A video of her acceptance speech at the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is here A transcript is below. (Check against delivery.) [Maggie Helwig] This is not my book. This book belongs to a community. I am cognizant that I am in the kind of room which I am not in very often, and... Continue Reading →
"The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band embodies defiant beauty." - San Francisco Classical Voice "Julia Keefe came on with her big band and completely blew the roof off of the venue…" - Aisha Ahmad-Post, Newman Center for the Performing Arts Band Statement: Indigenous jazz musicians, ensembles, and big bands have their place in the contemporary... Continue Reading →
Hundreds out for opening of rebuilt baseball field in Summerland Casey Richardson - Apr 18, 2026 / 3:40 pm | Story and photos / Castanet Summerland Click here to view gallery Hundreds of people came out to Summerland's Living Memorial Park on Saturday to celebrate the opening of a special baseball field, more than a... Continue Reading →
Reposted from The Independent Sunday 19 April 2026 NPR (National Public Radio/US) received its largest-ever donation from a living donor this week when billionaire philanthropist Connie Ballmer gave $80 million to the media organization. Ballmer — a former member of the NPR Foundation's board — told the Wall Street Journal that she poured money into... Continue Reading →
Ikonostasis, Orthodox Monastery, Birchdale on Kootenay Lake BC - David Burrows photo Extract from an interview in Sunday’s New York Times between David Bentley Hart and Peter Wehner - The complete interview is worth a careful read David Bentley Hart is one of the world’s most formidable and provocative theological minds. He is an Eastern... Continue Reading →
NASA I don’t get it. We went round the moon first in 1968 and have the pictures to prove it. They were shot with a Hasselblad medium format (2¼ square) film camera — best in class. We all wanted one. Absolutely “cost the moon.” Lived with what we had at the time. Okay, we went... Continue Reading →
Thirty years is a long time. In a culture that values immediacy over and above consistency and longevity, the long-haul commitment to art and to community seems increasingly rare. Until you discover Musaic Vocal Ensemble. Thirty years ago as an Anglican priest, I was the Rector of St. Stephen Anglican Church in Summerland. Early in... Continue Reading →
Dan Bilicki in the Toronto Sun - Published Mar 30, 2026 From one team leader to another, Steve Kerr provided some timely words of encouragement to John Schneider after the Blue Jays manager suffered World Series heartbreak of the highest order. But while the letter from the Golden State Warriors coach was penned and arrived... Continue Reading →
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour, Penticton, Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2025 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray “I don’t think it’s appropriate at all! Please don’t use this image,” snapped a member of one of my former parishes. (Not Summerland I might add.) My critic referred to a setup photograph created at... Continue Reading →
Willow branches are our palms this year - could be hard to make into crosses? A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland, on Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray I begin with an extract from a 2024 sermon preached at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, UK, by then, recently... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 