Fiction
The man who ate sunlight
One day in late April, in his fiftieth year, Macklin was laid off by the software company he worked for, and rather than look for another job he decided to take the summer off. FULL STORY
Jumper
A year after his wife was killed, Fitch sold his house in the south end of the city and moved to the North Shore, to a townhouse on the side of a mountain. FULL STORY
What should we talk about now?
Noreen had wheeled her husband into the patio garden of the nursing home and now they were sitting together in the bright June sunlight. FULL STORY
Non-fiction
Guitar hero
Globe and Mail, Sept 2009
The nadir of my music career was grade seven choir, where I was ordered by the music teacher to stand in the back row with four other shlubs who couldn’t carry a tune and lip-synch the lyrics to a dozen carols at the annual Xmas concert. FULL STORY
No questions, just lend a hand
Globe and Mail, May 2008
A few Sundays ago, the day after my grand-daughter died, I went to visit my mother. FULL STORY
Goodbye Amelia
Globe and Mail, April 2008
On the morning of Tuesday, June 26, 2007, I went into hospital to donate a kidney to my 27-year-old grand-daughter Amelia. FULL STORY
Joint Venture
Globe and Mail, Aug 2007
On the day of the transplant, I woke up at 5, a few minutes before the alarm. I got out of bed, put on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, took the dog out, and carried the garbage cans out to the curb. FULL STORY
Sailing into the rainforest
Vancouver Sun, Mar 2006
The black bear was enjoying a late dinner in a clearing near the riverbank. He looked up, leafy greens still in his mouth, and stared at us. FULL STORY
The Year of Magical Thinking
Vancouver Sun, Oct 2005
For close to forty years now, Joan Didion has used her masterful skills as a non-fiction writer to conduct a subtle and persistent interrogation of American culture and political life. FULL STORY
Losing our religion
Globe and Mail, Feb 2005
Social change can shake the ground like thunder, but it can also arrive as silently as a sunrise. In 2001 almost five million Canadians told Statistics Canada that they have no religion. FULL STORY
Ponce de Leon was looking in the wrong place
Vancouver Sun, Feb 2005
Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was searching for the elusive Fountain of Youth when he landed on the coast of Florida back in 1513. He never found it. I think I know why. He was on the wrong boat. FULL STORY
Meet Alice, the 10-year-old ethicist
Globe and Mail, February 2005
Is there any entity on the planet more predictable than a giant corporation? In typical copycat fashion, Nortel Networks has overreacted to its recent accounting misadventures by creating the post of Chief Ethics Officer. FULL STORY
Jumper
Geist, Spring 2004
One night I drove to Lions Gate Bridge over Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, to research a short story I was writing about a lonely, suicidal widower. FULL STORY
Miami Beach Exile
Geist, Summer 2003
In the fall of 1972 I packed all my belongings in the trunk of an old Volkswagen and drove south from Toronto to Miami, where I planned to paint houses for the winter and make enough money for university the next fall. FULL STORY
What should we talk about now?
Geist Spring 2002
For the last six months, my father has spent all of his nights and most of his days in a pink room on the second floor of LeisureWorld, a nursing home near Lake Ontario in suburban Toronto. FULL STORY
Ladder 25
Geist Winter 2001
Ladder 25 of the New York City Fire Department is a small fire station on West 77th Street, on the upper west side of Manhattan. FULL STORY
Why I sail
Spring 2003
Few sailors will admit it, but sailing is mostly about escape. We sail to get away, and often dream of staying away, as though our boats could provide passage to a different and better life. FULL STORY
On fear
Spring 2004
I went to the west coast of Vancouver Island not too long ago to research a novel about castaways. FULL STORY
The man who ate sunlight
One day in late April, in his fiftieth year, Macklin was laid off by the software company he worked for, and rather than look for another job he decided to take the summer off. FULL STORY
Jumper
A year after his wife was killed, Fitch sold his house in the south end of the city and moved to the North Shore, to a townhouse on the side of a mountain. FULL STORY
What should we talk about now?
Noreen had wheeled her husband into the patio garden of the nursing home and now they were sitting together in the bright June sunlight. FULL STORY
Non-fiction
Guitar hero
Globe and Mail, Sept 2009
The nadir of my music career was grade seven choir, where I was ordered by the music teacher to stand in the back row with four other shlubs who couldn’t carry a tune and lip-synch the lyrics to a dozen carols at the annual Xmas concert. FULL STORY
No questions, just lend a hand
Globe and Mail, May 2008
A few Sundays ago, the day after my grand-daughter died, I went to visit my mother. FULL STORY
Goodbye Amelia
Globe and Mail, April 2008
On the morning of Tuesday, June 26, 2007, I went into hospital to donate a kidney to my 27-year-old grand-daughter Amelia. FULL STORY
Joint Venture
Globe and Mail, Aug 2007
On the day of the transplant, I woke up at 5, a few minutes before the alarm. I got out of bed, put on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, took the dog out, and carried the garbage cans out to the curb. FULL STORY
Sailing into the rainforest
Vancouver Sun, Mar 2006
The black bear was enjoying a late dinner in a clearing near the riverbank. He looked up, leafy greens still in his mouth, and stared at us. FULL STORY
The Year of Magical Thinking
Vancouver Sun, Oct 2005
For close to forty years now, Joan Didion has used her masterful skills as a non-fiction writer to conduct a subtle and persistent interrogation of American culture and political life. FULL STORY
Losing our religion
Globe and Mail, Feb 2005
Social change can shake the ground like thunder, but it can also arrive as silently as a sunrise. In 2001 almost five million Canadians told Statistics Canada that they have no religion. FULL STORY
Ponce de Leon was looking in the wrong place
Vancouver Sun, Feb 2005
Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was searching for the elusive Fountain of Youth when he landed on the coast of Florida back in 1513. He never found it. I think I know why. He was on the wrong boat. FULL STORY
Meet Alice, the 10-year-old ethicist
Globe and Mail, February 2005
Is there any entity on the planet more predictable than a giant corporation? In typical copycat fashion, Nortel Networks has overreacted to its recent accounting misadventures by creating the post of Chief Ethics Officer. FULL STORY
Jumper
Geist, Spring 2004
One night I drove to Lions Gate Bridge over Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, to research a short story I was writing about a lonely, suicidal widower. FULL STORY
Miami Beach Exile
Geist, Summer 2003
In the fall of 1972 I packed all my belongings in the trunk of an old Volkswagen and drove south from Toronto to Miami, where I planned to paint houses for the winter and make enough money for university the next fall. FULL STORY
What should we talk about now?
Geist Spring 2002
For the last six months, my father has spent all of his nights and most of his days in a pink room on the second floor of LeisureWorld, a nursing home near Lake Ontario in suburban Toronto. FULL STORY
Ladder 25
Geist Winter 2001
Ladder 25 of the New York City Fire Department is a small fire station on West 77th Street, on the upper west side of Manhattan. FULL STORY
Why I sail
Spring 2003
Few sailors will admit it, but sailing is mostly about escape. We sail to get away, and often dream of staying away, as though our boats could provide passage to a different and better life. FULL STORY
On fear
Spring 2004
I went to the west coast of Vancouver Island not too long ago to research a novel about castaways. FULL STORY