Twenty years ago, readers turned to a brand-new page in The Globe and Mail. It was Facts & Arguments, and every weekday for the past 20 years, some 1,000 words at a time, readers have been telling their most personal, surprising, thought-provoking, heartbreaking and hilarious stories on the back page. This week, as we celebrate two decades of F&A, we've received great feedback from readers on the page's lasting appeal and impact, including the following letter from the illustrator of the art that appeared on the very first Facts & Arguments page.
The story behind the image
Telling Your Tales, by Philip Jackman, has a gaping hole in his story of the birth of the F&A page. Okay, maybe not gaping, but at least 7 inches wide by a little over 6 inches deep. An integral part of the story and I would think also of the success of the page is the illustrations - the pictures that were commissioned to give visual life to the words. ... The 20-year history of the F&A page includes a list of illustrators that continue to change our visual landscape.
I make pictures for a living and teach other people to make pictures as well. Those of us who are commissioned to collaborate with writers and journalists don't see our work as page candy or wallpaper. We interpret words into pictures that are meant to expand the idea or story of the words and not act as a Coles Notes summary. What is meant and what is published sometimes is not the same. I illustrated the first Facts & Arguments page and I know this image was not the best of the sketches I submitted, but it was the first published. This morning as I gathered up my real newsprint paper from the porch and saw the headline of the 20th anniversary of F&A, I remembered another morning 20 years ago, a much younger version of myself dropping coins into the Globe and Mail box on the corner and turning to a picture on a page that was the start of something new.
- Joe Morse is co-ordinator of the BAA illustration program at Sheridan Institute in Oakville. His clients include Nike, Universal Pictures, Coca-Cola and Target, and his artwork has graced the pages of major magazines and newspapers including Rolling Stone, The Times of London, Fortune, GQ, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
Readers' favourites
Many readers told us about the essays they still remember fondly and reread from time to time, and about how Facts & Arguments reflects their lives - or gives them a new perspective to think about.
alligator wrote: My favourite Facts & Arguments essay is Mothering here in the land of plenty by Maya Adam. It was published just before my daughter was born and it still resonates with me almost four years later. For the longest time I kept it on my fridge. It is the story of how a visit to Africa with her 18-month-old to work at an AIDS clinic gave the author a healthy dose of perspective from our Western tendency to anxiously analyze and scrutinize ours and others' parenting decisions. It is easy to forget how lucky we are to be living in a place and time where we don't have to worry about having food to eat or clothes to wear or a place to sleep. I have saved that article and shared it with many new moms and moms-to-be as a reminder to appreciate the choices that we have, rather than judge our differences.
FabFour wrote: One of my very favourite Facts & Arguments essays (so many to choose from) is Reverse milestones written by Sherry Hinman. This one is not to be missed! What a mother ... what a son! Congrats to 20 great years.
Writer wrote: I love being invited into the extra/ordinary lives of everyday people across Canada. I am gifted with glimpses of experiences I am likely never to have. Most of the essays I have read in F&A over the past 20 years have not only been wonderful pieces of writing and stories that touched me, but also ones that gave me pause to consider a different perspective. I remember one, from New Brunswick, about being on the picket line. I, too, cut and saved many. I, too, agree that I liked them best on the back page of section 1. I, too, reread them at times. Even the comments invite me to be part of a larger whole. Thanks and don't stop publishing F&A.
AmyFKane wrote: Happy Anniversary F&A! There have been so many essays through the years that I have found interesting, enlightening, touching and/or funny. One that really sticks in my mind was written by a father who was thrown for a loop when his little girl decided to name her imaginary friend "Satan." It was very charming. I hope that one day there will be a Facts & Arguments compilation book, and I hope that this story will be included.
Happy in Winnipeg wrote: My favorite Facts and Arguments essay is Mourning our two Daniels. The story was published on Sept. 9, 2009, the day after our son's birthday. He would have been 27, but like Daniel, our son died by suicide. The writer told our story in a way that I never would be able to. Their pain is our pain, their anguish is our anguish, their sorrow is our sorrow. A well-written essay should connect you to the writer, and in this instance, she wrote for me. I am very glad there is a venue like Facts & Arguments. Thank you.
BJ1967 wrote: My favourite and most memorable essay is And they call it bungalow love, written by Bill Bunn in 2002. Like Bill's family, there are five of us living in our 1950s bungalow. As I read his description I feel like I'm walking through my own home with its lack of storage, three small bedrooms, one small bathroom and the feeling of living in each other's face. But, to quote from his essay, my family's bungalow "builds close, intimate relationships" and "frames us with its own idea of family and simplicity." Just like Bill's.
Anne Taylor-Vaisey wrote: Love bound with culture, by Chris Taylor, published January 23, 2008. This is a poignant story of a Canadian-born man getting to know his Haitian-born wife through a visit to her village in Haiti. It is a love story. I reread it after the earthquake and it was even more poignant. The author concluded: "The demanding mistress that is Haiti had brought me in, sized me up and made her ruling. It was this: While I'll always remain something of an outsider, a white Canadian linked to an essentially unknowable land, I've brought my wife and her beloved country into my dreams and my blood and my bones. What other definition of love is there?"
Being published
One reader wrote about the experience of writing and have a piece published in Facts & Arguments.
Not politically correct wrote: From the perspective of someone who was published in F&A (in the early days - 1993), I found the process of writing and sharing my story a helpful and useful exercise. Some say transparency is the fuel for personal growth. F&A gave me an outlet for talking about issues and amusing anecdotes of how stuttering impacts people's lives, with my personal story as the central theme. For a stutterer, writing provides expression that is unencumbered by physical limits. This sanctuary has been further enhanced with timely exchange of ideas facilitated with an online platform, unavailable at the time of my original writing but obviously quite prevalent now. While the concept of the F&A column is especially relevant for those whose in-person communication capabilities are restricted, what makes this column impactful is that the same issues are important for all people and hence F&A has a strong, wide-ranging appeal. This is confirmed by the column's longevity and the conviction of those who provide comments to this section of the paper.