) in Washington, D.C. Barry, whom the year before won the Pulitzer Prize for his humorous columns that appeared on a weekly basis in The Miami Herald, was at the convention to promote and sign copies of two of his latest books: the paperback edition of his collection Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits, and the hardcover edition of his soon-to-be-released take on American history, Dave Barry Slept Here.

What I noticed about Barry was his laid back manner, his easy going bantering with the large group of booksellers, publisher reps and journalists who eagerly lined up to have their few seconds of chit chat with him and get their autographed books, and the constant zingers and sarcastic (yet not maliciously sarcastic) one-liners he kept delivering at a rapid fire pace, which kept everyone laughing while they were waiting in line.

I couldn’t wait to get home to start reading both autographed copies of Barry’s books; in fact, as soon as I returned to my hotel room, I immediately started Dave Barry Slept Here. That somewhat fast, yet curmudgeonly sense of humour that I saw him project at the book signing session transcended onto the pages of his new book (which became an immediate New York Times bestseller). Over the next decade, I read Dave Barry’s new releases on a regular basis, and watched the short-lived CBS sitcom “Dave’s World”, which was based on his writings. Although the last Dave Barry book I reviewed was his 1990 bestseller Dave Barry Turns 40, it didn’t stop me from enjoying his books.

It’s been over 10 years since I last read one of  his books; and when I received a review copy of his newest collection of humourous writings, You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty, I knew it was time to familiarize myself once more  with what has been going on recently in Dave’s world.

Right off the bat, let me say that despite what the title suggests, this book is not solely a look at parenting and parenthood according to Dave Barry. What the book is, actually, is a collection of nine essays (which are being published for the first time) dealing with topics that Barry claims he know very little about, whether it is death, grammar or what women really want.

All that aside, the long time Dave Barry reader, or the uninitiated ones, will certainly not be disappointed with his new book. The essays are filled with plenty of rants, practical “advice”, and heaping doses of his acerbic style of humour.  Personal favorites include “Sophie, Stella and the Bieber Plan”, in which Barry reluctantly accompanies his daughter Sophie and her BFF Stella to a Justin Bieber concert, in which the two girls not only fawn over Bieber in a rather fanatical way, but take that devotion to a new level by actually leaving personally addressed invitations to their bat mitzvahs on the stage, in the hope that Bieber will pick them up, and eventually attend their respective rites of passage celebrations (by the way, those who are already fed up with Bieber and his obnoxious shenanigans will enjoy reading this essay, as Barry gives his no-holds-barred view on the concert, which he describes as “brutal”, and says rather pointedly that “at times the dancing looks silly, but it serves a vital artistic function; namely, keeping you from noticing that the music [and I say this respectfully] sucks.”; then there’s his piece on manliness, which is basically a collection of how-to lists (such as how to cook a steak on the grill), which reads more like a comedy routine than a bunch of helpful advice lists; and “Seeking WiFi in the Holy Land” is a travelogue that chronicles a recent 10-day family trip Barry took to Israel, in which his wife was always in constant pursuit of the ideal souvenir/gift shop in order to add to her ever growing menorah collection, and his daughter preferring those historic sites across Israel that provided WiFi.

You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty is vintage Dave Barry. Mixing his own unique brand of insight and humour to topics that are relevant and timely, we are satisfied that Dave Barry, after more than 30 years of speaking his mind through the printed page, has not mellowed with age, yet he refuses to become an old relic.

Up, Up and Away! by Jonah Keri (Random House Canada, $32)

During the final weekend of this March, nearly 90,000 rabid Montreal baseball fans filled the cavernous Olympic Stadium to watch a two-game pre-season series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets. And somehow, in spirit, the Montreal Expos returned to their East End home, albeit for a brief return visit.

