Kickstart

Just wanted to mention that some of the features from Kickstart were printed in Reader’s Digest this month. This isn’t just to plug the stories they picked from the book, but rather to comment on the bright, glossy photos they found. Bruce Poon Tip looks the part of the accomplished entrepreneur that he is. Lynda Haverstock, cold-as-steel look in her eye, standing in front of what look like Marines (who knew the former Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan’s secret service detail was so impressive?). Raffi is pictured with kids and bananas (in reference to his hit “Bananaphone,” of course). And Eddie Greenspan is shown with, of all things, a basketball. Funny, he never mentioned an interest in the sport when we interviewed him.

A (more than slightly tangential) continuation from yesterday’s post: 

Some interviews, word-for-word, can come across as ill-formed, awkward and vague

It isn’t just the twenty-somethings who are asking questions

Just a note to congratulate our contributing feature Ujjal Dosanjh for winning his riding of Vancouver South, defeating the Conservative candidate Wai Young by just over 30 votes. As we said already, John Godfrey, also featured in Kickstart, did not run, but his Liberal replacement in Toronto’s Don Valley West Rob Oliphan did – and won. And, so that no one thinks we have too many Liberals featured in Kickstart, we have the story of Brian Mulroney, who is, in many ways, the arch-Conservative.

You can learn a lot by not asking about the scandals

Goodale jumped head first into politics

Why Godfrey built a career before becoming a politician

Court judgments are some of the best literature you’ll find in Canada

Well, another Canadian federal election is underway…

When we first started the interviews that eventually led to Kickstart: How Successful Canadians Got Started, we didn’t really know what to expect. Wouldn’t it be difficult to sit down with so many well-known people, especially considering the three of us were literary nobodies?

Tomorrow, we’re faced with the daunting task of speaking to a roomfull of youngsters who are, in all likelihood, far more successful than we are, let alone than we were at their age. The Top Twenty Under Twenty, with a somewhat self-explanatory name, consists of teenagers (and possibly some pre-teens) from around the country who have excelled in one form or another. Some are entrepreneurs who have started and managed several businesses; some run non-profit organizations; others are exceptional performers or athletes. They were chosen by the organization Youth in Motion and the Courage to Soar conference, where we will be speaking on its final day, is taking place at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.