scorned and beloved

Nobody turns a phrase like Bill Richardson.

I was first introduced to Richardson’s word gymnastics when he hosted CBC Radio’s now-gone (sadly) "Richardson’s Roundup" on weekday afternoons. I soon discovered that he was an author, too. Scorned and Beloved: Dead of Winter Meetings with Canadian Eccentrics is a whimsical and clever account of his investigations into the worlds of weird and wacky people who have lived from one end of this country to the other. 

There’s the guy who learned to step-dance from a man who visited him in dreams during his childhood. OK, that’s not so far out there. How’s this then: the boy who couldn’t keep his pants on and claimed the devil removed them; he was even a circus attraction for a time. One man lived in a cave dug into a pile of manure, and ate from a pot of hot swill he kept on his woodstove, and yes, the stove was kept in the cave along with his livestock. He disliked women, glaring whenever he saw them, and I don’t imagine they were too thrilled to get a glimpse of him, either.

These and many others come to life under the deft pen of Bill Richardson, whose delight in people’s stories comes through vividly and whose humour and intelligence dazzle from beginning to end.

You can find this book here.