Last night, on the occasion of Marshall McLuhan's 100th birthday, I had the exciting/daunting honour of addressing a gathering of family and admirers of his, arranged by the McLuhan Legacy Network.
It was quite a time! Some highlights:
Michael McLuhan gave an intimate talk about his father which included some amazing family photos. He also shared his feelings about the various McLuhan biographies: he was particularly perplexed/vexed by Douglas Coupland's recent Penguin volume, expressed some admiration for Philip Marchand's bio, and reserved the highest praise for W. Terence Gordon's 'Escape Into Understanding', which I will read asap.
He then introduced his older brother Eric, who he described as the only living person who really knows the answers to the multitude of questions the world may have about Marshall McLuhan's work.
Eric was presented with a surprise award for stewardship of his father's legacy, and he, in turn, presented John Ralston Saul with the inaugural Gutenberg Galaxy Award.
John Ralston Saul's speech was wide-ranging, fascinating, and a bit controversial, if my conversations with folks afterward were any indication. He made sure to defend Douglas Coupland a couple of times (after all, it was a book he commissioned), and took some (thrilling!) potshots at business schools...but I was a little distracted, because I had to follow him.
In the end, it went well I think. My new haircut helped bolster the old confidence.
Here's what I said:
*****
Good evening, everyone.
For the past decade, I've been a broadcast professional, though I'd prefer to call myself a (radio) amateur.
My current gig at the CBC is Director and Writer at Q with Jian Ghomeshi, which is ostensibly a radio show...but one that has quickly become a rather popular multi-platform concern.
And though I love radio, there are millions of people who have enjoyed our show without any way of receiving our FM signal.
That was unheard of when I got my first job 10 years ago.
I became a member of the McLuhan Legacy Network completely by chance, when I returned a voicemail message from someone on the committee who was searching for archival material.
It was the first I had heard of the centenary, and on that phone call, my brain and my tongue simultaneously said, 'I'd like to help with that'.
With that tiny explosion, I re-established a connection with one of the most important, most inspiring voices I'd ever heard.
Since then, I've worked to encourage the CBC - my employer - to ensure that Marshall McLuhan would have a presence on our airwaves and in our building this summer.
And I think I did OK. I know I did my best. As a stay at home father of three for the past few months, I've lived the dream of working remotely on this project...
...just the way Prof. McLuhan said I would. Using this mobile machine.
And it's thrilling to be 're-embodied' with everyone at the events this week...and in this room tonight.
All by chance, and maybe by synapse.
My introduction to Marshall McLuhan can also be attributed to chance, that flinty, yet elusive character.
It was December 1996. I was in Kingston Ontario, wrapping up a Bachelor of Arts at Queen's University.
And I was trapped in an academic vortex. I was supposed to have found myself by now. But I had no idea where I was.
I worked at the campus radio station and I did well in creative writing, but you couldn't major in either of those.
I realize now, that 15 years ago, the people who were really in the know were into ...computers.
But my own personal device was a restored 1940s Remington portable typewriter - love that infinite battery life and built-in printer!
...and my favourite haunts were record shops and bookstores.
And it was in one of these haunts of mine that I found a book like no other.
The Medium is the Massage.
It was my way 'in', and it was a tantalizing beginning.
Pow! Here's why you love radio!
Wham! Here's why you love books!
Feelin' a little...out of sorts? Could be that 'all at once-ness...!'
Here's why you might occasionally get the distinct impression that we're all going to hell in a handbasket - except we're not, really...or, not right away...
I'm paraphrasing, can you tell?
And...as long as you're working to achieve understanding, nothing is inevitable.
Those things you don't dig?
Don't poo-poo them, don't ignore them, don't deride them...get inside them, look for the buttons!
The...buttons!
For the first time, I could see the water I was swimming in.
And once you see it, you don't un-see it. Though you do forget from time to time.
Marshall McLuhan's wisdom was portable, accessible, and it lacked the academic strictures under which I had laboured - OK, occasionally laboured - for the previous four years.
And though I eventually joined the CBC, I could just as easily have become a teacher.
McLuhan's work didn't necessarily drive me into the media business - it did much more.
It woke me up to what was really happening, and helped me understand why it made me feel the way it did.
And from then on, I could occasionally glance away from the rearview mirror, and down the road ahead.
I'm now a father of three children under the age of 8...just a guy who takes the train to work...and home again.
And my relationship to Marshall McLuhan's work is only deepening as I realize that I have no idea how immersive my children's worlds will be as they grow up.
But I know I'll do all I can to make sure they can see the water they're swimming in.
I'm confident.
Because, you see, I've packed up some probes in my old kit bag.
And I'm grateful for the life of Marshall McLuhan.
Thank you.