Yet, you couldn’t miss the unforgettable sight of the majority of those in attendance sporting the variations of the familiar red/white/blue tri-colour makeup of the Expos on-field uniform, with that distinctive “MB” meld of a team logo. It’s been 20 years since the 1994 edition of the Expos fielded one of the best teams in the franchise’s history – only to have their division, league and World Series championship ambitions dashed by a players’ strike; and it’s been 10 years since the Expos played their swan song season in Montreal before they pulled up stakes and headed due south to become the Washington Nationals.

And for many of those fans who made the pilgrimage to the Big O last month, the wounds of 1994 and 2004 haven’t healed yet. And on top of that, they keep asking themselves why Major League Baseball placed such a cruel fate on the Expos, and what did the team do to deserve such a fate? Well, I think their questions will be adequately answered after they read Jonah Keri’s book Up, Up and Away!

This is a book that has been a long time coming, and is a story that needed to be told. Keri, a veteran sports journalist and author, who was a native Montrealer and himself a rabid Expos fan, gives the inside story of the Montreal Expos’ 35-year rollercoaster existence as a National League franchise.

Yet when you start reading the book, the impression you get was that the Expos was a team that was bitten and cursed before they even took the field for their inaugural season in 1969. Mayor Jean Drapeau, councillor Gerry Synder and owner Charles Bronfman promised Major League Baseball and the National League that if Montreal was granted a franchise, the team would have a domed stadium of their own by 1972. However, before that became a “reality”, they had trouble finding the team a temporary home; Delorimier Downs (the home of the much revered Montreal Royals) was too small, and the Autostade near the Expo 67 site was too expensive to convert into a baseball stadium, which is why they settled on tiny Jarry Park, in which the all too short expansion plans were delayed by a massive snowstorm, and almost wasn’t ready for opening day. As well, the players they chose during their expansion draft were either too young or too old for the majors, and some players – like veteran Maury Wills – were quite vocal about their aversion to playing for this upstart team in Montreal.

Keri outlines the many reasons why the Expos were such a beloved, yet cursed, team. One reason that really stands out was the team’s inability to hold onto a good player for an extended period of time. Because of continuous financial difficulties, and the reluctance of a string of owners (especially Claude Brochu, who is painted as the villain of this saga) to let loose their purse strings and invest in trading and drafting talented players, it was almost like the team had no choice but to cut loose their best players for either money or players who were mostly mediocre at best. Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Jeff Reardon, John Wettleland, Marquis Grissom, Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero … the list of talented players the Expos lost to other teams where they excelled even further just goes on.

As well, Keri occasionally involves himself in his narrative of the Expos story, as he parallels the team’s burst of success in 1979, 1981 and 1994 with his personal devotion to the team, which was exemplified with “The Maple Ridge Boys”, a group that included him and his friends, in which they fanatically followed the team at home and even on the road, which is a vivid example of a sports fan’s devotion to the home team. He even chronicles his painful disillusion after Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig cancelled the 1994 season during the players’ strike; however, that sense of disillusionment melted away when his girlfriend and future wife bought him a 1959 Felipe Alou rookie card for his birthday.

Besides the terrific research and countless interviews he conducted with former players, broadcasters and front office personnel, Keri offers several sidebar pieces that give some new perspectives on different aspects of the Expos story, such as a brutally honest analysis of the team’s 1969 opening day line up; the story behind the “MB” logo; the appeal of Pascual Perez; the case of why Tim Raines should be a Hall of Famer; and why Vladimir Guerrero was the last Expos superstar.

So whether you were a fan of “Le Grand Orange” or “El Presidente”, remember the painful legacy of “Blue Monday”, was harassed by Souki, the Expos’ pre-Youppi mascot; attended the 1982 All-Star Game, or was a proud resident of “Jonesville”, Up, Up and Away! is a book that you must read, so that you can get the full story of the bittersweet history of the team that we affectionately called “Nos Amours”, and realize how much we really miss them.

Will Robert Libman make the jump to federal politics in 2015?

While voters across Quebec were tentatively waiting for the results of the April 7 provincial election, and the implications it would have for the future of both the province and the rest of Canada, one former – yet popular – figure from provincial politics past was tentative about his future in federal politics.

