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'A beautiful position'

MICHAEL POSNER

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 12:30 PM EDT 20/06/08

There were 300 graduates that year at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg — the first boomers to head out into the world, a prosperous, optimistic age. Now, they're about to turn 60. How did their lives turn out? Have they maintained their high ideals? Michael Posner seeks out his old classmates to learn what they made of their starting point. ...Read the full article

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  1. alex loss from Canada writes: While we were young we could differentiate ourselves from our parents.We had many choices. More sex, gay sex, work- Idon't know, but now it is back to basics, failling bodies, being replaced by young ignoramouses, friends dying and our own end not too far off. Plus que ca change plus que ce la meme chose. At least we have the satisfaction that progress aint all that it seems to be and our personal failures are part of a larger picture. Depressing- maybe not.
  2. Geoff Taylor from Winnipeg, Canada writes: Attention: Mike Posner,

    I was a year behind you at Kevin but played the cop in “Arsenic and Old Lace” with you guys.
    My sister Sally was your year and I have forwarded the article to her. She now lives in Thunder Bay and sees Kevin Lusk occasionally. Great article!
    We all went through life with a security of education and a confidence that allowed our pursuit of the more esoteric values in life. We probably all asked that mid life redirecting question; “Is this I want to do for the rest of my life?” My mid life course deviation, took me from successful “Vice President and Executive Director of Research and Development” of the largest turbine engine overhaul company in the world in LA to making medical do dads for people like Bill Merritt back in Winnipeg. Looking back, the warm fuzzies from helping people is far more treasured than all the gold in the world.
    Thanks
  3. John Claremont from Terrace, Canada writes: Interesting article. Why did you only visit the 24 successful or well known ones. What about those that went on to become no bodies. How many are dead? And what on earth makes you think that the curtural change through Liberal immigration polices has enriched Canadian culture.
  4. Brian King from Sydney. New South Wales, Australia writes: I was Class of '65 @ Sir Winston Churchill High in Montreal and Michael, your article left me breathless. It was an elegy for our generation and, reading it, brought into sharp focus how much my life (and, I'm certain, that of most other 'Churchillians') paralleled those of you and your classmates who grew up 1/2 a continent away. As an expat Canadian, I can identify with virtually everything you wrote about, with the added memory of the FLQ crisis in Quebec and the tanks rolling down Dorchester Boulevard (now, regrettably, renamed after the man who tried to dismember our nation). Interestingly, even though I moved to Australia 25 years ago following the attainment of 2 university degrees, I still identify myself more with my high school class and generation than I do with my years at the Universities of Michigan and Alberta. The one thing I can say as an expat who moved, literally, to the other side of the world, is that the longer I stay away, the more I miss my beloved Canada and the more I yearn to come home. I will be back in 3 weeks time for a 3 week visit with an Aussie fiancée who's never seen snow and I intend to return permanently to retire in 5 - 7 years to Vancouver Island as, after 25 years in the Aussie climate, I don't think I could ever handle a Montreal or Edmonton winter again. Parting thought? We (Canadians) have more in common with Aussies on the other side of the world than we do with the Yanks on the other side of the border. The subtle ties that bind - Queen and Commonwealth, Parliaments, tolerance and culture are far greater than the 'undefended' (yeah, right) shared border.
  5. sandee campbell from Winnipeg, Canada writes: I found the article interesting as I graduated in 1969 from Grant Park High School, the "rival" high school in River Heights, Winnipeg. I suspect that if I interviewed graduates from my graduating class there would find similar findings. I wonder what the 2006 graduates will recount as their stories when interviewed in 2043? I plan to be here to learn about that!! Sandee Campbell
  6. Bill Alsip from Prince George, Canada writes: I found this a great article and was sorry I missed out as I attended Kelvin and graduated in 1965. I remember the great teachers of Kelvin most of all - especially Clarence Kerr ( alias "chrome dome") who was able to teach me enough math to get through electrical engineering afterwards. I am sure Mr. Kerr (to us students) was teaching into his seventies and I bet few classmates realize how much money he gave to his less fortunate students to attend university. I used to see them visiting his house right across fom our house on McMillan Ave. I can remember Neil Young being very entertained by the Math classes and how the kids in the front got "picked on" while we sat near the back out of harms way.
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