Daybreak Alberta

The monthly Alberta Books review on Daybreak has reviewer Angie Abdou reading ahead to let you know about a new book worth your time. Angie is the author of the Canada Reads finalist, "The Bone Cage," as well as the memoir, "Home Ice, Reflections of a Reluctant Hockey Mom." In the spring of 2021, her new book, "This One Wild Life, A Mother-Daughter Wilderness Memoir" will be released. But this week-end, she's her for "When Days Are Long: A Nurse in the North" by Amy Wilson, an account of being a nurse in northern Alberta in the 1950s.

Giller Prize and Leacock Medal winning author, Will Ferguson is back in the shops with a new novel called "The Finder" and in it, the story revolves lost objects - all real and all still waiting to be found. A missing Fabergé egg, the last reel of Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, Buddy Holly’s iconic glasses, and Muhammad Ali’s Olympic gold medal. Where did these objects go? And who will recover them? A figure known as "The Finder" is hot on the trail and tagging behind is Gaddy, an Interpol agent; Thomas Rafferty, a burnt-out travel writer; and Tamsin Greene, a war photographer hiding secrets of her own. In this extended version of the radio chat, Russell and Will also discuss a lost item deleted from the final edit of the book, PLUS, Will reveals a secret presence he has in the home and museum of Stephen Leacock.

News has been coming out of the African nation of Nigeria as protests have consumed the country's largest city, Lagos. Protesters are demanding an end to police brutality, resulting from a crackdown on robbery. Rallies against the hated Special Anti-Robbery Squad have taken place in major cities for the last seven days and Amnesty International has reported that 10 people have been killed so far. On October 17 at Noon, Calgarians will gather at the Peace Bridge to show solidarity with the protesters, with another rally planned for on October 24 on the grounds of the Legislature in Edmonton. Wunmi Idowu is founder & director of Woezo Africa Music & Dance Theatre company and she was born in Nigeria. She spoke with Russell Bowers about the issues in Nigeria.

Lila's little sister is missing and she refuses to stand idle. She's ex-army and a hunter, so finding things is what she does. In a stroke of irony, Lila uses the skills she was given by the Canadian government, she exacts revenge for her sister. Lila's story is brought to life by actor, Cherish Violet Blood in a show called "Deer Woman." Conceived as a play, it has been captured on film by Downstage Theatre who are presenting it through their website until next Sunday, downstage.ca. The playwright of "Deer Woman," Tara Beagan spoke with Russell on Daybreak.

Build a better mousetrap, they say, and the world will beat a path to your door. If it is built, it will likely be designed by an engineering technologist. For example, a team of former engineering students in Lethbridge have just received a provincial award for their design work. The Capstone Project of the Year Award was presented to the former students for their innovation to build an unbreakable lacrosse stick. To find out more about the stick, Russell spoke with one of the students on the project, Nathan McMurray.

October 10 is World Mental Health Day and as Covid-19 and other political and social issues continue to make headlines all over North America, Daybreak has tried to make sense of these things with the help of Dr. Peter Silverstone, who has been a dependable voice on some of the things that consume our thoughts and possibly contribute to poor mental health. Dr. Peter Silverstone is in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta.

Even if you aren't someone who closely follow sports, you likely heard that the National Hockey League set up a bubble in Edmonton this past summer to play out their Stanley Cup Playoffs for 2020. In the case of the broadcast crews at Rogers Place, as well as, the two teams that made it to the Cup Final, hundreds of people were sequestered in downtown Edmonton for over 2 months. One man who knows the strain of playoff hockey has also been very open about his own struggles with mental health on and off the ice and indeed still finds challenges in his current role as a broadcaster. Kelly Hrudey played hockey professionally for nearly 30 years and he's spent nearly 2 decades with Hockey Night in Canada. He also wrote about his struggles as the co- author with Kirstie McLellan-Day of the memoir "Calling the Shots - Ups, Downs and Rebounds – My Life in the Great Game of Hockey". It's available in paperback. Kelly Hrudey spoke with Russell Bowers on the occasion of World Mental Health Day.

Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door and if it is built, it will likely be designed by an engineering technologist. For example, a team of former engineering students in Lethbridge have just received a provincial award for their design work. The Capstone Project of the Year Award was presented to the former students for their innovation of a new lacrosse stick and to find out more, Russell spoke with Nathan McMurray, one of the students on the project.

John Van Sloten is a Calgary pastor who enjoys finding his faith is the most unlikely of places. He's written about it a variety of books about science, worklife and even Metallica. In a recent sermon for his Marda Loop Church, Van Sloten spoke about Lego, inspired by watching his grand-daughter play with the ubiquitous building bricks and having her own "Eureka" moment. John Van Sloten spoke with Russell Bowers to expand on what he found when he issued his own Theology of Lego Challenge."

It may seem like everyone is in a cranky mood these days. It may be politics or the economy, mask-wearing or social restrictions. It might snow soon, and some think Halloween might be cancelled. Dr. Peter Silverstone has been a visitor on Daybreak this past summer to discuss issues around mental health. He is in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta.