I watched a great movie over the weekend. It is called Fracture that starred Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. It was directed by Gregory Hoblit and released in 2007. It is a crime/thriller, and if you like a good courtroom drama with a twist, then you will want to see this film. I mention this at the outset because in some rather interesting way Anthony Hopkins has something to do with one aspect of this blog on this day, which I will detail toward the end of this writing.
It was on this date, March 17th, 1763, that the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in New York City. Yesterday, here in Toronto, the 21st annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held. It was a fine day for the Irish in Toronto who gathered along the parade route to watch the participants file by. Included in the parade were Toronto firefighters, Toronto Police Pipes and Drums, Toronto EMS, Irish dancers, the Irish County Association, York Regional Pipes and Drums and the York Lions Steel Band, among others. Apparently, close to 2,000 people lined the parade route. I’m certain they were not disappointed.
Every year at this time, the parade reminds me of the many times I rode on floats in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Montreal. One year, I was honored to be asked to be a judge. That year, I didn’t have to wait on a float or in an open convertible in the blustery March winds, shivering until the parade got underway. This time, I got to stand on the podium with all the other judges to watch the procession file by. I wore the traditional top hat and enjoyed mingling with the dignitaries who shared the stage with me. There was one person there who intrigued me greatly.
He arrived in a limousine just prior to the start of the parade and was escorted to the stage by his security detail. After the introduction of this man was made, he stood almost directly beside me and the signal to start the parade was given. This man was a very powerful and influential figure in Canadian politics. No matter what political party you share an affiliation with, I’m sure you would have enjoyed being in my shoes that day, just to have had the opportunity to converse with this Canadian statesman. He was a man who literally changed the face of this country of ours. We did speak on occasion, but it was one of the strangest situations I have ever found myself in. He would lean over to share a word or two concerning the marching bands and floats as they passed by, but when I, or any other person leaned back to engage this man in conversation, what was said was paid very close attention. His security detail would always lean in to hear every single word that was being said to this man. Understandably so, since the man standing to my right was the Prime Minister of Canada at the time. He was soft-spoken but he also had a magnetic personality. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and I found him quite affable. This was a person you would like to sit next to during a dinner party. I will always remember the day that I shared a few pleasantries with Pierre Elliott Trudeau. (1919-2000)
The following week, I happened to mention to my Program Director who was on the stage with me. You could see the wheels turning in his mind as I spoke of the parade and my brief conversation with this major figure in Canadian politics. My boss came up with a crazy idea that intrigued me to no end. He suggested that he would call the Prime Minister’s office to see if we could arrange to have him join me on my radio show for an hour or so. The idea was to have him as a guest and to let him program the music selections to be interspersed between our conversation. It would not enter the realm of politics in any way; it would be about his views on life. If it could be arranged, it would be a one-on-one conversation with someone who had a most fascinating life.
It was a great idea. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition. I have to give my superior credit for even coming up with the idea in the first place. Had it panned out, it would have been one of the major highlights of my broadcasting career. Others in the media have had the opportunity to interview and converse with the influential figures of the day, but those are usually news and current affairs programs. This would have been a unique approach, and I still wonder what his taste in music would have been like and the selections he would have played.
In this very old edition of the Britannica was this about another influential figure, the man who is honored on today’s date. This is what was said about Saint Patrick. “The patron saint of Ireland began his mission as a slave and ended as a conqueror of souls. Very little is known of his early life. It is said, however, that Saint Patrick was the son of a Christian deacon who lived possibly near the Severn River in England, although Scotland also claims to be his birthplace.
“When he was 16, a band of marauders carried him off to Ireland, where he lived as a shepherd. His Christian training helped him to bear the hardships of his life. After six years of captivity, he escaped to France. He spent at least a dozen years in the monastery of St. Martin at Auxerre. While there, the ‘voice of the Irish’ came to him, as he tells us, beseeching him to return to Ireland to spread the gospel. It was not until he was consecrated bishop to Ireland in 432 that he was able to obey this call. His ardor and intense faith made Saint Patrick a persuasive preacher. His courage impressed even the Irish high king Loigaire who took Saint Patrick under his protection. Many miracles were said to have been performed by the saint during his years in Ireland. Many times he was forced into contests with the priests of the druids who did not want to lose their power.
“The legend of Saint Patrick’s driving the snakes out of Ireland is probably the best-known story about him. He is said to have used the three-leaved shamrock as a symbol with which to explain the miracle of the Trinity. Although the Roman Catholic religion had been introduced into Ireland before Saint Patrick’s time, he was the first to spread it widely. He found a savage race of sun and tree worshipers and left a well-organized church. His introduction of Latin into Ireland as the church language helped to arouse an interest in classic learning. Saint Patrick’s ‘Confession‘ gives an account of his life in Latin. The anniversary of his death is celebrated March 17 and is the greatest of Irish feast days throughout the world.” From a very old edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
By the way, I really did well in Latin in high school. One of my teachers once told me that I would either make a great priest or doctor one day. She used to always have me stand to read in Latin before the class. Well, I never had any desire for either of the vocations she mentioned, but she gave me the opportunity to practice my voice and reading skills in front of a live audience, in a language I have mostly forgotten today.
This brief passage is one of my favorite writings. I thought it appropriate tonight.
“Snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.” James Joyce from The Dead.
Ireland has produced some great writers.
The Irish Literary Revival began in the last years of the 19th century. As it said in this old edition of the Britannica, “William Butler Yeats is one of the leading figures in this revival. He tells again with delight the ancient tales of Cuculain, Deirdre, and Ossian. He believes that the modern Irishman, like his ancestors, still has a vivid imagination, still loves poetry and beauty, still likes to hear of fairies and leprechauns. Therefore, in his poems and plays, such as The Wind Among the Reeds and The Land of Heart’s Desire, he emphasizes these Irish traits.” Yeats wasn’t the only writer from Ireland. Others include, Jonathan Swift, Edmund Burke, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, and George Bernard Shaw. But William Butler Yeats intrigues me tonight for one specific reason: Anthony Hopkins is related to him on his mother’s side…
…And, yes, I am wearing green tonight while I do this radio show.
If you’re celebrating tonight, please ensure you arrange to take a cab or designate a driver.
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Don Jackson
