by Stephen T. Lewis

The lives of the members of The Band, all of whom are no longer with us, have been heavily documented. Levon Helm started it off with an excellent autobiography. Robbie Robertson wrote one that's pretty interesting. Joe Forno Jr. wrote a good book about Helm; he was also a friend of Richard Manuel, and helped him sort out his business affairs, same as he did for Helm. Steven T. Lewis has weighed in with an extensive biography of pianist, singer, songwriter, and drummer Richard Manuel.

I have one criticism of this book, and will give it to you up front; Lewis sometimes goes overboard with the flowery prose. Some examples: "Now stood Richard, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer, an equal member of a cadre of men who were on their way to becoming one of the most respected musical groups in the world." He described their concerts at the Fillmore East in 1969 "as close to perfection as a rock group could get." "Woodstock cemented the Band's legacy and introduced them to a magnitude of live performance previously unknown to musicians." Lewis claims that the Hawks and The Band were the best groups of their time. Well, that's his opinion, but fans of the Allman Brothers, Chicago, and Jethro Tull, just to name three, could easily disagree.

My cover of a song by Robbie Robertson.

Videographer Angela Matthews was my house/cat sitter for the month of October, 2019. She made this great video.

I recorded and edited this. Includes Spanish subtitles/subtitulo en español.

A documentary film about Volcán de Pacaya and Volcán de Fuego, including video footage of the latter.

A recognition from the Western Canada Wilderness Committee for 18 years as a Director, at the Annual General Meeting on December 6, 2008. That's Mike Gildersleeve on the on the right. Photo by Paul Morgan.