by Renee Rodin
1. Joey Mara Deborah Meyer was born on May 30, 1968 in London. She is the daughter of Renee Rodin and Murray Meyer.
Joey lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Craig, and their toddler son, Henry. She is a part-time editor and a full-time mother.
2. Noah Aaron Lucas Meyer was born on November 15, 1970 in Vancouver. He is the son of Renee Rodin and Murray Meyer.
Noah lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sarah, and their baby daughter, Navi. He works as a computer programmer. When he’s at home he likes to cook for his family.
3. Daniel Jeremy Nicholas Meyer was born on January 31, 1972 in Vancouver. He is the son of Renee Rodin and Murray Meyer.
Daniel resides in Brooklyn with his wife, Kelly, and their baby son, Jack. He loves boxing, beer and watching the world from a comfortable bench. He works in media as a web engineer.
4. Emmanuel Cosmas Dikeakos was born on December 22, 1973 in Vancouver. He is the son of Sophie and Chris Dikeakos.
Emmanuel is married to Marisa and works in his family’s restaurant. He loves fishing, hunting, hiking, golf and other outdoor activities. He said, “The basket definitely has good solid vibes!”
5. Auren Ruvinsky was born on May 3, 1974 in Vancouver. He is the son of Penny Ruvinsky and Ray Harrison.
Auren has lived in over twenty cities mostly in BC, but also briefly in Alberta and Quebec, and has spent time overseas. He now lives in Qualicum Beach and is a reporter at the Parksville Qualicum Beach News.
6. Eli Best was born on July 18, 1981 in Vancouver. He is the son of Barbara Shuman and Noel Best.
Eli is a world traveller and an Italophile. He lives in Vancouver where he works in the art departments of films, plays clarinet and kickboxes.
7. Max Piché was born on December 31, 1982 in Vancouver. He is the son of Susan Penner and Jean Piché, and the nephew of Judith Penner and Marian Penner Bancroft.
Max is a French/Mennonite/Scottish cabinetmaker living in Vancouver.
8. Sophia Haase was born on July 20, 1984 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Mona Fertig and Peter Haase.
Sophia is a paramedic and taking her science degree at UBC to become an obstetrician/gynocologist. She loves long-distance running, fly-fishing and camping.
9. Rowan Epp was born on May 22, 1985 in Vancouver. He is the son of Ellie Epp and Michael Voskamp.
Rowan is a photographer living in Victoria.
10. Kai Daniel Tora Kiyooka was born on June 1, 1986 in Vancouver. He is the son of Jan Fumiko Kiyooka and Scott Haynes, and the grandson of Roy Kiyooka.
Kai was recently in India on a field program and made a short video there. For his final year in the film program at SFU he will be making a claymation film.
11. Danica Doyle was born on March 10, 1987 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Marlene Swidzinski and Ken Doyle.
Danica studied business, marketing and events planning at Langara and BCIT. When not working or studying she likes to travel. In the last two years she has spent time in Europe and the Philippines.
12. Siri Sage Matthew Erickson was born on May 3, 1989 on Hornby Island. He is the son of Andrea Erickson and Matt Little, and the grandson of Billy Little.
Siri is currently living in Whistler, BC, where he skis as much as he can. Skiing is his passion in life.
13. Anna Louisa Lusk was born on March 24, 1990 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Dorothy Iva Clare Trujillo Lusk and Robert Ballantyne.
Anna is studying music at Douglas College.
14. Sylvie Coby Rose Sherrin was born on November 10, 1991 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Jan Westendorp and Bob Sherrin.
Sylvie is studying human kinetics at Capilano University. She plays volleyball and softball and keeps up with her general athletic training.
15. Devon James Cochrane Parkin was born on October 22, 1992. He is the son of Barbara Parkin and Mark Cochrane.
Devon composes music and plays guitar, banjo and bass in various bands. He is in his third year at SFU, studying history.
16. Haven Leander Dlott was born on December 1, 1992 in Vancouver. He is the son of Selena Hudson and Franklin Dlott, and the grandson of Diana Hartog.
