Eye on the Prize

Eye on the Prize

On a glorious summer’s day, my quintessential London isn’t the tawdry brazenness of Piccadilly, nor the arch-celebration-of-invincibility, Trafalgar Square. It lies in the environs of Green Park tube station. Across the broad boulevard of Piccadilly, overburdened with...
Last Train to Santa Margherita Ligure

Last Train to Santa Margherita Ligure

Lou’s best friend once told him “You’re lucky your father was born before you.” Over decades, his family had accumulated a number of rinky-dink 12-suiters across Calgary. In his mid-twenties, with no ambition, Lou became a caretaker of one of those buildings. Lou...
At the End o’ Me Tether

At the End o’ Me Tether

Lulu was Flo’s mum. Flo was my English foster mum. Attending North Town Primary School—a fifteen-minute walk from home—I dropped in every Friday afternoon, to visit Lulu from the age of five to eleven. “Tell Flo I’m at the end o’ me tether.” She would say this every...
Facing Down the Tiger

Facing Down the Tiger

Perhaps it wasn’t my home, but Hong Kong sure felt like it. From the age of twelve, I was showered with free airline tickets by my father, an employee of East African Airways. Although rich in tickets, we were poor financially. This meant sleeping on airport floors...

Bridge Over Troubled Water

After emigrating to Canada forty-three years ago and being away from my Muslim community ever since, I received a call from them. ”We are trying to bridge the gap between our business community and that of Calgary’s. Would you be interested in joining our committee?”...

Nations Apart

“Pops, can we go visit Italy this summer? I have a social studies course on it next September.” How could I refuse? “Lex, if you want to understand a country better, you should compare it to another completely different in character. How about if we start in...