During an appearance at the B’nai Brith Canada annual Public Policy Conference last week in Montreal, former Equality Party leader and MNA Robert Libman was asked if he was considering running for the Conservative Party nomination in the Mount Royal riding during next year’s federal election. In response to that query, Libman didn’t confirm – nor deny – his intention of running for the Tories in Mount Royal, a staunch Liberal stronghold since 1940, which has previously been represented by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who recently decided to step down after serving as its Member of Parliament since 1999.

And Libman’s response to this question came on the heels of an announcement made by Cote St. Luc Mayor Anthony Housefather at the end of March, who stated his intentions of seeking the Liberal Party nomination in Mount Royal.

Libman is no stranger to the world of politics. An architect by trade, he helped to establish the Equality Party in 1988, in response to then-Premier Robert Bourassa’s use of the Notwithstanding Clause following the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that parts of the Quebec language law – Bill 101 – was unconstitutional, especially when it came to restricting the use of English on commercial signs. The Equality Party’s accomplishment of having four of its candidates elected to the Quebec National Assembly (including Libman) in the September 1989 provincial election stunned the Quebec political scene. Libman served as an MNA until 1994. The following year, he wrote Riding the Rapids, a very informative best selling memoir about his turn at changing the face of provincial politics.

In 1998, Libman was elected Mayor of Cote St. Luc and three years later was elected Mayor of the Cote St. Luc-Hampstead-Montreal West borough in the wake of the controversial  municipal mergers that created the short-lived Montreal megacity. He also served on the Montreal Executive Committee and City Council before leaving municipal politics in 2005. These days, Libman runs Libcorp, his own architectural consulting firm and is a much sought after political expert and analyst by many local and national TV and radio news shows.

It was his vast knowledge of provincial politics that brought him to the Public Policy Conference, where he delivered a fascinating, informative recap and perspective on the recent election, which he called it "one of the most interesting campaigns in Quebec history." He also cited how the level of concern amongst the Jewish community, especially when it came to the threat of a third referendum on separation if Pauline Marois' PQ government would win a majority mandate, has increased drastically (as well as a considerable feeling of angst) since the last provincial election less than two years ago, in which Marois won a minority government and ended the nine-year Liberal government of Jean Charest.  

Whether Libman decides to take his political ambitions to the federal level remains to be seen. But if the scenario one year from now allows two popular municipal mayors (not to mention experienced and widely respected politicians) battle it out for a riding that has been the jewel in the federal Liberals' crown for over 70 years, it will certainly be one of the most exciting races that Mount Royal riding has ever witnessed in a very long time.

To be continued, as they say...

Checking out the “ARTiculture” scene in Philly

PHILADELPHIA, PA – When I first discovered at a special press reception in Old Montreal last November that the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, was also a major hub of art and culture, I couldn’t believe that there was more to this city than cheese steak sandwiches, Rocky Balboa, American Bandstand, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

When I was invited to participate in a special press tour with nine other journalists and travel writers at the end of February on behalf of the Visit Philly tourism bureau, I discovered to my surprise after spending four days there that Philadelphia was a city that had a thriving “ARTiculture” scene … and it was my mission to share this discovery with my readers here in Montreal.

I checked into my home for the next four days, the Loews Philadelphia Hotel on 12^th and Market streets, in the heart of its Center City neighborhood. A national historic site, the 581-room luxury hotel originally housed the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS) bank, and was built in 1932 at a cost of $8 million.

Although a hotel for 14 years, the décor of the Loews Hotel still retains many of its 1930s art deco design and its banking background (including the door of the bank’s vault in the lobby and the omnipresent PSFS neon sign on the building’s roof, and is a dominant part of the Philadelphia skyline). And its restaurant on the 33^rd floor offers one of the best panoramic views of the city; in fact, from that vantage point, you can even go face-to-face with the statue of the city’s founder William Penn, which is perched atop the tower of Philadelphia City Hall (pictured below).