Haven lives in Santa Cruz where he attends high school. He teaches and also plays cello in a youth symphony orchestra. His hobbies include downhill mountain biking and snowboarding.
17. Sabine Odile Irene Sherrin was born on August 5, 1993 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Jan Westendorp and Bob Sherrin.
Sabine is a grade twelve student at Cariboo Hill Secondary and coaches soccer at European Football School. She hopes to study math at university.
18. Dzintar Lyle Sinats was born November 13, 1994 in Victoria. He is the son of Petra Chambers and Andy Sinats, and the grandson of Carole Chambers and Lyle Chambers.
Dzintar is a committed graffiti artist and deconstructionist. He is currently a grade eleven student at Victoria High School.
19. Kemble Douglas Barrett Crossan was born February 26, 1996 in Vancouver. He is the son of the late Diana Evalyn Kemble, Candace Marie Crossan, Patrick Barrett and Douglas Briggs.
Kemble is at Prince of Wales High School where he’s involved with its hockey, French, music and computer arts programs. His goals are to attend Harvard University, play hockey and become a lawyer.
20. Nina Elspeth Houle was born on November 9, 1996 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Catriona Strang and François Houle.
Nina is a homeschooler. Her passions are history (especially Ancient Greece), mythology, writing and music.
21. Leif Warland Shantz was born on February 19, 1998 in Vancouver. He is the son of Betsy Warland and Susan Shantz.
Leif, who has two cochlear implants, is a grade five student in Saskatoon. He is an avid video game collector who loves books, comics and drawings.
22. Jasmin Orr was born on January 1, 1999 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Sheryl and Terry Orr.
Jasmin lives in Mexico and goes to an all-Spanish junior high school there. She loves to play soccer. When she grows up she wants to be a lab scientist, a writer, a photographer, a fashion designer and a singer or a musician in a band.
23. Ruben Gregg was born on July 24, 1999 in Vancouver. He is the son of Chloe Best and Tom Gregg, and the grandson of Barbara Shuman and Noel Best.
Ruben lives on Cortes Island and loves Lego. He is a brilliant mathematician and is up for learning and doing anything and everything.
24. Devon Sawatsky Burnham was born on April 12, 2001 in Vancouver. He is the son of Julie Sawatsky and Clint Burnham.
Devon is a grade four student at Simon Fraser Elementary. He plays soccer, likes dinosaurs and science, and is a voracious reader.
25. Mia Gregg was born on July 4, 2001 in Vancouver. She is the daughter of Chloe Best and Tom Gregg, and the granddaughter of Barbara Shuman and Noel Best.
Mia lives on Cortes Island and loves anything to do with art, drawing or painting. She likes decorating cookies, dancing and acrobatics, and is a wonderful whistler.
26. Arley Moss Gordon Pethick was born on December 19, 2002 in Nanaimo. He is the son of Ivy Gordon and Yana Pethick, and the grandson of Margaret and Jerry Pethick.
Arley lives on Hornby Island and is an avid cyclist. He loves building with Lego and modelling clay and is also a proficient whittler. Last summer he learned to swim, sail and kayak, and this winter how to shuck oysters.
27. Jack Glen Simpson was born on April 1, 2005 in Vancouver. He is the son of Marlene Weston and Dave Simpson.
Jack loves to cook, skate and swim. He is in kindergarten. An engineer at heart, he builds intricate tunnels and pathways with chairs, blankets and pillows.
28. Henry Abraham Meyer Thompson was born on December 29, 2007 in New York City. He is the son of Joey Meyer and Craig Thompson; the grandson of Carol and Art Thompson, and Renee Rodin and Murray Meyer.
Henry is a big fan of pylons, parking lots and visiting construction sites to wave at workers and to be dazzled by tractors. He loves riding his scooter and reciting William Carlo
s Williams poems, if asked.
29. Vincent Americo Dellatacoma was born on May 16, 2008 in Freehold, New Jersey. He is the son of Mindy Hands and Anthony Dellatacoma; the grandson of Judy and Bill Hands; and the nephew of Kelly Hands and Daniel Meyer.
