Speaking in 2012 with CBC-TV anchor Amy Smith, with whom she’d worked at The Chronicle Herald, former Tory Education Minister Jane Purves weighed in on the state of the three Rs in Nova Scotia in the wake of astonishingly bad Grade 12 provincial math results.
“I don’t know what the problem is except teachers and principals and whether or not the board and the staff really care about kids because those are atrocious scores … On a bad day, I often think, what do we have here but a giant babysitting service, and the only kids who do well are geniuses or who have support at home.”
It was this kind of candor that endeared the erstwhile journalist, who died last weekend at 63, to her many friends, colleagues and admirers, among them Herald columnist Marilla Stephenson, her one-time executive assistant Chad Rogers and Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison, whose right-hand man Dale Palmeter twice served as her campaign manager.
With the writing on the wall August 5, 2003, the night she not only lost her Halifax Citadel seat to Liberal Leader Danny Graham but finished third behind NDP candidate Peter Delefes,Jane nonetheless exhibited her trademark humour amidst the backdrop of the evening’s devastating election returns.
“I can’t believe how well the Marijuana Party is doing,” she joked within earshot of then-Frank Magazine reporter Cliff Boutilier.
“I’d like them to say, ‘she could always make them laugh out loud,’” Jane told the Herald in a January 2013 videotaped interview when asked what she’d like people to say about her post-mortem.
The video is equal parts humour and brutal honesty and will persevere as a testament to both her character and her passion for life, family and work.
Mourners will gather to pay their final respects to Jane Friday morning at Halifax’s Cathedral of All Saints.
STRICTLY BUSINESS:
Coffee Culture, the cozy, caffeinated coffeeteria located at the corner of Larry Uteck and Southgate Boulevards is about to get some major competition in the form of Seattle-based brewing behemoth Starbucks. Neighbourhood informants say the Starbucks – together with a new Pizzatown location – will eventually occupy the mid-construction edifice in the corner of the Guardian Pharmacy parking lot.
Construction of a nearby CIBC is underway on the opposite side of Nine Mile Drive.
Steve Earle of WCL Bauld tells me his insurance company, which boasts and will continue to maintain locations in Dartmouth, Antigonish and on the Bedford Highway, hopes to open in its new location in early July.
Meanwhile, over in “old” Bedford, I see where True Beauty Salon & Spa is preparing to set up shop in the space formerly occupied by Gusto Vita, which closed up shop a couple months back. According to the N.S. Registry of Joint Stocks, True Beauty is owned by Jessica Fletcher, whose name has no doubt been synonymous with Angela Lansbury’s fictional Cabot Cove homicide magnet since Murder, She Wrote took to the airwaves in the 1980s.
Over in Dartmouth, Glenn Martin’s Comfort & Joy location in Woodlawn is in the midst of a closing-out sale. Giftware king Glenn, who recently shut the door on C&J’s Sunnyside Mall store, will maintain his presence in Lunenburg and at Park Lane.
Speaking of Glenn, who also owns Frieze & Roy in bucolic Maitland, Hants County, he appears to be just days away from opening a lovely new store, Limoncello Lifestyle, at Halifax’s Historic Properties. Focusing on Canadian artisans, Limoncello will proudly feature Fiesta Artwork by Holly Carr, as well as pottery by Hibbon Potters and Fish by Fire of New Brunswick, and an eclectic mix of one-of-a-kind collectibles and gift items. All going according to plan, the Glenn’s latest enterprise should be ready to throw open its doors to the public this coming weekend.
In food news, I’m told Bedford-based Finbars will be expanding into Portland Hills in the coming weeks, while the Kempt Road McDonald’s (my go-to location!) will shut down mid-July as interior renovations ramp up.
And while I don’t pretend to any sort of economic genius, I expect the scheduled fall move of growing Gottingen Street tech company T4G to the former World Wide Furniture location could be good news for the aforementioned Golden Arches franchise and other fatty treat emporiums nestled along that particular fast food/automotive strip. Having outgrown their old 9,500 sq. ft. Hydrostone-handy digs, Red Door Realty dude Steve Patterson is on the hunt for a new lessee to replace the T4G crowd.
Speaking of vacancies, Mic Mac Mall will be down a tenant come the end of June, as upscale ladies’ shop Samuel & Co. will be permanently closing that location.