After being on the run since six o’clock that morning and hungering for some lunch, my first instinct was to get an automatic taste of something uniquely Philadelphia: the Philly cheese steak sandwich. I was directed to the nearby Reading Terminal Market, where I would have no problem getting my hands on one of those signature meat-laden sandwiches. Regarded as one of the largest and oldest public markets in America, the Reading Terminal Market was built in 1892, and until 1984, was a station for the Reading Railroad, while doubling as a marketplace for a wide variety of vendors. These days, as a public market, its 80 independently-owned small businesses attracts 100,000 visitors a week, offering everything from meals, to fresh foods, cheeses, seafood, candies, flowers, cookbooks and between Wednesday and Saturday, a group of Amish vendors from Lancaster County offers their unique brand of farm fresh products and crafts. And by the way, there is no shortage of Philly cheese steak vendors at the market (I chose Spataro’s, which has been selling those sandwiches since 1947); just be sure you let them know as quickly as possible whether or not you want provolone, cheese wiz and/or fried onions with your sandwich.

Philadelphia Flower Show and the Philadelphia Museum of Art

We started the first full day of the press tour with a exclusive preview visit of the 185^th annual Philadelphia Flower Show, which took place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. A Philadelphia rite of spring that's presented by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the flower show decided for this year’s milestone edition to work alongside about a dozen of America’s best known art museums, such as the Getty, the Guggenheim, the Smithsonian’s Portrait Gallery and the Philadelphia Museum of Art to come up with “ARTiculture: Where Art Meets Horticulture”.

If you thought the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena was the model example of how flowers can be used in an artistic, creative manner, then the Philadelphia Flower Show can easily inherit that mantle, as it became a 10-acre living canvas of beautiful landscapes, gardens and floral arrangements. It was stunningly exemplified the moment you walk into the exhibition hall, as the show’s entrance garden paid tribute to internationally-renown Philadelphia sculptor Alexander Calder, as one of his widely recognized mobiles came alive in all of its colorful, artistic glory … and all beautifully reconstructed with flowers (pictured above).

During the media preview of the flower show (which included Serena Altschul and her crew from CBS News Sunday Morning) we were told one very important rule of thumb: not to disturb the judges while they were judging. At the same time, a group of judges were examining selections of flowers and floral arrangements that were part of the show’s competition aspect, and were awarding prizes to the best arrangements; basically we had to keep our distance. And to make sure that happened, there were countless flower show volunteers who literally cordoned the judges off from the rest of the spectators using rolled up barrier tape and wearing signs on their vests saying “judging in progress”.

Another interesting part of the Philadelphia Flower Show was its “Butterfly Experience”, where visitors literally got the chance to commune with nature. In this case, it was to visit close up about 20 species of butterflies (10 of them exotic species) and feed them, as well as witness over 1000 pupas develop and hatch into beautiful butterflies that were allowed to roam in their specially built habitat.

Our next stop was the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in which its claim to fame was thanks to Sylvester Stallone, because he was seen climbing up the stairs at the front of the museum and raising his arms in triumph every time he finished his morning jog in the first two “Rocky” movies (there’s even a statue of Rocky Balboa that’s located at the foot of that famous staircase).

However, we were at the museum to preview a new exhibition that features the art of an Asian ruling dynasty that continuously defined its culture and way of life for over 500 years. Called “Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty 1392-1910”, which runs until May 26, the exhibition is a partnership between this museum and the National Museum of Korea, in which 150 artifacts, many of them regarded as national treasures, are on display for the first time outside the geographic boundaries of South Korea.

Ranging from silk screen paintings, porcelain vases, traditional costumes, rare manuscripts and traditional objects, the exhibition gives a once in a lifetime look at how the long-running Joseon Dynasty ruled Korea, and how its way of life still reverberates in modern Korean society. One of things that caught my eye was its detailed paintings and drawings, and how its penchant for detail gave them a remarkable photographic quality (especially one book from the 18^th century that illustrated the graduates of an elite military school). One of the most amazing items in the exhibition is the 40-foot tall hanging scroll that portrays the Buddha, which dates back to the 1650s. This massive banner painting, which originally hung in one of Korea’s largest Buddhist temples, is so large in size, that it couldn’t fit into the exhibition space, so it had to be placed in the museum’s Great Stair Hall, where it majestically looks over all the visitors who come by and marvel at its artistic splendour.