Vincent is very chatty and has lots to say. He enjoys all his trains but especially Thomas. He loves running around outside and drawing on his art easel.
30. Jack Elliott Nicholas Meyer was born on December 15, 2009 in Brooklyn. He is the son of Kelly Hands and Daniel Meyer; the grandson of Judy and Bill Hands, and Renee Rodin and Murray Meyer.
Jack eats his toes, blows raspberries and smiles. He sits up on his own and gets around by rolling. He loves seeing himself in the mirror and hearing himself shriek with delight.
31. Navi Barbara Emma Meyer was born on February 15, 2010 in New York City. She is the daughter of Sarah and Noah Meyer; the granddaughter of the late Barbara Teich, Phyllis and Mel Kitzes, and Renee Rodin and Murray Meyer.
Navi smiles, laughs, “talks,” rolls over and tries to crawl. She loves to boogie in her doorway jumper and to go to the park to watch the older kids play.
And on it goes . . . . . . . . .
Participants at R2B2
What follows are lists of the people who read at the store, some several times; the events that happened there; and the staff. If I have forgotten to include anyone or anything, I apologize.
Caroline Adderson, Jody Aliesan, Gaye Allison, Hope Anderson, David Arnason, Attila the Hun, Marie Anneharte Baker, Donna Balma, Ven Begamudré, Ken Belford, Dodie Bellamy, Maggie Benson, Neil Benson, bill bissett, Robin Blaser, Marusya Bociurkiw, Dennis Bolen, George Bowering, Thea Bowering, Hugh Brady, Kate Braid, Dionne Brand, Di Brandt, John Brazier, David Bromige, Nicole Brossard, Colin Browne, Julie Bruck, Alice Burdick, Mary Burns, Joanna Byers, Ted Byrne, Claudia Casper, Penny Chalmers, Carole Chambers, Margaret Christakos, Chrystos, Susan Clark, Mark Cochrane, Victor Coleman, Penny Connell, Marlene Cookshaw, Judith Copithorne, Pierre Coupey, Susan Crean, Gerald Creede, Peter Culley, Kevin Davies, Sheila Delaney, Jeff Derksen, Diane Di Prima, Helen Dixon, John Donlan, Margaret Dragu, Sandy Frances Duncan, Rob Dunham, Paul Dutton, George Ellenbogen, Brett Enemark, Dan Farrell, Deanna Ferguson, Mona Fertig, Norman Fischer, Cynthia Flood, Steven Forth, Maxine Gadd, Gary Geddes, Ellen Ghattas, Betty Gilbert, Gerry Gilbert, Goh Poh Seng, Kagan Goh, Ralph Gustafson, Phil Hall, Jane Eaton Hamilton, David (UU) Harris, John Harris, Michael Harris, Wes Hartley, Diana Hartog, Elizabeth Hay, Stephen Heighton, Stephen Herrick, Gladys (Maria) Hindmarch, Avron Hoffman, Cornelia Hogland, Rosemary Hollingshead, Jan Horner, Angela Hyrniak, Geoff Inverarty, Jam Ismail, Carole Itter, Kedrick James, Adeena Karasick, Lionel Kearns, Peggy Kelly, Penn Kemp, Kevin Killian, Theresa Kishkan, Larissa Lai, Tim Landers, Evelyn Lau, SKY Lee, Billy Little, Matt Little, Dorothy Livesay, La Loca, Vivian Lougheed, Dorothy Trujillo Lusk, Jill Mandrake, Lee Maracle, Daphne Marlatt, Steve McCaffery, Nellie McClung, David McFadden, Barry McKinnon, Wreford Miller, Maureen Moore, Cath Morris, Stephen Morrissey, Frances Muir, Paul Mutton, Mark Nakada, Al Neil, bpNichol, Bud Osborne, Miriam Packer, Yvonne Parent, John Pass, Miranda Pearson, Stan Persky, David Phillips, Helen Potrebenko, Alfonso Quiyada, Gayla Reid, Jamie Reid, Sharon Riis, Lisa Robertson, Rhoda Rosenfeld, Tom Sandborn, Gail Scott, Hasna Shaban, Jenny Shaw, Bob Sherrin, Gerry Shikatani, George Stanley, Robert Sward, Marlene Swidzinski, Warren Tallman, Sharon Thesen, Larry Timewell, Lola Lemire Tostevin, Michael Turner, Kate Van Dusen, Ed Varney, Fred Wah, J.A. Wainwright, Victoria Walker, Betsy Warland, Charles Watts, Sheri-D Wilson, Lissa Wolsak, Carolyn Woodard, Hillel Wright, Caroline Zonalo.
