My first memory of being bullied goes back to Grade 3. The exact details are blurred beyond recall – or perhaps purged; our bodies do much self-healing without our being at all aware of the process. All that is left of that early experience is an image of me in the middle of a class of 8-year-olds, fearful and in tears. What came before and what came after, I do not recall.

Nick Fonda's most recent book is PRINCIPALS AND OTHER SCHOOLYARD BULLIES published by Baraka Books. He taught school in Quebec and the UK.

The next year we moved to another city and I attended a different school. What did I do differently? I don’t remember, but I got through the rest of my schooling without being seriously victimized again, even though there were bullies around. I learned to be careful about people and places; I didn’t dare go into the boys’ washroom in my high school until I was in Grade 11, by which time the 20-year-old toughs in Tech Voc were a little less intimidating and I felt it was almost safe to stand for a minute at the urinal with my back turned. Bullying wasn’t newsworthy in those days, but it was very much a fact of life just the same.

I became a teacher and remained one for a long time. I had occasion to break up the occasional fight, and I know that at least a few times I was being used as a human shield by some students for whom getting from one classroom to another was a perilous journey. I have no doubt that I witnessed only a fraction of what was going on.

Only in the latter stages of my unexpectedly long career did I have parents approaching me with requests to intervene on behalf of a child who was being bullied, or to protect a child from the physical or psychological attacks of aggressive classmates. Sometimes I was able to help a little, but there were also times when I was of very little help, and on at least one occasion I probably made the situation worse.

Read the first chapter for free here!

Visit facebook.com/ihatehockey for reviews, contests, and more!

“I hate hockey!” is the first and last sentence in this novel that offers a great take on our love-hate relationship with hockey. Narrator Antoine Vachon blames the game for killing his marriage with his beautiful ex-wife (well, that and the power outage that brought her home unexpectedly to find him in bed with her intern). But hockey is a pretext for unlikely adventure in this sardonic roman noir that at times flirts with the outrageous.

104 pp Trade paper $14.95 978-1-926824-13-0

Antoine is a total loser living in a pitiful bachelor apartment after he has lost his wife and his job as a car salesman. When his son’s hockey coach is found dead, he is browbeaten into coaching the team for one night only. He makes it through the game (to great comic effect), but things take a turn for the worse when the team bus stops at a motel after the game. Who killed the former coach and why? Was Antoine’s son involved? Or his ex-wife? The late coach was close to his players, perhaps too close… And why is Antoine unable to communicate with his son? François Barcelo’s humour and brilliant story telling is finally available in English. I Hate Hockey reads quickly, but is meticulously  stitched together. Though subtle signposts are present throughout, every development comes as a total surprise.

Now available in Canada

Available in the United States:  February 2012

Reviews/Praise

“A brisk and often disturbing piece of fiction (…) I Hate Hockey…. is the literary equivalent of a sudden-death shootout – tense, unpredictable, and over before you know it. (….) Readers are kept guessing until the end, but Barcelo plays fair and none will feel cheated when the final secrets are revealed…. only the most puritan of readers won’t crack a smile at some of the Vachon’s more outrageous observations. The book is genuinely funny. (…) I Hate Hockey remains a fast-paced and entertaining read that delivers a satisfying conclusion that will keep readers thinking even after the final page is turned.”  Brent Lemon, The Hockey Writers, www.thehockeywriters.com

“A sad and bleak book, riddled with humour both broad and pointed. I found it to be a true satire (vicious at times, as satire must be) of life in contemporary Québec. The picture is that of a profoundly dislocated society that implicitly offers little more than hockey, sexual molestation, social and political desolation, and suicide to its young people. A bitter and courageous book.” Fred A. Reed, writer, international journalist, and award-winning literary translator

“I couldn’t put it down… This was good writing and a riveting story.” Marie White, Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph

“An interesting read… I Hate Hockey twists and turns in all sorts of different directions.” Hockey Blog in Canada

“An excellent short thriller set in sombre surroundings, that also gets you laughing… darkly.” Jessica Émond-Ferrat

“It is about the dark side of teenagers, and how hard it is for a father to find his place in his son’s world. The style is tragic yet comical and you don’t know how it will finish until the very end.” Laetitia Le Cloch.

François Barcelo is author of more than forty novels for adults and younger readers. A past winner of the Governor General’s Award, he was the first Quebecer published in Gallimard’s prestigious Série Noire collection. His novel Cadavres was made into a movie in 2008. I Hate Hockey is his first novel in English.

