Letters from Rona / Sort by date

Once upon a time I had a supremely organized assistant who kept my calendar in order. When she was in charge of my life's little details, I never showed up on Tuesday for meetings to take place on Thursday (or vice versa). [more]

As far as my parents were concerned, I had come to the University of Toronto to study. In fact my goal was to experience teen sex--and with it what seemed to me the full glory of the 60s--while I still could. In October I would turn 19. That gave me a year to raise my small facsmile of hell. [more]

I have a friend who never fails to ask, when we meet for dinner and a long heart-to-heart, "So how's Ben doing? Any wedding plans yet?" [more]

Once upon a time I wrote the career column for Miss Chatelaine magazine, where I had landed my first job. Miss Chatelaine could not afford a real career expert, any more than I could afford a navy suit on what they paid me. My advice came mostly from how-to books but wrapped in spunky, no-stopping-you prose, it made for a convincing read. Now Hannah Seligson, born in 1982, has written a career guide for the Girl Power generation. And to judge from her advice, not a whole lot has changed since my day. [more]

As a Hillary supporter, I'm supposed to identify with you. To let you carry the banner of female power and purpose into the next election, despite the fact that when it comes to the issues, you and I agree on absolutely nothing. But we do share one very personal bond. You see, I'm a grandmother. Like you and Bristol, I was caught off guard by an accidental pregnancy. But to everyone's continuing relief, my grandson's parents never married. [more]

The cool look for an urban male, this summer that's just about over, is reportedly plaid shorts, a white T-shirt and flip flops. Tell that to the smiling band of brothers who have lately appeared on Toronto's east-west subway line dressed for school photos of days gone by--pressed gray pants, crisp white shirts, jackets and ties. You'll never catch them zoning out like the rest of us blank-eyed commuters. They're much too busy chatting up strangers, and the other day one of them had the cheek to pick me. [more]

By now it's widely agreed that Hillary Clinton blew her history-making campaign for President. She did not lose because she was female. And yet it was the inconvenient fact of her gender that pushed her supporters to downplay her empathetic side and come on like an aggressive, armoured warrior queen. Now John McCain has stunned his party by picking first-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Just how big are those famous 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling? [more]

The Space Cowboy, a tattooed trickster from Australia, wowed my jaded grandson at Buskerfest, Toronto's annual celebration of street theatre. Then it was time for grownup entertainment: the Toronto premiere of Jersey Boys, which celebrates the triumphantly hummable hits of the Four Seasons while telling a human story about being undone by one's own hard-won dream and finding the grace to go on. If this show doesn't pull in the crowds, I'll swallow a double-edged sword. [more]

When I was 14, with a brand-new $35 guitar and my own frizzy take on Joan Baez's flowing hair, I sent a buck to the Columbia Record Club and acquired a whole clutch of LPs for my folk collection: Peter, Paul and Mary (too slick), the New Christy Minstrels (too hokey), Harry Belafonte (my grandmother's heartthrob) and a minstrel poet who won my heart with his image on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. [more]

The Hamilton bus terminal, where I killed time yesterday while waiting for a friend to sweep me away to the Bob Dylan concert, is not my idea of a woman-friendly hangout. But I'd brought a good book to distract me and create a Dylanish mood: Straight from the Fridge, Dad: a Dictionary of Hipster Slang. [more]

Okay, I accept it. I'm going to grow old. Either that or die too soon, a prospect so flat-out unacceptable that I'm practically ready to shout, "Bring on the signs of cronehood! The memory lapses, the wattles, the chin hairs and saggy bits! And while you're at it, bring me a mighty cane that I can bang with authority and vigour when young pups displease me." [more]

I'm breaking out the virtual champagne today. It's been exactly one year since I launched ronamaynard.com, and connecting with you online has been even more rewarding than I could have guessed. In case you're new to this community, I've rounded up a few of my favourite posts. If you're an old friend, I'd love to know if yours is among them. Either way, thank you for coming. Without the inspiration you've provided in your comments and e-mail messages, this wouldn't be my online home. [more]