I always knew who Doris was, but it was with Jack's passing that I came to know her as the wonderful, warm person she is. She wrote to me after I wrote in this newsletter, a memorial to her husband Jack when he died. I had always valued greatly, a section of a speech Jack had given about art education, and when he passed away, I printed it verbatim as an editorial. Doris wrote to me saying that we couldn't have chosen a finer obituary than that speech, and I was warmed and flattered by her appreciation.

In 2000-2001 while I volunteered to be the Executive Director for Artropolis 2001, Doris always championed the cause, lending her support and officially opening the exhibition. On that opening night, she quoted Jack, and her speech brought tears to her eyes, my eyes and those of many, many in the room. She made the event's opening most memorable and personal.

When I was in high school, a friend of mine died suddenly. He had a rare blood disease leaving him with virtually no immune system. I was about fourteen years old. Although I don't remember being told about his death, I do remember how embarrassed I was and how strange I felt when, several days after his death, I went to his house, knocked on the door and asked for him. I was kindly and gently informed (again) of his passing, by the same person who had apparently told me the first time. I felt like an idiot and said so, and I wondered aloud how I could have "forgot". It was impossible to believe that he was gone.

That same sensation of disbelief happens every time someone I care about passes away. I shall miss Doris and the annual birthday lunches we enjoyed at the Wedgewood Hotel with her dear friend Abraham Rogatnick. I hope that the community and the Shadbolt's estate will enable the VIVA awards to continue to honour the role both Doris and Jack have played in our community over so long a period of time.

The VIVA awards are cash awards recognizing emerging BC visual artists every year, and every five years the VIVA Award is a single large award given to a local artist who is securing an international reputation. Doris and Jack Shadbolt established the endowment that yields the cash awards each year.

Jack created extraordinary art, and Doris, exquisite scholarship. Of all the great names in painting on the West Coast, my favourite was Jack. I saw such passion in his work, as I did in the work of Emily Carr. Both these great artists referenced the inspiration of the art of First Nations peoples. They will be missed, but their names and their influence never forgotten.

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I had three weeks off work during the holidays, so my traditional form of enjoying the season was a week longer than usual. What I do during the holidays is read. This year, I read twelve non-fiction books (my addiction), one novel (written by a physicist, however, and about Einstein and his theories on time) and two anthologies of short stories. What an indulgence! Two of the books worthy of mentioning here are "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" and "The Man who Lost His Language."

"Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" is by Ross Hill, author of "Bruneleschi's Dome." Mr. Hill has an incredibly accessible writing style that makes history come alive. Reading the book gave me the feeling of being there and I couldn't put it down. I never read "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (a highly romantic, novelized version of Michelangelo's story) but I saw bits of the movie. This book corrects many false impressions made by that movie.

Imagine a time when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel and Raphael was also painting frescos at the Vatican, both of them working on commissions from a Pope who waged wars and died of syphilis. And mixed into these times, were unique difficulties that came to Michelangelo from his family-brothers who all wanted his money and a father who stole his money. It is fabulous reading and I was lucky to have a large format and detailed picture book of the Sistine Chapel on my bookshelf that allowed me to look at the sections of the ceiling that were being discussed in the book. (The book contains very small impressions of the ceiling.)

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"The Man who Lost His Language" is by Sheila Hale. This book was satisfying on many levels. First, I have an interest in aphasia - loss of language. This interest has taught me how complex speech is-from impulse, to motor control of the mouth, of aspiration, knowledge of syntax and vocabulary, to tone, pitch, volume, inflection, etc., etc. Memory plays a vital role in language as well. Speech involves many parts of the brain, language is centered usually, in one place.

"The Man who Lost His Language" is, more than anything, a love story. Sheila Hale moves mountains and writes an incredible book about the process, to understand what is wrong with her husband. Her husband, after suffering a massive stroke, loses his language. That is not losing his speech-losing language is far more complex.

John Hale, prior to his stroke, was a Director of England's National Gallery and a key member of the Acquisition Committee. He also wrote and produced films and television shows on historical visual artworks, each one illustrated by work from the National Gallery's collection. The Queen honoured him for his scholarship on his nation's artistic treasures, prior to having his accident. This passion of his for art, made the book doubly interesting for me. One moment that stands out is when, after an incredible persistence on his wife's part, he is finally brought to therapists who help him find a vestige of the language he had once possessed. His wife and his therapists are rewarded one day when he writes his first word: "Vermeer."

Whereas his mind cannot provide him with language, he does not lose his love of art. Although he is also a lover of fine music, he cannot tolerate music immediately following his accident. Years later, his love of music returns and he spends hours air conducting his favourite pieces. It is a wonderful book, with a decent portion of it almost clinical in its revelations about brain injury and speech. Ultimately, Sheila Hale's book is a scathing attack on the medical system in the way it treats seniors and stroke victims. My eyes were opened wide.