Peter McCambridge is a professional translator and a serious hockey fan based in Quebec City. He has an MA in Modern Languages from Cambridge University. His MA thesis is on the Montreal Canadiens and popular culture in Quebec.

Orders Canada: LitDistCo 1-800-591-6250 orders@litdistco.ca

Orders United States (February 2012): Independent Publishers Group 800-888-4741; fax: 312-337-5985 orders@ipgbook.com

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the National Translation Program for Book Publishing for our translation activities.

286 pp, trade paper, $29.95, 9781926824116

Wilhelm Weike, a 23-year old handyman from Minden/Germany, accidentally found himself spending the year of 1883-84 among Inuit and wintering with whalers on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. The fledgling scientist Franz Boas (1858-1942), later the eminent cultural anthropologist, hired Weike to attend to and assist him in his geographical and ethnological research following the first Polar Year of 1882-83. Weike’s journal is a fascinating text and an exceptional piece of working-class literature.

Ludger Müller-Wille and Bernd Gieseking have edited and annotated Weike’s journal extensively. They present his biography and highlight his observations and his contributions to Boas’s scientific work.

William Barr of the Arctic Institute of North America (University of Calgary) translated this book from the German.

Praise/Reviews

“Weike’s journal and letters do not stand alone. Introductory material and extensive background on both Boas and Weike and on the Arctic during the period add to and amplify the first-person account. Inuit and Whalers on Baffin Island through German Eyes greatly enriches our picture of the intermingling of indigenous and European cultures in the late nineteenth-century Arctic.” Pamela Grath, Foreword Reviews Nov. 18, 2011

“This beautifully edited journal by Wilhelm Weike not only complements that of the great Franz Boas, it is an invaluable historical source on intercultural relations between Inuit, over-wintering whalers, and their German observers.” — Yvon Csonka, anthropologist, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

“This text gives an intriguing glimpse into a young European man’s life among the Inuit. Weike’s journal is a unique contribution to the history of culture contact as an integral part of social sciences.” — Susanne Dybbroe, anthropologist, Aarhus University, Denmark

“With this book Wilhelm Weike takes his rightful place alongside Franz Boas as an astute observer of Inuit life. His narrative places a common man’s perspective on the events of a single year that shaped Boas’s career, and helps us in contextualizing the work of the scientist.” — Kenn Harper, historian / entrepreneur, Iqaluit (Baffin Island), Nunavut, Canada

“Reading Wilhelm Weike’s journal allows us to imagine how much the master-servant bond shaped Franz Boas’ relationship with the Inuit and the strong dependence on his servant.” — Jens Dahl, anthropologist, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Ludger Müller-Wille taught geography at McGill University and studied human conditions in Finland’s and Canada’s North; he previously published Franz Boas’s arctic journals. He lives in Montreal.

Bernd Gieseking, comedian and writer, hails, like Weike and Boas, from Minden, Germany. His dramatization of Weike’s and Boas’s arctic sojourn, The Colour of Water, premiered in 2010. He lives in Germany.

William Barr (Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary) has translated books from French, German, and Russian on the Arctic and Antarctic, including the journals of Franz Boas.

Distribution in Canada: LitDistCo 1-800-591-6250 orders@litdistco.ca

Distribution in the USA: Independent Publishers Group (IPG)
Tel.: 1-800-888-4741 | Fax: 312-337-5985   orders@ipgbook.com

The eight titles are:

A People’s History of Quebec by Jacques Lacoursière and Robin Philpot Buy Ebook

Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media, The Return of the Nigger Breakers by Ishmael Reed Buy Ebook

An Independent Quebec, The Past, the Present and the Future by Jacques Parizeau Buy Ebook

Break Away, Jessie on My Mind by Sylvain Hotte (Translated by Casey Roberts) – Winner of the John Glassco Prize awarded by the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada Buy Ebook

Roads to Richmond, Portraits of Quebec’s Eastern Townships by Nick Fonda Buy Ebook

Discrimination in the NHL, Quebec Hockey Players Sidelined by Bob Sirois Buy Ebook

You could lose an eye, My first 80 years in Montreal by David Reich Buy Ebook

The Riot that Nevers Was, The military shooting of three Montrealers in 1832 and the official cover-up by James Jackson. Buy Ebook

Baraka Books is grateful for the support received from La SODEC for the conversion of books to Ebook Format

296 pages | Trade paper $29.95 ISBN 978-1-926824-12-3

(In bookstores in Canada in mid-November 2011 and in the United States in March 2012.)

