January 26, 2012
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Dear Ricky Hits the Front Page
This Saturday, the unstoppable career of Ricky Tsang
hit a new high, as he was featured on the front page of Weekend Life, the Saturday special supplement of Canada’s largest daily newspaper, the Toronto Star.
Recently interviewed by Toronto Star columnist Vinay Menon,
Ricky told of an epic 12-year journey, that started when he found himself tongue-tied in the presence of a pretty girl, to today, when as a newly fledged author he found himself placed in the spotlight by Vinay. As is usual with the new Ricky, he suffered no shortage of words to inform the Star’s readers on his feelings about life, fate, and most especially, women. There’s no way I can compete with Ricky in telling anyone what Ricky feels about anything, so why not go read his book yourself?
As I put together this blog, it occurred to me that although I’d naturally snatch up a copy of the Star before any other newspaper in Toronto, I knew very little of either it or its past, other than that its head office since 1972 is at the heart of Toronto’s downtown, at Number One on bustling Yonge Street.
Does a newspaper have a past, as though it were a living, growing human being? I was greatly intrigued to discover that apparently it does.
The Star’s impartial stance on news was established in 1899, when editorship of the then ailing newspaper was taken over by a most remarkable liberal and social activist, Joseph E. Atkinson. Althogh he was offered the post by a group of Liberal politicians, he took it only on condition he was bound to no political party. During the rise to power of the Nazi party, which culminated in the Second World War, the Star was the first opposing newspaper to be banned in Germany. Since Atkinson’s in death in 1948, the Star has adhered to the journalistic principles that he laid down over a century before.
Comments (4)
Wonderful blog, Graham! Thank you. I never knew their amazing history until right now. It was very exciting being featured in the Toronto Star! Still is. (:
Thank you for highlighting this. I like Ricky and wish him all the best in life.
@DearRicky - Glad you liked it Ricky. It’s amazing how one thing leads to another. Re the Star, there’s much more to it than the fragent I gave, of course.
@GoldenSilk - there are a few of us on xanga who write for publication, and we help each other with things (sometimes.) We refer to ourselves as XAC, the Xangan Author’s Collective (sometimes, when we’re not feeling overly individualistic.) We’ve found over the last year or so that we’ve managed to achieve a little, even in these desperate times. Not a lot, but then every drop helps, as the old lady said when she peed in the sea.