Back to the Westcliffe Diner

I first wrote about the Westcliffe Diner in the early days of this blog. (I spelled it "Westcliff" at the time, because that's what it says on the sign, but owners Beverly Griswold and Tyler Slaunwhite assure me that it is actually Westcliffe, with an "e".)

I recently wrote about the diner again, this time in the pages of the Canadian edition of Reader's Digest (unfortunately the story is not online, so I can't point you to a link). It was an interesting piece to write. Tyler is not a publicity hound. He started off refusing to speak to me, and I think he got a bit annoyed when I persisted in asking him if he would consider allowing me to interview him.

But eventually, after several research trips (all of which included a burger or fish and chips of course -- I over-researched a bit), I pulled out my notebook and started asking questions. And Tyler and Bev started answering. They showed the same generosity with me as they do when they are cooking and serving up meals.

As one person I interviewed said, so many businesses now seem friendly -- but it's a kind of fake friendly. That's definitely not what the Westcliffe is like.

The Secret Men Won't Admit -- more radio

If you live in Atlantic Canada, you can hear me with Tom Young on The Afternoon News, Friday, October 17 at 2:30. The show is on the Rogers stations in the region: News 91.9 (Moncton), News 88.9 (St. John) and News 95.7 (Halifax). 

Listen in if you can!

The Secret Men Won't Admit -- radio interviews on men and depression

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be doing a bunch of radio interviews to talk about men and depression -- the subject of an article I wrote for the October 2008 issue of the Canadian Reader's Digest.

Today, October 16, I'm on The Gary Doyle Show, on CKGL 570 News in Kitchener, from 1:30-1:45 Eastern Time.

Obviously this is a subject that people respond to, because it is talked about so little. I'm hoping to do my bit to change that.

Volunteer Firefighters in Reader's Digest

Turns out one of those stories is online after all.

“Firefighting gets in your blood,” says 37-year-old Lantz deputy chief Tim MacNeil, who has been with the department since age 19. He works two day jobs, including one fighting forest fires. “Everybody’s boyhood dream is to drive that big red truck,” he says. “I’m trained to do it, and I love to do it. If your house is on fire, I want to be there to put the fire out.”

Read the rest of the story here.

2 stories in the October 2008 Reader's Digest

I've got 2 stories in this month's Canadian edition of Reader's Digest. 

That's firefighter Tim Doane, on the cover, whom I interviewed for a story on volunteer firefighters. Also mentioned on the cover is "The Secret Men Won't Admit" -- my piece on men and depression.

Tim Doane and the rest of the volunteer firefighters were great to interview. They are just so into what they do. Doane spent 20 years as a firefighter and firefighting instructor in the military, and did two tours of duty in Afghanistan. After retiring from the military, he became a volunteer firefighter and an instructor at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School. 

After I'd spent some time with the volunteers, they decided I ought to suit up too, so I followed a couple of them into a building where a fire was burning at about 600 Fahrenheit. It took me about 20 minutes to get the gear on. I was in a highly controlled situation, but it made me appreciate how easy it could be to be overcome by panic in a hot, smoky, burning building.

If you'd like to hear more about volunteer firefighters, give a listen to my radio documentary on the challenges facing first responders in one Nova Scotia community. It's called "Where there's smoke, will there be firefighters?" and you can learn more about it and listen to it here.

The depression story has been a long time in the works, and I hope you get a chance to read it (neither piece is online, so you'll have to pick up the magazine). I am deeply appreciative of the willingness of the people I interviewed to share stories about some of the hardest times in their lives. Depression and other mental illnesses seem to be finally coming out of the closet, and that can only be a good thing.

Quirky or cause for concern?

Reader's Digest Canada has just launched Best Health, a smart-looking health mag aimed at women.

I have a small story in the current issue (adapted from a US RD piece). The print edition calls it Just a Quirk, while online edition titles it How Weird Is That?


The story looks at compulsive counting, hair-twirling, clutter, and other common -- but sometimes worrisome -- habits. Give it a read if you want to learn how hair-twirling can help you concentrate, or what the evolutionary benefits of worrying are.

Being in the story

When you're a freelance writer, you don't tend to see your own name in print (unless it's a byline). So I was a bit taken aback to come across this story on Reader's Digest education hero Joe Bishara, in The Yarmouth County Vanguard.

Because I wrote the RD profile of Bishara, I'm there in the lead and at various other spots in the story.

The writer from Readers Digest looked with disbelief at the 60-strong student honour guard in their bright red jackets with Canadian flags fluttering over-head last September. He turned to teacher Joe Bishara.

“This is for one veteran?” asked Philip Moscovitch.

“I told him “Yup - one or a hundred- it doesn’t matter around here,” said Bishara, who spearheaded the Maple Grove Memorial Club close to two decades ago.

The writer of the story never checked with me on what I thought, relying instead on what Bishara says I said. That, and a few factual errors in the piece drove home (once again) the lesson of how important it is to check your sources and make sure your facts are straight.

Although there are mistakes, I have to confess to feeling slightly tickled at seeing myself in the story -- even if I think it's a bit weird.

Joe Bishara: Reader's Digest education hero 2007

My profile of Joe Bishara, selected by Reader's Digest Canada as their education hero for 2007, is online here.

In order to write the article, I spent a day with Joe, and it's hard to imagine a nicer guy. What he says in the story about the kid throwing a poppy in the mud in 1984 resonated with me. I could imagine myself having done that at the kid's age, in that era.

Joe personalizes the struggles kids face and gives them some perspective. And it's truly amazing to see a teacher who seems completely committed and enthusiastic, even after almost 30 years.