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At the end of his long career as an accountant, Jack Dalgliesh was paid to read books — not financial books as a provincial accountant — but classics of literature.
Nice work if you can get it, right? Actually, it wasn’t for Jack.
That’s because Jack, who was 75 when he died on June 16, had ended up in the provincial government’s version of the dog house due to a memo he wrote to cabinet in 2000 advising that the Crocus Investment Fund — a labour-sponsored venture capital fund — would go belly up if no action was taken.
No action was taken and Crocus in fact did go belly up just four years later, taking the investments, and in some cases the lifesavings, of many Manitobans with it.
A later Auditor General’s report found Jack’s memo, but by then he had been transferred to the Manitoba Information Technology Branch, until he retired in 2009.
That’s when Jack, through the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, came out publicly about how he had tried to warn the government about Crocus, but was ignored and punished by being put into an ill-suited department with little work to do. He said he couldn’t quit his job because his son was intellectually disabled and he and his wife were saving for his longterm wellbeing.
“I may have worked at most 10 days a year for roughly $93,000 or $94,000 a year,” he said in a statement sent out by the CTF at the time.
“Everybody in the government knew (Crocus) was going to blow, everybody who was involved with the file knew it was going to blow, and the NDP government was promoting it 18-months before it blew.”
What were some of the 156 books Jack read during that time? (He kept track.) Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood was one, Margaret Laurence’s Stone Angel and The Diviners were two others, and he cracked open the classics Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
Mind you, when Jack was reading Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe he may have felt like he was similarly stuck on an island.
Much earlier, Jack had a tough beginning in life. He lost his mom when he was eight, his sister when he was 10 and his dad when he was 20.
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Jack even contracted polio as a child, leaving him with differently sized feet and legs. But those never hampered his lifelong commitment to fitness and exercise.
His family says he was “an avid reader and a lifetime learner.” That may be why Jack decided to read books during his last years of work, but evidence of the latter was how, once retired, he went to the University of Manitoba to re-take the calculus course he didn’t finish decades earlier while at Brandon University.
He achieved a B-plus. A storybook ending for someone who read books.
Jack is survived by his wife of 48 years, Dorothy, and his two sons.
Read more about Jack.
How They Lived
Heather Bassett was a social worker and entrepreneur.
Heather, who was 84 when she died on July 11, was a social worker at the Manitoba Youth Centre, before she decided to open the King’s Head Pub.
She later opened the Toad in the Hole and hosted many local musicians, including the Dust Rhinos and Big Dave McLean.
Read more about Heather.
Jack Ackland was the quarterback for one of Manitoba’s best high school football teams.
Jack, who died on July 11 at 72, was the quarterback for the Churchill Bulldogs, a team known for a more than three year winning streak, starting in 1967.
They were provincial champions three years in a row.
The team was inducted into the Football Manitoba Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Churchill High School Hall of Fame in 2007.
Read more about Jack.
Janette Payne helped combat childhood hunger.
Janette, who died on July 12, was co-chair of the city’s Share Our Strength and Taste of the Nation events where local chefs serve fine food to raise funds to combat childhood hunger. She helped the organization secure corporate sponsorship.
She also was involved with numerous other charities during her life and worked with the Metro Business Club of Winnipeg.
Read more about Janette.
David George helped many people in Transcona.
David, who was 79 when he died on July 8, graduated with a law degree in 1972 and set up his legal practice in Transcona.
He volunteered with numerous organizations there including the Rotary Club, Transcona Museum, the Transcona Seniors Council, the food bank, and the Keep Them In School Foundation.
He also loved to sing, was a member of his church’s choir, and even joined the Winnipeg Men’s choir.
Read more about David.
Rosalind Vigfusson was a musical prodigy.
Rosalind, who died on June 30 at 80 years of age, played piano when she was six and was composing music at age 10.
She founded the New Iceland Youth Choir which performed in Iceland and for Queen Elizabeth. She was Fjallkona for Islendingadagurinn — Gimli’s Icelandic Festival, in 2007.
Read more about Rosalind.
A Life’s Story
Jack Parrington was once the fastest man alive — or one of them.
Jack, who died in March at 90 years of age, was at a track meet in Toronto when he crossed the finish line in the 100-metre sprint at 10.2 seconds — tying the world record set by Bobby Joe Morrow.
He competed in the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, but, unfortunately, an injury kept him off the podium.
Jack Parrington ran track at the University of Houston. (Supplied)
But Jack never boasted of his athletic accomplishments.
“I didn’t even know he had broken the sprint record — I found out from my cousin when I was a teenager,” said his daughter Lorraine.
“My dad wasn’t a guy who spoke of those sorts of things.”
To read more about Jack’s life, go here.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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