Peter Mansbridge

[Extraordinary Canadians: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation], [[Peter Mansbridge]], [[Mark Bulgutch]]

This book was not what I expected but was so much more. I thought it would be about Canadians whose name I would recognize, from history or the news. Instead it was about ‘ordinary’ Canadians who took steps to make their lives extraordinary. People who lived through the circumstances live gave them and used what they learned to educate and do good for others. There are seventeen stories in total, the majority about single individuals.

Hope Swinimer from Nova Scotia who studied to be an accountant so she could manage a veterinarian clinic and opened the first wildlife rescue and rehabilitation shelter in the province. Jessica Grossman, now an actor and model, from age 8 to 13 lived in and out of hospital in agonizing abdominal pain, she couldn’t sleep or eat. She had Crohn’s disease and it wasn’t until she had surgery at age 13 and got an ostomy bag that she could live her life. She took up educating people about ‘the bag’ through a blog and public speaking. Bill Campbell started successful not-for-profit housings projects in Prince Edward Island. Robb Nash does about 250 musical performances in schools annually helping students deal with depression and suicidal thoughts. He has been there, he knows.

There are more interesting people and their stories, each told in the words of the subject. This adds to the interest ad variety of the book.

The author, Peter Mansbridge, worked for the CBC and ended his career as the top broadcast journalist in the country. What he does, he does well. The book was published in 2020 and includes an article on an emergency room nurse in Vancouver planning how to treat COVID-19. Even if you aren’t Canadian the people will appeal to you.

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Reviewed May 7, 2021… (mehr)

An excellent read. I was expecting to be bored at some point, but it was all so interesting and I learned a lot. I enjoyed all the interviews, but I enjoyed the introductions to the interviews and Peter Mansbridge's words after. I was amazed at the honesty and thoughts that Peter shared in this book. After reading this book, anyone should be more knowledgeable about the world around us and it's people. This is definitely one of my favourite books, hoping that Peter Mansbridge will write another one soon.… (mehr)