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People of a certain age probably remember sitting in a classroom while a film projector clacked away throwing images of a small, carved canoe, with an Indigenous man inside, floating across our country’s great lakes.
Called Paddle to the Sea, it was the film version of the book written in 1941 by American author Holling C. Holling.
And now, the last of the creative forces who made the film, has died.
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Blake James died in Beausejour on Nov. 20. He was 94.
Blake was born on Valentine’s Day in 1928 and grew up on the family farm near tiny Lydiatt with two brothers and a sister. When he left the farm, he began heading toward his life’s work in film.
Blake became a commercial artist in Winnipeg and met fellow artist Bill Mason. The pair first went to Crawley Films before joining the National Film Board of Canada. There, Blake worked on his own film projects, including Through a Broken Pane and Prairie Album, and on other filmmakers’ movies including Bill’s Paddle to the Sea.
The short film, which was nominated for an Academy Award, had the pair taking their cameras to the water level itself, from Lake Superior to the St. Lawrence River.
And, Blake would tell people about one daring bit of filmmaking they did: while Bill jumped over the safety fence and rappelled down the cliff face to get the shot of the small canoe going over Niagara Falls, he tossed a few of the wooden models into the water to go over the falls.
Blake even became the subject of a movie itself, Bill’s homage Blake, a short film about Blake piloting his own plane as a “hobo of the skies”. The film, which was shown in theatres before the movie MASH in 1970, was nominated for an Academy Award.
Much like the character in the 56-year-old Paddle to the Sea film, Blake loved paddling his red chestnut canoe down remote rivers. And, like he did in Blake, he also continued to like flying his yellow biplane.
Bill died in 1988. When Blake retired, he returned to the family farm.
And now, after 94 years of life, Blake was buried in the local cemetery in the very community in which he was raised.
Read more about Blake.
How They Lived
Jacquelyn Barker had a life-long love of singing.
Jacquelyn, who died on Nov. 15, began singing at Isaac Brock School and later becoming an original chorister in The Winnipeg Girls Choir where she was inspired to become a choral director.
She continued her music studies through the years and became a music teacher at Miles Macdonell Collegiate and later taught at the U of M Prep Division.
Once, while she was camping in the wilderness in Northern Ontario, she sang hymns in her tent to scare away bears. “They either didn’t like my singing or weren’t Anglican, but they went away,” she would say.
Read more about Jacquelyn.
Tom Carson was a career provincial civil servant.
Tom, who was 75 when he died Nov. 16, rose through the civil service to be deputy minister of culture, as well as advanced education and tourism.
He also served as chair of the St. Boniface Hospital’s board of directors and on the board of Artists in Healthcare Manitoba.
Read more about Tom.
If you like pastrami sandwiches, you likely ate one prepared by Cecile Hull.
Cecile, who died Nov. 24 at 82, was working as an office manager for a lawn and garden equipment retailer when a friend told her a coffee shop was for sale across from St. Boniface Hospital.
With no restaurant experience, or even business experience, she opened Pastrami and Things in 1983 and, over the years, expanded it to 60 seats. She was still making sandwiches and soups at 82.
Read more about Cecile.
Charlie Curtis was called Mr. Manitoba during his civil service career.
Charlie, who was 91 when he died Nov. 15, served under five premiers during his almost three decades in the finance department.
And, with 20 years under his belt, he was the longest serving deputy minister of finance in the country.
During his tenure, he pioneered Asian bond markets, learned to speak Japanese, and served as chairman of Manitoba Hydro, CEO of the Manitoba Energy Authority, and CEO of MTX.
Read more about Charlie.
You can live only 33 minutes but leave a lifetime of memories.
Wolfgang Schroedter Manzanilla, who died Nov. 20, was born full term and weighed five pounds, four ounces.
Wolfgang was in this world briefly but, as his parents said, was determined to meet them and share those 33 minutes with them.
Read more about Wolfgang.
A Life’s Story
You might not have seen Jack Farr, but you would have heard his voice.
Jack, who was 81 when he died in October, was the long-time host of CBC Radio’s The Radio Show on Saturdays and known as the Captain.
Nicknamed “Captain,” Farr parlayed his regular radio appearances into his own gig as host of the Winnipeg-produced The Radio Show on Saturday afternoons on CBC from 1983 to 1992. (Supplied)
Former NDP Premier Gary Doer, who had a cottage near Jack’s place, said, “I was the Opposition (leader) lobbing grenades at the government. He’d be lobbing humour across our country the next day on The Radio Show.”
Read more about Jack’s life.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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