From news to history

Toni Lucas

Toni Lucas

The fine slice between "news" and 'history' can be mere moments.  I am used to looking at history as if it is from the far distant past.  Many feel that an action or event does not pass into history until it no longer has any impact on those that are living.  I do not have delusions that the past has no impact on current events.  Our Canadian parliamentary system sprouted from roots in England that has its' own origins in Rome, that was adapted from Greece, who borrowed  bits from the Babylonians.  What surprised me was the realization that I have been recording the history of our area, albeit as it happens.


History gave me comfort.  I enjoyed history, and still comprehend it more than 'news'.  The study of the past is something that I did not shy away from.  I have always been one of those that tended to think of the news and history as two separate events, only thinly linked by tablets, scrolls, and the scribblings of the dedicated.  News was the complications the archaeologists faced at the dig, the history was their findings.  I was always more interested in the findings.

I still love the past coming alive in stories of humanity, valor, dignity, and bravery.  I admit that all history does not inflame me to passion.  The shopping list of a family in Crete in the 1100s would not have me poring over the details of what they had consumed.   It might spark my curiosity as to whether everyone in the area could write at that point in history, and who held the pen. Was it an educated slave?  The head of the household?  The mistress of the house?  Was everyone in that region literate at that time?  Perhaps it was only the men, or the rich that were educated.  Was a written account of anything an anomaly?

I have been fascinated how the same event can result in differing accounts and interpretations, from a variety of viewpoints.   I have also become wrapped up in translations and interpretations of events.  I have been intrigued by the differences and similarities between my life and whoever I am reading about in history.  Now there is the abundance of media that it can be interpreted through.  No longer limited to paper, I can listen to an audio presentation, or see a show or movie, if someone has taken the time to create a version of that which peaked my interest and curiosity.

One example that sprang to my mind of these myriad of variations on a single theme: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".  I think most people are familiar with some version of the tale.   I read the book as a child, and saw the classic movie.  I have also seen plays, movies and cartoons relating particular story.  The most recent to come to my attention is "Wicked', related from the viewpoint of the witch from the west, a set of eyes that I had never previously considered looking through.  I was exposed to the lovable Dorothy at such a young age that I had never personally imagined the story from the point of the persecuted, unloved, unattractive witch.  True to most of our egocentric world views, the witch truly believed that she was fighting for the cause of good in this telling rendition of the tale.

I think my love of history has helped me to report on this area (Pincher Creek).  I do not count myself as a great journalist.  I have always been more of a historian at heart.  To be specific, I have always loved stories, and the sociological side of the history is what drew me to it as a child, and still holds me.  The verifiable facts have been the binding that can elevate it to a new level of awareness for me.

That is what I now report on.  They are called stories by the media for a reason.  These snippets are a  slice of a moment in a persons life, the event of the day, the actions of people, nature and time.  I have been involved in the process of recording change, as it happens around us.  Stories are a part of the of the tapestry of our area, and that is what has fascinated me about what I am doing.

By the time it flows out of my modern pen, the moment I have described is gone.  It is history, that moment has past.  Journalling about the past is something that I have done for years.  The largest difference is that there usually has been more time between myself and the story.  Looking at it from that perspective, I am well within my comfort zone.