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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

PAPER CHASE:Barge from Service poem found in lake

By: Michael Van Rooy

28/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The barge immortalized by Canadian poet Robert Service in The Cremation of Sam McGee has been found.

The A.J. Goddard was found at the bottom at Lake Laberge on the Yukon River, according to several sources.

Service wrote Sam McGee in 1907, six years after the barge sank on Oct. 22, 1901.

A team of international archeologists found the barge led by an amateur from Whitehorse.

Doug Davidge, an employee of Environment Canada, had been looking for the barge since the 1980s.

At least 30 shipwrecks exist from the period but the Goddard is apparently in excellent condition.

***

Superstar American novelist Stephen King has announced he is considering writing a sequel to The Shining.

Titled Doctor Sleep, the horror story would focus on the life of Danny Torrance, the telepathic child from the 1977 epic.

He made the announcement in Toronto last week, where he was appearing to promote his new novel, Under the Dome.

He also announced he has an idea for an eighth book in his Dark Tower fantasy series he is still exploring.

***

Winnipegger Randy R. Rostecki will present Armstrong's Point, A History, 8 p.m. Monday at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Grant Park.

Armstrong's Point tells the story of the East, West and Middle Gate, the residential area encircled by a bend in the Assiniboine River.

Armstrong's Point is Rostecki's fourth book and is a companion piece to his earlier Crescentwood: A History. The work was supported by Heritage Winnipeg.

***

Winnipeg writer and folk art specialist Orysia Tracz will discuss the history and traditions of Ukrainian Christmas celebrations on Dec. 30.

The event will take place at the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m. For more information, call 986-6779.

***

The British Publishers Association has established a wide-ranging committee to help troubled bookseller Borders U.K.

Borders own 45 stores in Britain and has been in financial difficulty for some time. It employs roughly 1,100 people.

On Nov. 17 the company was put up for sale with no takers.

Publishers fear non-payment for books already with the company. The company is expected to receive an outside administrator at any time.

***

Quotes from Roman poet Catullus have been entered into a legal case as examples of abuse.

U.K. financier Mark Lowe is accused of sending the obscene poetry to a former employee.

Most news agencies still refuse to provide a direct translation of the first lines of poem No. 16. Throughout history most translators have avoided translating it as well.

Lowe's defence for the text: "It is burlesque, it was always light-hearted in the first century and it still is now."

vanrooy1@hotmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 28, 2009 H8

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