Friday Special Blend
Friday June 28th, 2024 with Susan Johnston
Writersfest takeover + Mark Foss' Borrowed Memories

Hour One: Writersfest takeover Writers Festival Radio is pleased to present this conversation between Lucy van Oldenbarneveld and Kelly S. Thompson about her memoir "Still, I cannot save you". With honesty, love, and humour, Kelly S. Thompson explores her relationship with her older sister, Meghan. Tested by addiction, abuse, and illness, the sisters’ relationship crumbles, only to be rebuilt into an everlasting bond. Growing up within a military family, the girls were close despite being temperamental opposites—Kelly, anxious and studious, looked to her big sister for comfort, and Meghan, who battled kidney cancer as a toddler, was gregarious and protective. But as she approached adulthood, Meghan spi­ralled into a cocaine and opioid addiction, and Kelly’s relationship with her sister was torn apart. Their paths diverge as they live their own lives, and it is only when Meghan becomes a mother that she and Kelly tentatively face past hurts and reexamine what sisterhood really means. But their reunion is threatened when Meghan receives a shocking new diagnosis on a day that should be one for celebration. Now, as the family reels at the prospect of the biggest loss imaginable, Kelly and Meghan must share all that they can in the time that they have, using their mutual sense of humour to chart a course through the darkest of days. Hour Two: Mark Foss discusses Borrowed Memories "An Ontario couple in the depth of their winter years is juxtaposed against the rage and hope of the Arab Spring. Ivan Pyefinch, a freelance translator, becomes the custodian of family memory as he cares for his aging parents in the Thousand Islands. His father, a World War II pilot, fights for his driver’s license, while his mother wages a losing battle against Alzheimer’s. Their lives take an unexpected turn with the arrival of Mia Hakim, an immigrant filmmaker with dreams of her roots and a scenario that binds their stories in ways they never anticipated." In the midst of the Arab Spring's upheaval, "Borrowed Memories" unravels a tale of shifting identities and the profound impact of memory. Meet Ivan Pyefinch, a freelance translator seeking solace in the Thousand Islands in Canada as he tends to his aging parents, Horace and Aida. Horace, a former World War II pilot, fights to reclaim his driver’s license, while Aida grapples with the relentless advance of Alzheimer’s. Their borrowed time is both a burden and a gift, and Ivan is determined to make the most of it. Enter Mia Hakim, an immigrant filmmaker from Quebec with a penchant for other people's memories and an unyielding quest for her Sephardic roots. When she seeks Ivan's help in translating her scenario for a research trip to Tunisia, the collision of their worlds becomes inevitable. As Mia unexpectedly arrives at the Pyefinch home on the eve of Remembrance Day, a family health crisis sets in motion a profound narrative that explores the intricacies of love, loss, and the perennial search for identity. Praised by the Guernica jury as "an evocative and nuanced story," "Borrowed Memories" immerses readers in Ivan's poignant journey. His ambivalence and longing, caught between the echoes of his parents and the enigmatic Mia, create a captivating internal odyssey.