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  • In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven

    For almost five decades, Sue and Jim Waddington have searched for places that inspired the Group of Seven painters and Tom Thomson. They especially enjoy locating sites that can only be reached by canoe and foot. Their lecture will compare photographs of some of the 800 painting sites they have found with the corresponding artwork. They will discuss how they find the painting sites and what they have learned about the painters and their art. Since the artists did not keep detailed records of where they worked, each picture represents a puzzle to be solved. For each of the about 800 places located, Sue and Jim photographed the scene and compared it with the artists’ impression. In their talk, Sue and Jim will show their photographs alongside art from Killarney, Algonquin, Neys, Lake Superior and Bon Echo Provincial Parks, the Georgian Bay Islands, Nova Scotia, BC, the Yukon and Nunavut.

    BIOGRAPHY

    Sue Waddington is a retired nurse. She is also an artist – a traditional rug hooker. Her rug hooking designs have won awards in the Burlington Art Centre and the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild. In 1977, she made a rug hooking adapted from A.Y. Jackson’s painting “Hills, Killarney, Ontario (Nellie Lake)” and later that year Sue and Jim paddled to Nellie Lake where they were surprised that they could locate the exact spot where Jackson had sat when he did the painting. After this initial success, they continued searching for other painting locations. Jim Waddington is a retired physics professor from McMaster University who likes maps and the sport of orienteering. He was awarded the McMaster University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Unlike Sue, he has no artistic talent at a

  • An Unorthodox Journey to the Published Land

    Cameron Hall 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto

    The conventional road to publishing entails writing a book, finding an agent, and then landing a publisher. Easier said than done. Terry Fallis – not by choice – adopted a different approach. His unorthodox but charmed journey to the published land is funny, enlightening, and hopeful to those harbouring the desire to write a book. From the bleak and discouraging early days when no publisher would even send him an automated rejection letter, to winning a major literary prize, signing with Penguin Random House/McClellend & Stewart, and living his dream. Now, nearly twenty years later, with nine national bestsellers, multiple awards, a TV miniseries, a stage musical, and over 1,100 book talks under his belt, Terry shares his literary origin story with humour, heart, insight, and a love for the writing life.

    BIOGRAPHY
    A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis is the award-winning author of ten national bestsellers – six of them #1 bestsellers – all published by McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House, including his latest novel, The Marionette. His debut novel, The Best Laid Plans, won the 2008 Leacock Medal, the 2011 edition of CBC Canada Reads, and was adapted as a six-part television miniseries, as well as a stage musical. He won the Leacock Medal a second time in 2015 for No Relation. His eleventh novel, An End in Itself, will be released in November 2026. Terry has written for Maclean’s, Canadian Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Leaside Life, Toronto Life, The Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Toronto Star. He also teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.