And if you want a quick take home souvenir from the exhibition, there is a computer screen near the exhibition gift shop that gives you the opportunity to see how your first name is written and pronounced in Hangeul, the official language of Korea. You then get the chance to trace the characters that make up your Korean name onscreen, which is then printed on a ticket-sized card to take home with you (here is my Korean name, pictured on the left). 

The Brandywine River Museum and Longwood Gardens  

Our second full day was spent 45 minutes west of Philadelphia, in the Brandywine Valley region of Pennsylvania, in which we visited two places where art and nature came together. The Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford is a converted grist mill that was built during the Civil War and is dedicated to the paintings of a three generations of painters who not only lived and painted in the area, but also helped define modern American art: N.C. (pictured on the above right), Andrew and Jamie Wyeth, whose works dominate the museum’s permanent collection of 4000 paintings (some of my favorites were the series of paintings that N.C. Wyeth was commissioned to do in 1911 for a reissue of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island). Also, we got the chance to see N.C. Wyeth's art studio, which he built to his specifications in 1909 (pictured below on the right). The studio was left as it was when Wyeth died in 1945, and it gives you the chance to see Wyeth's creative world by the type of studio he kept, the tools of the trade he used, as well as the vast collection of books and magazines he kept (including a orderly collection of National Geographic magazines, in which each stack was placed on the shelves according to year), which was a testament to his penchant for the historical accuracy and detail that he placed in his paintings. As well, the museum is committed to the preservation of its surrounding environment; the area surrounding the museum is filled with landscaped gardens, as well as local wildflowers, trees and shrubs.

We then paid a visit to Longwood Gardens, located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (pictured on the left). Built in the early 1920s by industrialist and longtime conservationist Pierre S. du Pont, the 4 ½ acre glass encased conservatory attracts over a million visitors every year to its vast collection of flowers, gardens, trees and plant life from around the world. Walking through its many gardens, fountains, fruit plants, the current orchid extravaganza, collection of palm trees and cacti, the conservatory certainly gives a visitor a welcome preview of the spring and summer to come. Longwood Gardens also combines the arts and horticulture, as it exhibition hall, open air theatre, and ballroom offer a full schedule of concerts and recitals throughout the year. During our visit, we were treated to a preview of Philadelphia’s 16-day Flamenco Festival, in which a quartet of Spanish Flamenco dancers performed at the exhibition hall an exotic original dance piece called “Complices”, by Flamenco artist Rosario Toledo.

The Liberty Bell and the National Museum of American Jewish History

Of course, a visit to Philadelphia isn’t complete unless you experience some of its best-known historical sites. And the one historical site that is automatically associated with Philadelphia and the birth of the United States is the Liberty Bell. Cast in London in 1751 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the drafting of Pennsylvania’s constitution, the bell was hung in the steeple of Independence Hall and was used to summon legislators to the next Assembly session. The bell was permanently removed from Independence Hall in 1976, and is currently housed in the Liberty Bell Center on Independence Mall, where it receives a steady stream of visitors every day who want to have their picture taken with this revered historical symbol (like me, I am pictured on the right with that famous bell). The center tells the story of the Liberty Bell and how it became associated with the birth of the United States and the concept of liberty and freedom that was the foundation of the U.S., not to mention its place in history and pop culture (including John Philip Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell March”, in which you can hear an original 1890s recording of the tune, which was also used as the theme for “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”). By the way, the bell’s famous crack dates back to 1752; and when the crack widened in 1846, the Liberty Bell was never rung again.