The British Army that fought the American Revolutionaries was in fact an Anglo-German army. Britain was unsure of the commitment of English soldiers to fight other English-speaking people and also doubted the loyalty of the Canadiens whom it had recently conquered when it took control of New France. King George III thus turned to his relatives the princes of German states to obtain the much-needed troops in return for large amounts of money. Some German princes even complained that not enough soldiers were dying which meant less money for them.

Known in the United States the Hessians, many of these soldiers, were dragged unwillingly from their families and sent to fight in a war on a remote continent that didn’t concern them. A large number of them remained in Canada after the war and melted into the French and English-speaking societies. This is their story, which was largely unknown even to their own descendants until Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy wrote this book.

Prefaces by the late Marcel Trudel and Virginia Easley DeMarce, Ph.D.

The following excerpt of a letter from Landgrave (count) Frederick II of Hesse-Cassel shows that the real mercenaries were the princes who sold the German soldiers.

“I cannot forgive the English chroniclers for lowering the death toll so greatly, why not admit honestly that instead of 900 we lost 1700! (…) Do these gentlemen really believe that 30 guineas more or less mean nothing to me? Particularly after my latest expensive journey during which I contracted many new debts…. signora F., whom I have just engaged in Italy, will cost me more than 500 guineas a year and these blasted Englishmen want to quibble over wounded and disabled men.”

Praise/Reviews

“Until the work of Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy, these soldiers were largely ignored by historians… The publication of Wilhelmy’s study in English is very welcome and should be of great significance in making this group of eighteenth century immigrant soldiers better known.” – Virginia Easley DeMarce, Ph.D, Past President of the National Genealogical Society (United States)

“Some works are models and serve as reminders to new historians. Soldiers for Sale is one such book. The author carefully sets the historical stage and meticulously describes the recruitment of soldiers, their arrival in North America, and the contribution of those who chose to remain.” Jean Levasseur, Nouvelles etudes francophones

“Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy’s research on the German mercenaries is the most important study in Quebec on this subject… It is a ‘must’ read for anybody interested in the subject.” Louise Chevrier, Histoire Québec

Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy is a Montreal historian who discovered a major unexplored part of Canadian and American history. He has also written three historical novels based on his research

Marcel Trudel (1917-2011) was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Ottawa. He published more than 40 books on the history of New France and won many awards, including the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec.

Virginia Easley DeMarce is a historian who specializes in early modern European history. She has a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1967. She taught at the college level for fifteen years, at Northwest Missouri State University, and George Mason University and published a book on German military settlers in Canada after the American Revolution. A past president of the National Genealogical Society, Ms DeMarce has written or co-authored a number of formative short stories and novels in the 1632 series collaborative fiction project.

Distribution in Canada: LitDistCo 1-800-591-6250 orders@litdistco.ca

Distribution in the USA: Independent Publishers Group (IPG)
Tel.: 1-800-888-4741 | Fax: 312-337-5985   orders@ipgbook.com

Winner of John Glassco Literary Translation Prize 2011

Casey Roberts was awarded the prestigious John Glassco Literary Translation Prize 2011 for his translation of Sylvain Hotte’s prize-winning young adult novel Break Away, Jessie on My Mind published in May 2011. The prize was presented to Casey at a Gala on September 25, 2011 organized by the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada/L’association des traducteurs et traductrices littéraires du Canada.

“In this young adult novel about hockey, love and the wilderness, the translator met the challenge of rendering the teenage narrator’s lively and quirky voice in a faithful yet inventive idiom. Break Away, Jessie on My Mind is a re-creation that reads as smoothly as the original” – The Jury.

Jury Members consisted of Sheila Fischman, Nelly Roffé and Lori Saint-Martin and was chaired by Karin Montin.

Break Away, Jessie on My Mind is the Translation of Sylvain Hotte’s Panache (Vol. 1 of Aréna), Les Intouchables, 2009).

