Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice
Jack Layton died Monday night.
I will leave the punditry to other sources, since I'm sure there will be enough of it to go around. Instead, I will reflect on the good and decent man I met very briefly many years ago.
I met Jack Layton very briefly sometime around 1980. I was a High School student at Hudson High School in Hudson, Quebec, the same school Layton had attended some years before.
Jack asked us to call him Jack, so I will.
Jack came and gave a small speech to our school, a welcome if somewhat boring diversion from classes. I forget entirely the text of that speech, but have ever since remembered the warmth of the man who gave it. I was editor of the school paper back then, a laborious task involving my use of a battered typwriter with dying ribbons, glue sticks, and running around town looking for advertising. I therefore felt I should talk to the man, and joined the queue to speak to him personally.
It was personal, too. I believe Jack was a conservative then, but my memory may be faulty.
What remains in my memory of the event was his directness, and his willingness to treat us, to treat me, like an individual. I believe we briefly talked about Mrs. Peyton, a teacher who inspired several generations of local students. Mrs. Peyton drove a big flag-red car with a Canadian flag on it, a risky bit of business in separatist Quebec, particularly during referendum season.
Every time I've seen Jack on television since then my mind has flashed back to that day. There was a direct honesty about the man that I've very rarely encountered in other politicians. I've agreed or disagreed with him over the many years since, but I've never since doubted that he believed in the things he said and stood for. A hometown boy to be proud of. We're going to miss you, Jack.
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| Hudson High Student Voice c 1980 Chris Davis, Editor |
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