Roots Beneath the Pavement

Pasted below are messages from another thread that related to a book called "Roots Beneath the Pavement" by M. Laurel Buck. I have just received a note from the author that there are some copies available at $20.00 each. If anyone is interested you can contact her at: mlbuck@shaw.ca

 

From: MaggieMcK

Sent: 30/03/2007 5:03 PM

EXCERPT FROM ROOTS BENEATH             THE PAVEMENT, a Tribute to Verdun                 by one of her reluctant children,                             1930s-1940s        In retrospect, there was a strong attitude of live and let live in Verdun. I recall that when we children became old enough to go  to school, eventually we would hear, of course, two different perspectives on what happened in the eighteenth century battle of the Plains of Abraham. Then we would call each other les maudis Anglais and French pea-soupers. Why? I didn't really know because my mother frequently made pea-soup which I greatly enjoyed.     Were we Verdunites of those days, generally, the consummate example of the two solitudes? Perhaps, but each solitude was buttressed by institutions that created community that fostered culture as communities do. The German poet, M. Rainier Rilke, first coined the phrase, two solitudes, in reference, as I understand, to the need of respect for one another's individual identity within a relationship. I believe, therefore, the meaning of two solitudes was not to convey the inevitability of sharp division, but the challenge for a balance in relationship; it seems to me that the Canadian novelist, Hugh MacLennan meant to convey nothing less than this in his novel, Two Solitudes, set in Montreal.     I remember the crest of Verdun, a fortress supported by two towers; beneath, are the words, E Viribus Duorum, [built on the strength] of two peoples. My perspective today, therefore, is that the Verdun of my childhood and youth, with few exceptions, was marked by tolerance, which, in spite of change in the makeup of the people, continues as an important part of Verdun's legacy.   provided by M. Laurel Buck:

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From: geniegal9 Sent: 30/03/2007 11:33 PM Thanks for that excerpt, Maggie.  I believe those of us whose mother tongue is English and who grew up in Montreal before Bill-101 have a different world view from any other Canadians.  We were exposed to a richness of experience unavailable anywhere else in the country.  We lived in what is seen as two cultures. But we melded both so that for us it was just a single culture with many facets. Today Canadians from outside Quebec travel to Montreal and experience it as a culture very different from that of their home towns.  We, on the other hand, shared in it, modified it and were modified by it.  What a great place it was to grow up in. Phyllis

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From: biking2006 Sent: 31/03/2007 12:29 AM Maggie is this book published?

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From: MaggieMcK Sent: 31/03/2007 8:46 AM Yes, Roots Beneath the Pavement was first published in 1998. You can order a copy from the author, she has just had 100 copies reprinted by John Abbott College   The price of the book is $25.00 plus cost of mailing, approximately $2.70.    mlbuck@shaw.ca

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From: Guy5479 Sent: 31/03/2007 9:49 AM 80 year old Laurel Buck is the invited guest at the Dawson Cultural Centre on Woodland in Verdun on the 12th of April in the evening, organized buy Kathryn Harvey, historian. Needless to say, everyone is invited and no doubt her book Roots beneath the Pavement will be availbale. Guy