Casey Roberts and Jury President Karin Montin at John Glassco Award Gala

Order the book directly: Order now

286 pp Trade paper 29.95 97819268241

INUIT AND WHALERS ON BAFFIN ISLAND THROUGH GERMAN EYES

Wilhelm Weike’s Arctic Journal and Letters (1883-84)
by Ludger Müller-Wille & Bernd Gieseking (Translated by William Barr)

Wilhelm Weike, a 23-year old ordinary handyman from Minden/Germany, accidentally found himself spending the year of 1883-84 among Inuit and wintering with whalers on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. He was hired as servant to the fledgling scientist Franz Boas (1858-1942), later the eminent cultural anthropologist. During this sojourn Weike attended to and assisted Boas in his geographical and ethnological research following the first Polar Year of 1882-83. He kept a journal, a fascinating text and the longest he would ever write in his life, an exceptional piece of working-class literature.

This common man with basic education wrote a unique account of meeting and interacting with Inuit in a remote world totally alien to him. He keenly observes the life and habits of the Inuit, accepting them as equals and exhibiting no cultural arrogance. His journal provides an unusual historical glimpse of the human condition in the Arctic in the late nineteenth century. It complements the journals that Boas wrote simultaneously. Müller-Wille and Gieseking edited and annotated Weike’s journal extensively and, in addition, present his biography and highlight his observations and contributions next to Boas’ scientific work.

In bookstores November 1

Ludger Müller-Wille (anthropologist/geographer, McGill University) has studied human conditions in the circumpolar North—in Finland with Sámi and Finns, in Canada with Inuit, Dene, and Naskapi. His previous book is Franz Boas among the Inuit of Baffin Island 1883-1884 (1998).

Bernd Gieseking is a writer, playwright, and stage and radio comedian who, Like Weike and Boas, is from Minden, Germany. His dramatization of Weike’s and Boas’ arctic sojourn, The Colour of Water, premiered in 2010.

William Barr is a senior research associate with the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary. He has translated many books from French, German, and Russian on Arctic and Antarctic explorers and scientists, including the arctic journals of Franz Boas.

—————————–

278 pp $27.95 9781926824123

SOLDIERS FOR SALE

German “Mercenaries” with the British in Canada during the American Revolution (1776-83)

By Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy

The British Army that fought the American Revolutionaries was in fact an Anglo-German army. The British Crown had doubts about the willingness of English soldiers to fight against other English-speaking people in North America. It also doubted the loyalty of the Canadiens who had only just been taken over after the conquest of New France. It thus turned to the princes of German States, who were also relatives of England’s ruling family, to obtain troops. To the Americans, these soldiers are known as The Hessians. In return for large amounts of money, German princes and barons provided about 30,000 soldiers, of whom some 10,000 were located in Canada for up to seven years and 2,400 chose to remain in Canada after the war. Many were dragged unwillingly from their families and sent to fight in a war in which they had no interest. Those who remained in Canada represented close to five percent of the male population at the time. They melted into the French and English-speaking societies, their names were Gallicized or Anglicized, but their history was unknown until this book appeared, even to their own descendants.

Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy is a Montreal historian who, in the late 1970s, wanted to know where his ancestors came from and discovered a major unexplored part of Canadian history. He published his work in French originally in 1980s and has constantly updated it. He has also written two books of historical fiction based on his research. This updated English adaptation of his research is his first publication in English.

In bookstores in Canada, November 15 (March 2012 in the United States)

“A fine collection.” Alistair MacLeod

Who has never encountered a bully? Who has never told—or been told—a story of a bully? With an uncanny insight into what bullies are all about, Nick Fonda brings sensitivity and even humour to an otherwise sinister topic.

Everybody knows that bullying is not limited to physical violence or intimidation and that bullies don’t necessarily look or dress like thugs. Through the voices of boys and girls, men and women, Nick Fonda recounts events and puts words to feelings and emotions that mark people’s lives. His characters include the biased principal who wreaks havoc as he protects his own pets, wicked adoptive parents, and the neighborhood tough who, with his parents’ approval, terrorizes anybody smaller than him.

These eleven intriguing stories, ably illustrated by Denis Palmer, will charm, surprise, and stir readers. A thought-provoking delight for educators, parents, and students, in fact, anybody who has been confronted by abuse of power, be it subtle or flagrant.

188 pages: Trade paper $19.95 ISBN 978-1-926824-07-9.

