HERMAN GOODDEN
  • BLOG
  • Home
  • BOOKS
  • PLAYS
  • FEATURES
  • JOURNALISM
    • COLUMNS
    • INTERVIEWS
  • COMMERCE

Adventures in the Wilds of East London

24/2/2020

3 Comments

 
PictureHerman and Myrtle at 728 Dundas St. in the blizzard of ‘77
LONDON, ONTARIO – There was a glowingly optimistic feature in last Saturday’s Free Press about the promise of revitalization and an economic turnaround for East London that might be spurred by the overhaul of the gargantuan old Kellogg’s cereal factory as a mixed-use space that will eventually house a relocated Children’s Museum and Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, a distillery, a brewery, some kind of simulated golf course, a hotel, a market and food hall, and more executive offices than you can shake a stick at. Well, I don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade here but I’ll believe it when I see it. It could, of course, be that I’m old and out of touch and worn down to a cynical nub by the regularly repeated experiences of my lifetime when one over-hyped new elixir after another has failed to effect the promised transformation of London’s east end.


Read More
3 Comments

Larry Henderson – My Other Old Man

17/2/2020

2 Comments

 
PictureLarry Henderson (1917-2006)
LONDON, ONTARIO – When Larry Henderson died thirteen years ago this fall, obituaries printed in newspapers from coast to coast and short clips tucked into the later portion of all the national TV news reports, focused primarily on Larry as the first full time national news anchor on CBC TV from 1954-59. During this pioneering period in electronic journalism, the CBC was the only national broadcaster around and for the better part of that decade, Larry’s was the best known face in a country full of TV sets that mostly pulled in just the one station.


Read More
2 Comments

The Litigious Distemper of Our Times

10/2/2020

1 Comment

 
PictureVerna Goodden (1920–2009) in her bike-riding prime
LONDON, ONTARIO – This week I set before you a series of snapshots which I believe are not unrelated, outlining the gradual fraying of our social fabric. Let's start with the very earliest of them all; recounting a hot afternoon in my 13th year when I was taking temporary leave from my most constant companion that summer to go home for supper.

We had decided to run an experiment. My friend stood on the sidewalk in front of his house on the south side of Baseline Road as I walked backwards up the very long block to Wortley Road, and every ten feet or so I would call out “goodbye” and if he could still hear me, then he’d wave his arms and holler back. We were testing to see whether we would first move beyond one another’s range of sight or sound.


Read More
1 Comment

My Road to Rome

3/2/2020

4 Comments

 
Picture
LONDON, ONTARIO – This Easter will mark the thirty-sixth anniversary of my conversion, baptism and confirmation into full membership in the Roman Catholic Church. Getting out my handy actuarial table I see that I have now spent the better part of my life as a Catholic. In one way, that feels about right. I know that this is the Church where I belong and I have felt that way from the moment Bishop Sherlock baptised me and anointed me with holy oils at the great Easter Vigil at St. Peter’s Cathedral on April 22, 1984. Yet in other ways – thirty-six years into this glorious game – I still feel like a callow newbie, hopelessly out of my depth in the company of those lifelong Catholics who live the life of the faith at its fullest.


Read More
4 Comments
    HERMANEUTICS
    If you would like to contribute to the ongoing operations of Hermaneutics, there are now a few options available.
    support
    Picture

    THE AQUINAS LECTURE
    G.K. CHESTERTON AND THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE
    HEAR THE LECTURE ON G.K. CHESTERTON

    ALL LIFE IS A GIFT :

    THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITION :

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

    Categories

    All
    Book Reviews

    RSS Feed

© 1975 - 2023 HERMAN GOODDEN  All Rights Reserved
  • BLOG
  • Home
  • BOOKS
  • PLAYS
  • FEATURES
  • JOURNALISM
    • COLUMNS
    • INTERVIEWS
  • COMMERCE