St.Paul's Crusaders 1946

No.26 "Never say die" Ed Hammond

Mr.C.Doherty, Coach

Jim McPherson, Eddie's friend

Dear Jim,

Sorry I missed you the other day but I had a very pleasant chat with your wife, Betty, which was also my mother's name.

A few days ago, the St. Paul's latest edition arrived which among other things was the invitation to a dinner in honour of a retiring Father. For a few minutes I was tempted to go. Then I thought who would be there? A few thoughts raced through my mind. My loss of faith. Failing my final year. How different the College would be now that they have moved to the posher side of the river. I would know none of the Fathers. What was the point ? So the rather weak urge passed.

The memory of our time there does flood back sometimes. I can remember Grade 10 and Father Pianfetti who was convinced I had a vocation. He quizzed me frequently that year. And Kelly in Grade 11 with a radically different approach. I remember walking across the grounds the summer after Grade 11 exams and he hailed me. He said of all the people in our room he never expected I would get the mark in Latin I did. It was the mid 90's. I hope I haven't bored you with this before.{ My memory isn't as keen as it was.] He said " Hammond, what do you plan to be. I said I haven't the faintest. He said " You'll never be a doctor. Never be a lawyer. You'll never be a teacher. You could never be a businessman. You are a natural Jesuit. Think about it." I know my confessions were rather uneventful. But he never asked me my attitude toward celibacy. So much for the priesthood. He never mentioned copywriter.

I am now on my third neurologist. I saw him yesterday. A good friend, a colleague of mine from Leo Burnett recommended a fine GP. In turn, he found this latest specialist. A rather remarkable man from London, Ontario by the name of Marotta. He gave me 40 minutes. I have been used to seven minutes once a year. He never looks at charts or test results or other doctor's comments first. First he wants to get a feeling about the patient. Wonderful man though I am tough to bear sometime. I wasted some of the time due to my habit of rambling and maybe ranting. He had rather astounding patience. He insisted on my wife Johanna coming along next time to tell him what she observed as I was unconscious or not aware of what was happening, So we see him for an hour on the 13th of October almost one year from my last seizure though I reduced the Dilantin from 300 to 200 mg on my own hook much to my doctor's chagrin.

Anyway this must be boring to you. You've had enough of this all your life. Are you relaxing now. ? Are you travelling? I had a letter from George Murphy. He was with his wife in Europe. He journeyed to Belgium and the farm where his mother lived during her early life. It was being sold after it was in the family for two or three centuries. The son wants to be a mechanic. Not a farmer. It was a very emotional experience for our friend. His wife loved it. She has a farm background in her past as well. She also has a better ear for languages according to George. He and wife also ended up at Cambridge - Elder hostel or something. One rather startling fact. After the Queen and the Church , Trinity College owns the most land in Great Britain.

Unlike yourself, I am not busy. Nor am I travelling. I am not a volunteer. The widow of one of my colleagues told me I must do something. You are too bright to do nothing. Her suggestion was I should help some of the Chinese to learn English. I am just too lazy which has always been one of my main curses. I always wished I had studied more. It never gets further than that. The other day I was given a book written by the father of Doctor Brooks, a fine GP as I have said. His father finished the book at 84 years. It was published in 1991. It wasn't long after that he died. I am about half way through. It was about leaving a farm in Saskatchewan at 14 to ride the rails and lead the life of a near hobo during the depression. Interesting but a little repetitious. Anyway I phoned the publisher to mention a couple of projects I might have. Rather far fetched. A biography of John Kenneth Galbraith. You have to go through a literary agent. It was assigned last week. The other was a humorous account of my memoirs titled MEMOIRS OF A NOBODY IN PARTICULAR. I sent them a rather weird sketch and probably won't hear back like my letters to the editor which are regarded as too extreme and rather convoluted.

I am reading a book I picked up at Mount Sinai hospital titled Wealth and Poverty. The quote on the back cover by Buckley says "As important as Galbraith's The Affluent Society, the significant difference being that Mr. Gilder's book points us in the right direction." I wanted to see what the other side had to say. Gilder spend his time extolling the virtues of the group who were around Reagan and much effort ridiculing Galbraith and the other liberal thinkers. It's like a troop of monkeys attacking Einstein. One day I will tell you what I think of modern day medicine in Canada.

Ed Hammond 1999

Rejected Proposal to a Publisher

Ed Hammond
X Street, Toronto, Ontario
October 31, 1999

X, Creative Head, Arts, Music, Science and Variety,

Dear Mr. X,

Recently I wrote a letter to the CBC suggesting a documentary on John Kenneth Galbraith. From a conversation with a member of the staff at a literary agency, I learned that a biography of Galbraith had just been assigned. This led me to thinking about a documentary on Galbraith. He is as you know one of the towering figures in the world of economics. Hugely eloquent. The outstanding liberal in the age of the neo- conservatives Reaganites and widely regarded as the conscience of economics by great many people. He is in his early 90's. A towering figure in more ways than one. He is from Ontario.

This was the situation when I wrote about a month ago. Now Robert Mundell who is the anti-thesis of Galbraith has received the Nobel prize for economics. An interesting contrast.The darling, if not the patron saint of the Reaganites, and also from Ontario. He is viewed as being spectacularly right while Galbraith is leading those whom he can in the wrong direction.

This confrontation of two diametrically opposed views would be good drama. This isn't to suggest these men would agree to a face-to-face debate and maybe nor should they. At the moment, the neo-conservative forces appear to be riding high. What could make an absorbing documentary is each man's defence of his beliefs followed by a look at the consequences of these beliefs in the reality of people's lives with commentary on these consequences as we have witnessed them during the past years. You only have to look at the destruction of universal medical care in recent years in this country as one instance. It's a rough idea so far but that's where it stands.

As for myself, I have no literary credits but I have spent 45 writing for advertising agencies in Canada and for four years in London, England. I have begun a book recently after boring my few close friends with a title for eight years. The title is " MEMOIRS OF A NOBODY IN PARTICULAR' It's a humorous look at my own life. One day I made the mistake of telling my grandson who is 13 the title. His comment was " That really is you, granddad."

Thanks for your time.

Ed Hammond