RANDALL WHITE. HOME AND NATIVE LAND. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2026. Like many others no doubt, I have a few personal memories of the disastrous events of September 11, 2001 in New York City. One is a phone call from the only friend from my Toronto high-school days I am still in touch […]

RANDALL WHITE. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. Friday, September 4, 2026. The print copy of the 13 August 2026 issue of the London Review of Books has finally arrived at my front door. And I have finally had a chance to read its lead article — Emily Wilson’s controversial review of the new movie on Homer’s ancient […]

RANDALL WHITE. HOME AND NATIVE LAND. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2026. Here on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario (where the Indigenous Wendat “name Lacus Ontario was first recorded in 1660 by Francis Creuxius”), not far from a 17th century Seneca village, it is impossible to resist the thought that the USA USA […]

RANDALL WHITE. HOME AND NATIVE LAND. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2026. My immediate reaction to how the Government of Canada has just stood up for the home team in the ongoing trade war unleashed on the true north strong and free by the increasingly wild and crazy Trump administration next door is four […]

RANDALL WHITE. HOME AND NATIVE LAND. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2026. Through no fault of my own or that of anyone at all close, I live in one of the three Canadian federal electoral districts (or ridings in the old school lexicon) where a byelection is taking place this coming Monday, August 31 […]

RANDALL WHITE, CANADIAN REPUBLIC NOTEBOOK. TORONTO. FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2026. Toronto’s annual “Canadian National Exhibition” (CNE) starts just a week ahead — August 21, ending Labour Day, September 7. And this is just one day before the start of Vancouver’s 2026 “Pacific National Exhibition” (PNE) — August 22–September 7. These seasonal fairs in the air […]

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2/026. With the fabled local “Exhibition Weather” almost about to settle over this Canadian metropolis where I live, I have just been inspired by two pieces in the July 23, 2026 issue of the New York Review of Books. The first is “Space Oddity … Quinn […]

RANDALL WHITE. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2026. A few days ago Curtis Fric at Canadian Polling posted “After Years of Control, Ford Faces a Real Fight … A string of weaker polls and collapsing approval ratings are raising new questions about Doug Ford’s political future.” (1) Ford faltering? Curtis Fric’s post also raises […]

RANDALL WHITE. FERNWOOD PARK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2026. Among many other things, the 180 forest fires currently burning in (mostly Northern) Ontario — see eg “Ontario firefighters battling record wildfires … Ford government says it has increased resources” — bring a largely still evaded big difference between “Near Northern” and “Far Northern” Ontario into […]

RANDALL WHITE, NORTH AMERICAN NOTEBOOK, TORONTO. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2/026. One of my approaches to coping with the extreme summer heat and wildfire smoke we are currently assailed by in Toronto (along with many adjacent places in both Canada and the US) has been to sit in my most air-conditioned room, and read the latest […]