MISCELLANEA:
In wishing her well, chief newsie Steve Murphy, provided a brief retrospective of the Alma, Pictou County native’s on-screen career. Watch it here:
Fun Starr Dobson fact: On September 25, 1985, Starr Dobson (then still Starr Cunningham) appeared in The Chronicle Herald’s FASHION section, sporting a two-piece ensemble from Unitex Ltd., a Pictou County uniform outfit.
Andrea Pottyondy, artist wife of NDP Eastern Shore MP Peter Stoffer, has a series of 27 paintings on display at the Lunenburg Art Gallery. The exhibition, called Inspiration, Meditation, runs until June 16. Andrea will also be on hand, with a show of her tulip paintings, at the Art Sales & Rental Gallery on Hollis Street, for a meet and greet June 9. Another show of her works is scheduled to run at Brandt Eisner’s Swoon on the Hammonds Plains Road in November.
Dal Dentistry School grad Dr. Faiza Siddiqi has joined Dr. Errol Gaum’s Granville Street Dental clinic on the Bedford Highway.
Jeff Stockhausen, aka @anigmati on Twitter, is the new Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Cancer Society Nova Scotia Division, replacing outgoing Chair Nancy Barteaux, who will sit alongside Faten Alshazly, Jeff Aucoin (Honorary Solicitor), Mike Bagnell, Carey Blair, David Boyd, Dr. Carman Giacomantonio, Carolyn Johnson, David Landrigan, John Malcolm, Bryan Mason, Chris Nolan, Susan Payne, Rosalind Penfound, Elaine Rankin, Barbara Stead-Coyle and Kathryn Wiley on the 2013-2014 Board.
Accrording to The Chronicle Herald, former Daily News editor Bretton Loney was “a finalist in the Writer’s Union of Canada’s 20th Annual Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers.” His story, Tommy’s Mother, which was one of 12 stories short-listed from a sea of 500-plus, will be submitted by the Writer’s Union for consideration (along with those written by his fellow finalists) to a trio of Canadian magazine publishers.
GLAD TIDINGS:
Happy belated birthday wishes go out to West Kings District High School alum Craig Olejnik, star of CTV’s The Listener, who turned 34 on June 1, and to CBC-TV’s Yvonne Colbert (a.k.a. Mrs. Rick Howe) who I believe celebrated her 57th birthday on June 4.
Congrats also go out to former Global Maritimes hunk Tarek Hageahmad (now in Calgary) and his bride-to-be Lamees Haymour (Who she? – ed), who are scheduled to tie the knot August 10.
SIGHTINGS:
Fudge Guys owner Dale Johnson; RE/MAX agent Cohen MacInnis; Fowler Bauld Mitchell partner Wayne Duncan and his Dept. of Transportation toiling husband Billy McDuff; Agricola Street impressario Fred Connors and husband Joel Flewelling; TD Canada Trust Hemlock Square manager Ken Canning; and Empire Theatres’ Director of Operations Adam Noble at Halifax Pride’s OUTBID fundraising auction at Casino Nova Scotia May 23.
Former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly at the TD Canada Trust in Hemlock Square on May 24.
RBC Dominion Securities advisor/Baton Rouge partner/Scott Brison’s husband Maxime St. Pierre in the Purdy’s Wharf pedway on May 24.
Cox & Palmer lawyer Joe Burke in the Purdy’s Wharf pedway on May 24.
Halifax man about town Bernie Smith, outside Edna on Gottingen Street, on May 29.
Halifax man about town Bernie Smith, at Scotia Square, on May 31.
Spotted in the May 31 edition of The Chronicle Herald: an HRM tax notice claiming Anahid Armoyan, the septuagenarian mother of Syrian-born businessmen Vrege and George Armoyan, owes $158,726 in taxes and interest on a South End property located at 885 Marlborough Woods.
Also spotted in the May 31 edition of The Chronicle Herald: an HRM tax notice claiming taxes and interest owed by Navid Saberi’s United Gulf Developments on properties at 736 Bedford Highway ($7,593), 740 Bedford Highway ($13,677), 511 Ketch Harbour Road ($10,071), and Route 349 at Halibut Bay ($26,129).
