In the Okanagan College News and Events, this bit of news:

The George Ryga Centre, BC Bookworld, CBC Radio (Kelowna), Okanagan College and Okanagan College’s Department of English are pleased to announce the preliminary shortlist of ten books nominated for this year’s Third Annual George Ryga Award.

"Regional writers, scholars and activists will collapse this preliminary field to a final shortlist of three books that will be announced mid-June. Tune in to CBC Kelowna to hear “readings” from the “three short-listed books”. This year’s judge, author Myrna Kostash, will deliberate on the short-listed titles and the winner will be announced in early July."

The list:

First Nations Sacred Sites, Michael Lee Ross;

CareFair, Paul Kershaw;

Protecting Aboriginal Children, Christopher Walmsley;
 
Song of the Azalea, Kenneth Ore (with Joann Yu); <<<<<

Stanley Park’s Secret, Jean Barman;
 
In Plain Sight, Leslie Robertson & Dana Culhane;

John Muir: West Coast Pioneer, Daryl Ashbury;
 
Salmon Wars, Dennis Brown;

Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, Barbara Nickel;

Vanishing British Columbia, Michael Kluckner.

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Reviewed by Carlton Miller from Penguin Canada’s website:

I walked away from reading this book feeling very moved not only by the atrocities that were committed in the name of communism but also by the writer’s undying spirit to continue to pursue his belief in the communist idea in the face of all these atrocities. If you really want to learn about communism from a grassroots level without all the fluff, this book is for you! Wonderful! "

Thanks!

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The writer of this review has granted permission to quote from her e-mail message.
Sender:  Michelle Lambert
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Dear Kenneth,

I was moved to tears reading your story. It made me imagine the millions of untold biographies that were buried by the Chinese communist regime; the countless broken lives and shattered dreams. Your story is very beautiful, very tragic and really must be told to a wider audience. Shortly after reading your book, I was struck with the idea that your story could be transformed into a dramatic performance, yes ~ a ballet. That would not only tell your incomparable story, but also educate the world about the atrocities of Chairman Mao.

Who better than you, a Chinese ballerina, former underground communist recruiter and now a writer to compose a ballet of the story of your life; to take your very human story set against the catastrophe of the great Chinese Communist Regime. I can see scenes of your Mother going against all odds to assure the survival of her children and at the same time the sea of human bodies suffering starvation and grinding poverty to the background music of Mao’s songs of revolution. Like all great stories, yours has a tangible, human focal point – your life. The life of an ideal, passionate youth whose love of his country’s people was exploited to the extreme; a cog in the wheel of one of the largest empires in world history, and one of least documented for world history, and certainly the least known in terms of personal accounts.

When I recently saw one of Chairman Mao’s own propaganda portraits grace the cover of “Time” magazine, I realized how little the average westerner knows or understands about Chinese history. Which is another reason your story would be so appealing as a dramatic performance. A theatrical expression, be it ballet, theatre, opera or film are the best mediums for telling a story to the world; to educate by means of an art form, the history of a people through the life of an individual. Your love of ballet and western literature is an excellent common ground for bonding the cultural gap and enlightening the West and indeed the world through dramatic performance of one the most momentous epics of human history.

Thank you for bringing your life to the common man by putting a human face to the best kept secret of modern world empires. The love of your Mother is deeply felt and communicated in your book. Be at peace that you have beautifully immortalized your Mother and your love for her to the world.

Sincerely,
Michelle Lambert

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A Bird’s Eye Look at Communist China, June 18, 2005

This book is an amazing look at Communist China through one man’s eyes.
The captivating story of this country and its struggles starts with his
hopes and dreams as a young man but as the years go by his personal
experiences depict how little benefit was gained.

The
author’s experiences are revealed a chapter at a time and explore his
family’s background, the ravages of war, families torn apart and/or
devastated, and finally how the upper echelon looked after itself
regardless of the idealism it espouses.

This book is a must read and provides life lessons for all of us to draw from. Well written!

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