Praise/Reviews

“With unadorned language and quiet resolution, Fonda (Roads to Richmond: Portraits of Quebec’s Eastern Townships) tackles childhood problems in frequently rural, wintry Canadian settings. Narrated by outcast youths or adults whose current circumstances trigger memories, these stories explore how victims learn to assert themselves or let bygones pass in the face of bullies with unclear motives. Cruelty appears as its own raison d’être; it reaches an extreme in “Sugden,” a story of suspected, attempted murder during class play rehearsals, and “The Thumb,” which concludes with evidence of dismemberment. Other stories focus on less egregious, but still emotionally-raw incidents: a home-schooled student adjusts to a mainstream classroom; a mistreated nephew rebels; a hospital worker considers delaying a former bully’s treatment. Despite the unfairness his characters face, they largely persevere, suggesting that memories of what others have said or done with ill intentions do not have to become lifelong burdens…” Publishers Weekly, Dec. 1, 2011.

“Some stories deal with the ‘different’ child place within a rigid, unyielding system. Nick Fonda has a great sense of compassion. Sometimes he inhabits the persona of the ‘trapped’ child, sometimes the equally ‘trapped’ adult… These stories are memorable for what they say and for what they suggest. We are made better, as individuals, for listening to Nick Fonda’s voices. This is a fine collection.”  Alistair MacLeod, winner of the 1999 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

“This quick, engaging read highlights the “sudden visceral reaction” that warns students as they meet a bully. Clearly written, these stories will help teachers, parents, and students to recognize the bullying experience but can be appreciated by all and should attract a general audience. Recommended.”– Library Journal, August 15, 2011

“Readers will be lulled by [Fonda’s] perfectly crafted, streamlined prose, while images of cruelty and betrayal sneak up in surprise…  His poet’s ear brings a delicate lightness to his work that contrasts wonderfully with the dark subject matter… It’s not the setting or even the events in these stories that make readers shudder, it’s the familiarity of the characters under attack… Fonda manages to get to the heart of a social problem in an entertaining, thought-provoking book that is both a pleasure to read and a call to awareness.” – Foreword Reviews, September 2011

“Principals & Other Schoolyard Bullies tells the truth about school through these eclectic stories about the complicated lives of both students and educators, and a system that often purports to be about doing good, and ends up being something else entirely.  Fonda’s characters are well-drawn, coming to life on the page with intelligence and imagination.” —Zoe Whittall, prize-winning poet and novelist, Toronto

“Each story is beautifully told … the barbs are well directed. Each character victimized by the system seems to have emerged unscathed, the best retribution of all… I am impressed—no in awe… a masterpiece!”—Sharon McCully, The Record

Nick Fonda is an award-winning reporter who has also wielded chalk in classrooms in Canada and the UK for more than 25 years. He has kept in touch with reality—other than the overwhelming reality of schools—by plying such trades as lumberjack, carpenter, restaurateur and raconteur. Nick Fonda’s non Roads to Richmond: Portraits of Quebec’s Eastern Townships (Baraka Books 2010) was remarkably successfu.

Denis Palmer Denis Palmer holds a degree in architecture from McGill University. He teaches art and has exhibited his work widely. He published a book of his work entitled “Homage to Rural Life.”

Orders Canada: LitDistCo 1-800-591-6250 orders@litdistco.ca

Orders United States: Independent Publishers Group
800-888-4741; fax: 312-337-5985    orders@ipgbook.com

Narrator Antoine Vachon is a total loser living in a pitiful bachelor apartment after he has lost his wife and his job as a car salesman. When his son’s hockey coach is found dead, he is browbeaten into coaching the team for one game. He makes it through the game (to great comic effect), but things take a turn for the worse when they stop at a motel after the game. Who killed the former coach and why? Was Antoine’s son involved? Or his ex-wife? The late coach was liked by all and was a pillar in the community. He was close to his player, perhaps too close… Why is Antoine unable to communicate with his son?

François Barcelo’s humour and brilliant story telling is finally available in English. I Hate Hockey reads quickly, but is meticulously but stitched together. Though subtle signposts are present throughout, every development comes as a total surprise.

François Barcelo is a GG-award-winning novelist. I Hate Hockey is his first book to appear in English.

“Barcelo is not a genius. He just has talent… but he has a lot of it.” Gilles Marcotte, L’actualité.

“An excellent short thriller, set in somber surroundings, that also gets you laughing… darkly.” Jessica Émond-Ferrat

I HATE HOCKEY

By François Barcelo
Translated by Peter McCambridge
In bookstores in Canada October 15, 2011
ISBN 978-1-926824-13-0

After his successful Roads to Richmond: Portraits of Quebec\’s Eastern Townships, Nick Fonda now offers readers Principals & Other Schoolyard Bullies, a collection of eleven short stories that, while unified by a dark theme, are diverse and surprisingly optimistic.