EXIT Metro realty guy and Lockeport native Sterling Stephens at the Guardian Pharmacy at Larry Uteck and Southgate Boulevard on June 4.
PASSINGS:
QUIGLEY, Gloria Lorraine, 86, wife of Halifax ophthalmologist Dr. John H. Quigley, on May 10. One of former N.S. Cabinet Minister Terry Donahoe’s biggest boosters in the 1980s and ‘90s, Gloria’s First Baptist Church funeral drew a cross-section of South Enders and politicos of opposing stripes including former N.S. Liberal Party president John Young; past Live at 5 hostess Nancy Regan; Tory Senator Donald Oliver; developer Bob Stappells; Provincial PC Party Director Jim David; and former Tory Party president Helen Gillis. So well attended was the service that I’m told it took nearly 20 minutes just to reach the receiving line.
OKRAKU, Dr. Ishmael, 73, past SMU Sociology prof, on May 12.
GILLIS, E. Brian, 75, Bedford/Lower Sackville home builder/designer and former owner/operator of Gold Key Car Care, on May 19.
HUBLEY, Victor St. Clair “Clair,” erstwhile SMU custodial supervisor, on May 19.
PRICE, Mary Florence MacKay (Morrison), 93, Halifax-born dietician who in the early 1940s worked as a nutritional researcher on the team that fortified bread with vitamins and minerals, on May 20.
GALLAGHER, Joseph Anthony “Joe,” 79, long-time owner/operator of Gallagher Appliance Sales & Service, on May 21.
SHEEHY, Ellis C. “Etch,” 83, past president of the Windsor Schooners Hockey Club, member of the Windsor Hockey Hall of Fame, and brother of former N.S. Health Minister Dr. Gerald Sheehy, on May 21.
DEAN, Dr. Ghulam Mohiuddin, 78, medical doctor and former Bridgewater town councillor, on May 22.
DUMARESQ, J. Philip, 96, third-generation architect whose work includes the Dalhousie Dental School, the Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, several fire stations and more than 125 schools, on May 22.
GUILDFORD, Thomas Kerr, 93, former President and Chairman of the Board of Guildfords Limited, on May 22. He also established Navy Island Marine of Dartmouth, which manufactured fibreglass fishing and utility boats.
SHEARS, Dr. Arthur H., 88, founder and medical director of the Dalhousie School of Physiotherapy, on May 22.
SLAUNWHITE, William Edward “Bill,” 80, 19-year bus driver with the Halifax County School Board, on May 22.
WHITE, Sister Irene Therese, 83, Sister of Charity, on May 22.
CRONK, Robert William “Bob,” 79, former owner/manager of Burnside International Trucks, on May 23.
EISENGRUBER, Josef Paul, 64, optometrist and owner of Emins of Annapolis Royal, on May 23.
BRUSH, Rev. Robert Heywood, 72, Anglican priest and educator, on May 24.
MAILLET, Rev. Leo J.E., 85, Catholic priest, on May 24. The first priest ordained in what was then the newly former Diocese of Yarmouth in 1954, Rev. Maillet went on to serve at parishes in Kentville, Digby, Wolfville, Wedgeport, East Pubnico, and served as the Catholic Chaplain at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital until 2010.
SLAUENWHITE, Gloria May, 84, namesake of her South Shore father, Capt. Irving Corkum’s fishing schooner, the “Gloria May,” on May 25.
ENGLUND, Dr. Roy Emil, 76, orthopaedic surgeon, on May 26.
MURRAY, Irwin “MacKay,” 93, former Dalhousie anatomy professor, on May 26.
MINGO, Edith Peppard (Hawkins), 85, on May 26. The Shubenacadie-born daughter of Senator Charles Gerald Hawkins (who was appointed by Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent), Edith worked at the N.S. Department of Public Welfare and later the Maritime School of Social Work, before marrying now-legendary Halifax lawyer and former Halifax Club president J.W.E. “Bill” Mingo. Her late brother, George Hawkins, once ran for the leadership of the N.S. Liberal Party.
KEDDY, Frederick Grant, 84, Keddy Brothers Farming and Trucking co-owner, on May 27.
COCK, G. Willis, 83, founding member of the Tatamagouche Minor Hockey Association, on May 28.
GRIMM, Doris Lorraine, 77, longtime Caledonia Junior High teacher, on June 2.