Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson's memoir Heart Matters is released this week in paperback. Molière's Dying to be Sick, which she co-translated with John Van Burek, runs till Nov. 4 at the Theatre Centre in Toronto and Nov. 14 to Dec. 1 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
You've had many jobs that required you to travel - as a journalist, as governor general. Do you have any idea how many countries you have visited?
No, it's been a lot, but I've never really counted. I know that as governor general I travelled between 150,000 and 200,000 kilometres a year in Canada. And that was because we visited 80 to 90 different communities and we went for long times. We were only in Ottawa about 35 per cent of the time. Sixty-five per cent of the time we were away.
Can you tell us about one of your favourite places or a place that was very different than what you expected?
We had a wonderful trip to Bhutan. It was a magical and extraordinary place - it's like Shangri-La. The people are a most intelligent people and they understand what real happiness means because they are very profound Buddhists. Their judging of things on a gross national happiness scale is one of the wisest and most beautiful things in the world. And they are the most forward-looking country, an extraordinary country. That was in 2003.
You made quite a few trips to Northern Canada. What do you remember most?
We went to 39 different communities north of 60 and loved them. They are different depending on whether they're in the western or eastern Arctic. The way of life is fascinating, and the Inuit are extraordinary, incredible, enduring people with wonderful spatial, visual sense.
Any place you haven't been but would like to go?
I don't dream of places like Tahiti. I like going to places that are interesting, like Italy. You could spend your entire life only going to Italy if you're interested in art and music the way I am. Between Italy and Germany and Austria, you could pretty much be satisfied. I had a dream fulfilled a couple of years ago when I went to Bayreuth [Germany for the Wagner festival]. It was wonderful, and I'd like to go back someday.
Do you remember anything about the trip your family took when you left Hong Kong in 1942?
I remember seeing the spouting of a whale. Being small and seeing between people's legs and being told "there's a whale, there's a whale!"
Have you had any problems with security?
No, I haven't. I don't mind security at all. I wear a pacemaker so I don't go through the regular security arch because the pacemaker would set it off. So when I get there I show a card that is given by the [pacemaker] company and it can be shown anywhere in the world. So instead you go into a room and it's a very standard kind of patting down.
Any scary flying experiences?
I once remember flying in a plane from Ottawa and we were in a thunderstorm and we tried to land and we couldn't and we were just a few feet from the ground when we started to go up again. I've been told by people who know about airplanes and about flying that this is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to you.
For more information about Dying to be Sick or to purchase tickets, call 416-872-1212 or visit http://www.pleiadestheatre.org.
