Join us to welco me Nancy Silcox as she discusses her new book\, Keep In Touch: The Serendipitous Life of Canadi an Arts Icon David Silcox. \;
\nPresented in partnershi p with Words Worth Books.
\nThe life of David Silcox was indeed a serendipitous one: born in the Du st Bowl of the Great Depression\, he was later selected as one of the Cana dian Boy Scouts to attend Queen Elizabeth&rsquo\;s Coronation. He attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto\, there becoming friends wi th future best-selling Canadian author Margaret Atwood and Governor Genera l Adrienne Clarkson. After Art studies in England\, he returned to Canada to become the Canada Council&rsquo\;s first Arts Officer\, charged with tr avelling the country assisting to fund Canadian art galleries and artists. From there he became Toronto&rsquo\;s Arts &ldquo\;Czar\,&rdquo\; develop ing ballet\, film\, music and art galleries in the city.
\nAppointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture for Canada (under Pierre Trudeau)\, developing the Canadian film industry was his main task\; moving on to bec ome Deputy Minister of Culture at Queen&rsquo\;s Park\, he focused on deve loping visual art\, artists\, opera and live theatre across the province. Becoming President of Sotheby&rsquo\;s Canada\, he was instrumental in ret urning lost masterpieces of the Group of Seven\, Emily Carr and other Cana dian visual arts pioneers. All work and no play would have made David Silc ox a dull boy. He was an avid Arctic adventurer and canoeist\, alongside h is friend Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and other government faces.
\n< p>A writer \;superbe\, \;David authored The Silence a nd The Storm: Tom Thomson\, The Life and Work of David B. Milne \;and Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. \;He passed away in Toronto in February 2023. Nancy is David's sister-in-law.\nNancy is a former secondary school teacher w ith the Waterloo Public Board of Education\, and then Counsellor at both U W and WLU. She began writing as a columnist on education for the Waterloo Region Record and\, later\, Grand Magazine. Nancy's focus is biography. Sh e has written a number of personal biographies for individuals across Onta rio as well as published biographies of: midwife Elsie Cressman\; writer E dna Staebler\; world renowned opera singer Paul Frey\; and Dr. Vera Good\, the first children&rsquo\;s producer at TVO and from whose fertile brain sprang the popular television series The Polka Dot Door and its mascot\, & ldquo\;Polkaroo.&rdquo\; Nancy's writing also \;features animals&mdash \;primarily household pets. Three such books have sold many copies with al l proceeds going to Animal Rescue Agencies across Canada. Nancy is current ly working on The Cat Did it: Tales from Marvellous and Magnificent Ca nadian Cats\, featuring 40 notable Canadian felines\, including \ ;Canada&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;First Cat\,&rdquo\; Nico Carney. \;
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\nProgrammer: Nancy
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