Renowned novelist speaks at library event

By Jeremy Appel on November 25, 2017.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

The Medicine Hat Public Library held a special event Friday for donors to celebrate the opening of its newly-renovated theatre, featuring a talk from acclaimed Canadian novelist Terry Fallis.

Fallis spoke in the theatre about the inspiration behind his new book “One Brother Shy,” reading a passage from it before taking questions from the audience.

“I’m really honoured to be the inaugural speaker at the new theatre,” said Fallis. “Libraries play such an important role in the community. Wherever I go, I’m often speaking at libraries and I know what an essential part they play in the life of the community.”

The protagonist in “One Brother Shy” discovers after his single mother passes away he has a long-lost identical twin brother.

“This is what really sets … the story on its path,” said Fallis. “I think of this as a funny novel about discovery and recovery.”

Fallis never had an estranged sibling or father, but he spoke at length about his relationship with his own identical twin brother, Tim, which inspired the story’s major plot.

“The novel is not autobiographical really in any way,” he emphasized. “We grew up in a nuclear family, very happily married, an idyllic childhood in Toronto in a corner house down the street from a park.

“None of this relates to the story, but if I had written a novel about what my life was like, you wouldn’t have read it, because it’s not particularly interesting, so you have to create some wild, insane story.”

Fallis, a former federal Liberal Party strategist, revealed that he and his brother played hockey with Conservative former prime minister Stephen Harper in Toronto in the early-1970s, showing their team photo.

“It’s kind of odd that I should have gone on to write two satirical novels about Canadian politics, driven largely by growing frustration with how we practice politics in this country.

“That frustration reached its zenith during the reign of Stephen Harper, although I don’t absolve my own party of guilt in this.

“Even back then, Harper was a dedicated right-winger,” he joked.

The grand public re-opening of the theatre occurs today at 1 p.m.

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