Not far from the Liberty Bell Center is the National Museum of American Jewish History. Opened on July 4, 1976, the museum tells the story of how the American Jewish community established itself from different parts of the globe to American shores and helped build their newly adopted country over a period of 350 years, a story that is told through its collection of 25,000 historical objects and permanent exhibition, which tells this 350-year saga of the immigrant experience and nation building on four floors of the museum, starting with mid-17th century colonial America on the fifth floor, to the present day on the second floor. The main floor is dedicated to the museum's very own hall of fame called "Only in America", which pays tribute to 18 prominent American Jews for their contributions to the American way of life, from Albert Einstein, to Leonard Bernstein, to Barbra Streisand. Each individual's achievements are honored with a single authentic artifact that best associated with them; for example, there's Steven Spielberg's very first movie camera, a vial of the polio vaccine that Jonas Salk developed in 1954, and one of my favorites, Irving Berlin's piano that he used to compose many of his best-known songs (and includes the original written manuscript of "God Bless America").

And from now until October 26, baseball fans should pay a visit to the museum to catch its new exhibition "Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American". Using 130 rare baseball artifacts, "Chasing Dreams" tells the story of how such players as Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg, Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente faced and conquered adversity -- and got their shot at the American dream -- through the National Pastime. Although I was at the museum just a mere two weeks before "Chasing Dreams" opened, I did purchase the excellent exhibition catalogue, which includes photos and objects from the exhibition, as well as baseball-related excerpts from such classic American novels as "The Chosen"and "The Natural". In fact, according to one of the gift shop employees, the "Chasing Dreams" catalogue has been selling at a very brisk pace even before its official opening, which proves that this will be a popular exhibition throughout the 2014 baseball season.

After experiencing the City of Brotherly Love for the first time during those memorable four days at the end of February, I guess I can say that native son W.C. Fields was right ... "on the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

Finally, a special thank you goes out to Donna and Adriana from Visit Philly, who were excellent hosts and tour guides throughout my trip, and to the staff at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel for their outstanding hospitality. To find out more about many of the cultural and historical attractions that Philadelphia has to offer, go to www.visitphilly.com.

Review -- An Absent Mind by Eric Rill (Avante Press, $17)

Since the first patient was diagnosed with a certain form of dementia by German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906, this dreaded disease that severely attacks and deteriorates a person’s cognitive and intellectual capabilities, and forever carries Dr. Alzheimer’s name, now affects over 35 million people around the world.

On the surface, many people know how Alzheimer’s Disease virtually destroy the patient who is unfortunate to be diagnosed with it; however, the side of this disease that is not so well known is how it indirectly affects the people who are part of the patient’s life … the husbands, wives, sons and daughters,  and relatives who have to deal with a family member who are afflicted with the scourge of Alzheimer’s, especially those who are thrust with the responsibility of being one of, or the sole, caregiver. They are the uncounted casualties of this disease.

Montreal novelist Eric Rill, whose two previous books were action thrillers, personally witnessed how Alzheimer’s Disease affected both patient and family members, as his father suffered through it for eight years. For his third novel, Rill decided to forgo the thriller and make it more personal, and give the uninitiated what the true, terrible face of Alzheimer’s is all about for everyone involved. The end result is the sobering, compelling novel An Absent Mind.

The book focuses on Saul Reimer, a retired Westmount businessman in his seventies who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after an incident when he leaves his home one day without wearing his grey flannel trousers. What follows is a 690-day chronicle of how this diagnosis affects the entire Reimer family: Saul, his wife Monique (who ends up being the primary caregiver), his daughter Florence, and his son Joey (the perennial black sheep of the family, who is more concerned with his questionable business ventures than the well being of his seriously ill father).

