Recently nominated for the 2010 Writers Trust non-fiction award, Toronto journalist and author James FitzGerald will be visiting Wellington County for three separate events on October 23 and 24.
FitzGerald’s memoir, What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son’s Quest To Redeem the Past (Random House Canada), joins four other finalists for the literary award which carries a $25,000 prize. The winner will be announced on Nov. 2 at a gala in Toronto hosted by CBC Radio One journalist Shelagh Rogers.
A rich mixture of personal and Canadian history, the book explores the dramatic medical career of the author’s grandfather, Dr. John Gerald FitzGerald, born in Drayton in 1882. The Globe and Mail described it as “a memoir of extraordinary power and candour … as riveting as a crime thriller.” The book was sparked by a Toronto Life article that won National Magazine award in 2002.
On Oct. 23 at 1.30pm, FitzGerald will be visiting Harriston to participate in the unveiling of an historical plaque commemorating 88 John Street South, the house where his grandfather spent much of his childhood in the 1890s. The plaque was co-sponsored by the Harriston Historical Society, Minto council, and Sanofi Pasteur.
On Oct. 24 from 11am to noon, FitzGerald will be signing copies of his book at Reflections Bookstore, in Fergus. At 2pm, he will give a talk and slide presentation based on his book at the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
FitzGerald’s first book, Old Boys: The Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College (Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, 1994) was a controversial inside look at the attitudes and mores of Canada’s ruling class. Composed as an oral history, the book’s subjects included such prominent Canadians as Robertson Davies, Conrad Black, Michael Ignatieff, Ted Rogers, Michael Snow, Peter Newman, David Thomson, and John Eaton.