Everybody knows that bullying is not limited to physical violence or intimidation and that bullies don’t necessarily look or dress like thugs. Through the voices of boys and girls, men and women, Nick Fonda recounts events and puts words to feelings and emotions that mark people’s lives. His characters include the biased principal who wreaks havoc as he protects his own pets, wicked adoptive parents, and the neighborhood tough who, with his parents’ approval, terrorizes anybody smaller than him.

Advance Praise

“Principals & Other Schoolyard Bullies tells the truth about school through these eclectic stories about the complicated lives of both students and educators, and a system that often purports to be about doing good, and ends up being something else entirely. Fonda’s characters are well-drawn, coming to life on the page with intelligence and imagination.” —Zoe Whittall, prize-winning poet and novelist, The Middle Ground

Principals & Other School Yard Bullies
In bookstores September 15, 2011
188 pages: Trade paper $19.95 ISBN 978-1-926824-07-9.

Order now

Jane Jacobs, five years later

Troubling Silence on Jane Jacobs’ Writings on Nations and Separatism

By Robin Philpot *

Jane Jacobs passed away five years ago on April 25, 2006. She will be remembered for her matchless contribution to cities throughout the world.

Less remembered—sometimes belittled—is her work on nations, national sovereignty, and the relationship between cities and the development of nations. Yet her third and her forth books dealt specifically with these issues and, in light of the current election campaign in Canada, they are still very relevant. The Question of Separatism (1980) and Cities and the Wealth of Nations (1984) were published in the wake of her two seminal books on cities, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) and The Economy of Cities (1968), both written before she moved to Canada.

Nagging questions remain five years after her death? Why has the work of a leading thinker on the unfolding story of nations received so little attention? Why is the only book she wrote about her adopted country, The Question of Separatism, never discussed? Why, unlike her other six books, was it out of print for 25 years? How can 35 experts put together a 400-page anthology, What we see, Advancing the observations of Jane Jacobs (2010), without mentioning the book?

Jacobs answered these questions in part in an interview she granted me in 2005. She pointedly broke with her no-interview policy because this interview was to focus on her book The Question of Separatism, Quebec and the struggle over sovereignty, 25 years after it appeared and ten years after the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty.

Asked if the media ever talked to her about her book on separatism, Jacobs replied, “No. Practically never! You’re the first.” Explaining the silence she added: “Don’t want to think about it… or engage in talking pros and cons and why people feel this way. It’s an unwelcome subject (…) It was fear that there would be no more identity for Canada, that it would disintegrate if Quebec were to separate. It was foolish because there are so many examples of separatism, and nothing has disintegrated, unless they went to war. There were over thirty of these cases in very recent times since the issue of Quebec was raised in 1980.”

As in her other books, Jane Jacobs brought to bear her renowned capacity to observe the real world, avoided ideology and sloganeering, and set forth practical win-win solutions. Using examples, particularly that of Norway and Sweden, she discussed the timeless issues that influence—or afflict—debate on separatism in the world, such as emotion, national size and paradoxes of size, duality and federation, and the relationship between competing urban centres.

Jacobs posited that large regional cities and the nations they drive require a degree of political sovereignty to develop successfully, failing which they become “passive and provincial,” relegated to the shadow of a dominant city region. That is what she so accurately predicted about Montreal and Toronto, a result of the “gathering force” of national centralization concentrated in her home city of Toronto. She added that the desire for Quebec sovereignty was not about to disappear, unless of course Montrealers—and Quebecers—were ready to resign themselves to being a satellite of the greater Toronto city region. Ever the pragmatist, Jane Jacobs also showed how all parties stand to gain from a new arrangement that respects the Quebec people’s will for sovereignty.

The actors have changed since 1980 but the script remains the same. The current stalemat would not have surprised Jane Jacobs, who stood behind her 1980 conclusions. When I asked her in 2005 if she would write the same book again, she smiled confidently, “Yes, not because it is in my head, but because that’s the way it is in the world, and it still holds.”

Five years after her death, hopefully we will benefit from her work on nations as much as we have from her work of cities.

* Robin Philpot is Montreal writer and publisher whose 2005 interview with Jane Jacobs is published in the new edition of The Question of Separatism, Quebec and the Struggle over Sovereignty (Baraka Books 2011)