What makes the narrative so interesting is that the story of this painful odyssey is that it’s told not from an objective narrator, but from the points-of-view of all the members of the Reimer family. Allowing such a first-hand account narrative style pervade the text gives the reader a harrowing account of how destructive and degenerative this disease can be when it strikes someone, and the psychological effects it has on each family member. You see how gradually the patient’s cognitive abilities are destroyed as the disease progresses (as well as their sense of paranoia and random aggressiveness grows); there is the feeling of isolation and hopelessness as the caregiver watches the deterioration of their loved one (especially as they become the accidental victim of their random acts of aggressiveness and abuse); and there is the double-edged sword of the involvement of the patient’s offspring, whether it be a constant sense of devotion to make their parent’s final years as comfortable as possible, or reluctance to make the effort of even paying a visit for an hour or two, with the sense that it may or not be the last time they will see their parent alive, and have the chance to resolve past issues or say goodbye as an act of finality.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of this book is the final third of it, when the painful decision is made to send Saul to an extended care facility when the progression of the disease has become too much to allow him to live at home and too much of a strain for Monique to remain as a caregiver. This segment of the story has a “snake pit” quality to it, as it reveals the ugly side of the final stages of Alzheimer’s, when the dementia is far too advanced, and the sadness reaches to a sense of pathos, as the family tries to brighten up each visit, as if it may be the last one, and the stricken family member has no idea what is going on.

Rill has done more than write a fact-based novel. Through the art of fiction, he has given the reader who has just a basic knowledge about this disease a harrowing, hard-hitting look at the true nature of Alzheimer’s Disease. Through the struggles of Saul Reimer and his family, An Absent Mind gives us a very cruel, yet very necessary, expose of how such a progressive, degenerative  cerebral disease as Alzheimer’s affects everyone. It is both shocking and informative. And hopefully, it will shock and inform enough people to push even harder to find a cure that will eradicate the horrible devastation that is Alzheimer’s Disease.

Centaur Theatre unveils "shocking" line-up for its 46th season

It was a snowy, stormy late Wednesday afternoon in mid-March at the Centaur Theatre in Old Montreal, as artistic and executive director Roy Surette told a gathering of media, local actors, playwrights and directors, and Centaur personnel that for the company’s upcoming 46^th season, they were about to offer a line-up of shows that promised to be compelling, unexpected and with lots of sex and romance; in other words, a season that he promised will be “shocking and delightful”.

The cornerstone of the Centaur’s 2014-2015 season is their six mainstage subscription series productions (a series that has been quite successful lately; this year’s series is up by 331 subscriptions from last year’s total), in which two of them are world premieres by two well-known Montreal playwrights.

The six plays in the 2014-2015 subscription series are “Venus in Fur” (October 14 – November 9), a sexy battle of the sexes comedy that was a Broadway hit and based on the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch; “Social Studies” (November 4 – November 30) a Canadian social comedy that involves a New Age single mother, her recently divorced daughter, and the Sudanese boy that the mother takes in as a boarder; “Terminus” (January 20 – February 15, 2015) is an internationally-acclaimed production that deals with three lost souls who are involved with the gritty underworld of Dublin, Ireland; “The Goodnight Bird” (February 24 – March 22) by Governor General Award-winning playwright Colleen Murphy, is about a long married couple who find out more about their married life … after the body of a vagrant falls and lands on their balcony; “The Envelope” (March 24 – April 19) is the new play by acclaimed Montreal playwright Vittorio Rossi, which gives an irreverent look at the “Made in Canada” film industry (a play, that Rossi contends, “was born out of my affection and love for my fellow actors”); and “Triplex Nervosa” (April 21 – May 17) by Montreal writer Marianne Ackerman about a young woman who buys a triplex in the Mile End district, and inherits all the residential baggage that goes with it.

And Centaur’s shocking 46^th season will also include the return of the musical “Spring Awakening” as its Brave New Looks selection, which will officially open the season; a new approach to the “Urban Tales” series, which will combine the Seven Deadly Sins with heavy metal music; the 18^th Wildside Festival; and the continuation of their popular Talkback series during the run of each mainstage production, which happens on the second Sunday and third Thursday during the run of each play.

To find out more about how “shocking” the Centaur’s 2014-2015 season will be, or to become a new subscriber (or renew your current subscription), call 514-288-3161, or go to www.centaurtheatre.com.