One of Canada's most recognizable and respected newscasters took a break from the national anchor desk to provide the keynote address at the 6th annual Sleeping Giant Writers Festival, August 30th at Fort William Historical Park.
Peter Mansbridge, chief correspondent for The Nationaland Newsworld,and host of Mansbridge One on One, provided several anecdotes both serious and humourous during his address, "Canada and Canadians in a Changing World." The occasion marked the first time the festival was held at the Fort.
Mr. Mansbridge drew from his own coverage of global events to illustrate how positively Canada is perceived in the world, from the Canadian-driven liberation of the Netherlands during WW II that is still celebrated today, to recent support efforts provided by Canadians in Sri Lanka and war-torn Afghanistan.
He acknowledged the appropriateness of the Writers Festival being held at the Fort, since letter writing by the fur traders was the first means of communicating news in Canada something which could serve to inspire would-be writers attending the Festival. He also alluded to his own struggles in writing his first book due out this fall, drawn from thousands of interviews conducted during his illustrious career. He expressed his personal familiarity with Northwestern Ontario which was part of his territory as a Winnipeg-based reporter for CBC radio.
Mansbridge broke up the audience with lighter anecdotes on how he was mistakenly identified as the President of Poland by CNN during coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II and how an OPP officer, while issuing a traffic ticket, vividly recalled him as a fellow member of his boy scout troop but was totally clueless about Mr. Mansbridge's current occupation.
Mr. Mansbridge took a brief tour of the Fort, escorted by FWHP General Manager Sergio Buonocore and Marketing and Customer Service Manager Doug Stanton.The Festival featured a series of workshops conducted by a variety of writers, editors and publishers whose work has been featured in publications including the Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic. Topics covered a wide spectrum including outdoor writing, how to pitch story ideas, historical fiction, and writing a family memoir.