Journalist Steve Paikin attends Lakefield Literary Festival fundraiser
Annual event runs from July 19 to 20 at Lakefield College School
Lakefield Literary Festival chair, and moderator, John Boyko chatted with Steve Paikin of TVOs “The Agenda” at Lakefield College School’s Bryan Jones Theatre on Friday night.
The festival fundraiser included a conversation on the current state of political leadership related to Paikin’s critically acclaimed biography of former prime minister John Turner “John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada’s 17th Prime Minister.”
In this biography, Paikin brings to life Turner (1929-2020), one of the most glamorous and successful politicians in Canadian history. Born in England, raised in B.C., Turner was a champion sprinter and a Rhodes scholar who captured the national imagination as escort for Princess Margaret on her 1959 Canadian tour.
Elected to Parliament in 1962, he served in former prime minister Lester Pearson’s cabinet and as Pierre Trudeau’s attorney general, minister of justice, and finance minister.
In 1984, he won a hotly-contested Liberal leadership contest and served a brief four months as Canada’s 17th prime minister before falling to Brian Mulroney in a Progressive Conservative landslide.
In this book, Paikin draws on unprecedented access to Turner’s personal and public papers to show how he struggled to meet the towering expectations that came with his abundant gifts and keep his faith in Canadian democracy despite the challenges of his own career.
Author readings and conversations are presented every July during the Lakefield Literary Festival at Lakefield College School’s Bryan Jones Theatre, while children’s authors entertain in the Children’s Tent downtown at Cenotaph Park.
An afternoon reception offers authors, patrons and volunteers a chance to mingle, and secondary school student writers who entered their fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry come together to celebrate the results of our annual Young Writers Contest.
This year’s festival runs July 19 to 20 at Lakefield College School and Cenotaph Park.
This year’s program will feature:
Friday July 19 at 7 p.m.: Michael Crummey and filmmaker Christian Sparkes
Saturday, July 20 at 10 a.m., Children’s Tent at Cenotaph Park: Casey Lyall and Kevin Sylvester
Saturday, July 20 at 2 p.m.: Drew Hayden Taylor and Elizabeth Renzetti and Kate Hilton
Saturday, July 20 at 4:30 p.m.: Meet the Author Reception
Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m.: Charlotte Gray and Tim CookMore details about the authors, their books and tickets will be released next month.
The festival is a federally incorporated non-profit and is overseen by a volunteer board. It has no staff.
While authors and patrons come from across Canada, the festival remains a grassroots organization, supported by individual and business sponsors and run by dedicated volunteers.