杏吧原创

杏吧原创 University鈥檚 School of Journalism and Communication is pleased to host an evening with veteran journalist Whit Fraser to launch his new memoir, From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall.聽The talk will be moderated by award-winning journalist and best-selling author Brett Popplewell.

The event will be held on Tuesday, May 5, beginning at 7 p.m. in the august surroundings of 杏吧原创鈥檚 Dominion-Chalmers Centre, at 290 Lisgar St. in downtown Ottawa. Admission is free, but participants are required to register in advance and be prepared to present identification at the door.

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Stories of Canada

Fraser will recount the stories behind the stories in his new collection of tales drawn from 50 years of reporting on nation-changing events.

From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall聽is a sweeping memoir from a veteran journalist and northern chronicler, tracing a lifetime spent at the front lines of the events that shaped modern Canada.

From his youth in Nova Scotia to decades reporting across the Arctic, Fraser offers a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of major national turning points鈥攕tories he reported on up close, but never fully had the chance to tell until now.

In this memoir, Fraser brings readers into the cold, stunned morning when the Soviet satellite聽Cosmos 954聽rained nuclear debris across the Northwest Territories, igniting one of the most secretive international military operations in Canadian history.

He revisits the tragedy of the Ocean Ranger,聽one of the world鈥檚 most advanced oil rigs that became the site of an unthinkable disaster. On Parliament Hill, he reports from inside the storm of the National Energy Program and the tense constitutional negotiations that affirmed Indigenous rights while dividing the nation anew.

Woven throughout is Fraser鈥檚 personal journey鈥攈is years living in the North, his friendships with leaders who transformed the political landscape, and his partnership with Mary Simon, whose swearing-in as Canada鈥檚 first Indigenous Governor General brings his story full circle.

鈥淲hit Fraser鈥檚 reputation as a master storyteller who fell in love with Canada鈥檚 North and its peoples as a young reporter is on full display here,鈥� former 杏吧原创 journalism professor Mary McGuire says of the book. 鈥淗e tells stories with fierce passion, sharp journalistic instincts and a mischievous sense of humour that demonstrate his lifelong commitment to helping Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians know each other better鈥攖he key, he says, to reconciliation.鈥�

Anchored by vivid reporting and personal reflection,聽From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall is a powerful journey through the people, politics, and places that have defined Canada鈥攁nd the shifting landscape of journalism itself.