The literary tour by Terry Fallis, author of this year’s One Book, One Community selection, made a stop in Elmira Wednesday afternoon. He was at EDSS to answer questions and read excerpts from The Best Laid Plans.
Speaking to some 60 people in the high school’s cafeteria, Fallis also discussed his motivation for writing the book and, his inspiration for the characters.
“Write what you know,” he said, explaining his motivation for writing a book on political satire in Canada – a tough sell, he admits. Fallis graduated from McMaster University in 1983 with his bachelor degree in engineering, and promptly joined Jean Chrétien’s staff in 1984.
In writing the book, Fallis drew upon his life experience as an engineering student – “though I’ve never practiced a day of engineering in my life, I’m proud of my degree” – his career in politics, as well as his personal experiences with Parkinson’s disease. The book was self-published in 2007, winning the 2008 Stephen Leacock Award for humour.
The One Book, One Community program began in 2002 in an effort to promote reading in Waterloo Region, to celebrate and promote Canadian authors and books and to build a sense of community through the shared experience of reading. Past winners include Jane Urquhart for her book The Stone Carvers, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon for The 100-Mile Diet, and Lawrence Hill for The Book of Negroes.
Fallis will be appearing at the Word on the Street event at Victoria Park in Kitchener on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
