Anchors Away!

Stanley Burke 

Patriarch and peacemaker, veteran CBC news anchor, journalist, foreign correspondent, author, humourist and peacekeeper, dad, husband, great friend. What a life! What an arc of life dad had! He was as colourful and dynamic as the comets he loved to paint as a young man. Dad had a beautiful mind and a beautiful heart and a sweetness that people responded to with love. He was easy to love. The world fell in love with him, his sparkling intellect and irrepressible humour. 

We are having a celebration in his honour next Saturday. We wish Stanley well on his next voyage!

Serendipity and Coping with the Unexpected

Here is an excerpt from a proposal that dad wrote in the 70s for a community he planned to build on his father's land on Cape Roger Curtis.

The conventional planning process attempts to provide for all eventualities and thus the unexpected comes as a shock, almost an insult. At a time when shocks come with ever greater frequency, the result is dismay and evidence of dangerous fatigue.  

We suggest that an answer lies in reversing the thought process so as to recognize the inevitability of unexpected events and secondly, to organize small, flexible, diversified social units which can more easily adapt.  

It can be likened to preparing a ship for sea. If the vessel is sound and the crew ready, a storm can be supremely satisfying. For a crew 'programmed' for calm weather however, the result can be terror and disaster. 

At the Institute of Resource Ecology, an important part of the research program concerns resilience - how many shocks can an organism sustain, often without visible effect, before it collapses? How can resilience be maintained, in human systems as well as in nature?

There has been a tremendous outpouring at the passing of my father, mentor and friend. In his later years living on Amherst Island with my stepmother, Peggy Coulter, he worked very hard on a book that was very close to his heart and in many ways lit his path at the end of his life. This book was unfinished.

Stanley Burke on Memorial Day 2015

Dad was sleeping when I called, so Rebecca, the new helping hand, described this morning's scene...

Da attended the Amherst Island Memorial Day event today, looking fantastic in his uniform. He was the only man there in uniform. With the help of several little children, Dad carried a wreath and laid it in place. I can just imagine. I thanked Rebecca for painting that picture in my mind. How I wish I could have been there. We live too far apart. Most of us are here in Vancouver, with only Dad and Peggie on Amherst. So it is. That's Dad with cousin Patrick Burke, the Dad with brother Brian Burke, and Peggie with me. Love those selfies. I couldn't find a shot of Dad in his uniform, though I know I've seen a good one, somewhere.

Today is #PeaceDay: Who Will You Make Peace With?