Kingston!

Heading off to Kingston WritersFest.

An amazing roundup of writers and presenters. Click here for the schedule.

I'm doing a presentation Sunday (11am to noon). It's free and the first 50 kids who show up get a free signed chef's hat. These went like hotcakes at Word on the Street... so make sure you get there early!

And apparently wearing one makes you look like a crazed maniac.

I'll be giving some cartooning lessons and talking about great food, so don't miss it.

Love getting mail!

Lookee what came in the mail today! Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure in all it's wasabi green glory.

It opens with a manga sequence... AND advanced warning, there are funerals. And possibly kissing.

Find out more info here.

Wow!

What an amazing day at Word on the Street. 

We gave away 100 free chef's hats... and they were gobbled up in minutes.

Hundreds of people dropped by booth KS-19 to say hi, grab some free stuff... take a picture as Neil.

...and to enter the draw for this one-of-a-kind Neil Flambe original.

You had to dress up like Neil. Check out this costume!

Thanks to everyone at Simon and Schuster for making everything such fun! Next stop... Kingston WritersFest!

So, I'm at KS-19 (Kids Street booth 19) at this year's Word on the Street Toronto. This is our 10th year with a booth at WOTS and we are going all out to celebrate.

There will be 100 free, signed and cartooned chef's hats available for FREE! The first 100 visitors to the booth get one (and please wear them proudly at WOTS!)

There are free Neil Flambe posters... a reveal of the manga sequence that opens Neil #4... and (If you are brave enough to dress up like Neil) a chance to win a signed and framed Neil Flambe original!

What does a Neil costume look like?

This young man visited my house last year for Hallowe'en. So cool!

And as usual there will be original signed bookmarks for sale cheap!

 See you all this Sunday. Kids Street Booth 19, just across from the ROM in Toronto!

Joan of Art

I'm guest-hosting Tapestry on CBC Radio for a few weeks.

This past week we profiled the continuing allure of Joan of Arc.... even among non-religious types. (I've always loved Vita Sackville-West's biography of Joan).

In case you missed the show, you can get it on the Tapestry website by clicking here.

The good folks on the shows, Elizabeth Bowie and Carma Jolly, are also posting the doodles that I do while sitting in the studio.

Not all of them are strictly apropos to the show, but this week's were. Joan in two different ways.

The Summit Series got underway forty years ago this month. There are plenty of hagiographic articles about the "greatest moment in sports history" out there.

I've always taken a slightly different tack. Canada learned that brutality could defeat talent (see Clarke on Kharlamov's ankle or the games against Sweden as Canada made it's way to Moscow). The game post-1972 took a nosedive and it took the Habs (and my Sabres) to save it.

Back on the 25th anniversary I wrote a CBC radio play with the Russians winning.  Then we turned it into a little book... nominated for the Leacock medal.

Then the publisher went bankrupt. There's only one place to find the book now, which is to order from me. The email is over there to the right. 10 bucks via the mail.

But why don't I give away 5 free copies.. email me first and you could get a freebie!

Or I always have some copies on hand at Word on the Street Toronto. September 23rd. 5 bucks in person.

Shadrin, by the way, was #19 for the Soviets and a great player.

Word on the Street is coming up in a few weeks. Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.

 I will have lots of free stuff to giveaway. The first 100 kids who show up at my booth on KidStreet  Toronto get a free autographed Neil Flambe chef's hat!

I'll also be presenting at the Children's Reading Tent!

And there'll be KS original postcards for sale (cheap) and more!

KS19 is my booth #. See you there and more details to come...