There were also many book launches and artists’ shows. As well, Michael deCourcy made a series of photos of Roy Kiyooka reading from Fontaine Bleu Dream Machine; psychotherapist Andrew Feldmar gave a talk on “Fathers” and another one on “Uncertainty”; Jackie Crossland held a workshop on writing for grants; Ruth Taylor spoke on “Women and the Law”; Michael Ondaatje’s film Love Clinic and Margaret Dragu’s I Vant To Be Alone were screened.
Music was played, both by individuals and by various groups, including Art Bull, David Campbell, François Houle, Pearl (L.A.) Hunt, Lindsay Kenyon, Roy Kiyooka, Cindi Mellon, Jim Munro, Patrick Ready, Gregg Simpson and Bill Smith.
I wish it were possible to mention the countless people who contributed to the success of R2B2. This includes staff such as Michelle Frey, Lara Gilbert and Shereen Legault, and many loyal customers. The audiences, of course, were an essential part of the events.
Acknowledgements
I am most grateful to family, friends and colleagues for helping me with this project in so many different ways. I particularly want to thank Sandy Rodin for her invaluable assistance with the editing and Margaret Pethick for her discerning feedback; Gordon Miller for enhancing the cover photograph and Louis Lapprend for technical support; for their boundless encouragement, Dale Miller, Carole Itter, Trudy Rubenfeld, Rhoda Rosenfeld, Jam Ismail; and especially Joey Meyer, Noah Meyer, Daniel Meyer, Craig Thompson, Kelly Hands and Sarah Meyer.
My great appreciation goes as well to Karl and Christy Siegler of Talonbooks for their support, their editorial insights and all their care in shaping this manuscript into a book. It was an honour and a privilege to work with them.
Zei Gezunt!
About Talon
Thank you for purchasing and reading Subject to Change. If you came across this ebook by some other means, feel free to purchase it and support our hard work. It is available through most major online ebook retailers and on our website. The print edition is also available.
Talonbooks is a small, independent, Canadian book publishing company. We have been publishing works of the highest literary merit since the 1960s. With more than 500 books in print, we offer drama, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction by local playwrights, poets, and authors from the mainstream and margins of Canada’s three founding nations, as well as both visible and invisible minorities within Canada’s cultural mosaic.
Learn more about us or about the author, Renee Rodin. Also see Rodin’s other book, published by Talon, Bread and Salt.
VERSIONS OF THE FOLLOWING STORIES HAVE PREVIOUSLY APPEARED IN:
“Glass,” “Predation,” The Capilano Review Series 2:29 (October 1999), ed. Ryan Knighton.
“Terra-ism,” The Capilano Review Series 2:36 (March 2002), ed. Sharon Thesen.
“BC Rama,” West Coast Line No. 38, 36:2 (2002), ed. Margot Leigh Butler, Glen Lowry.
Ready for Freddy, chapbook, ed. Meredith and Peter Quartermain (Vancouver: Nomados, 2005).
“A Naif’s Story,” BC Bookworld, Vol. 21, No. 3, (Autumn 2007), ed. Alan Twigg.
“Stretch Marks” in Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood, ed. Shannon Cowan, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Cathy Stonehouse (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008). An earlier version, “The Queen of Resistance” was published in Imagination in Action: Thoughts on Creativity by Painters, Sculptors, Musicians, Poets, Novelists, Teachers, Actors… , ed. Carol Malyon (Toronto: Mercury Press, 2007).
“The Neighbourhood,” West Coast Line No. 57, 42:1 (Spring–Summer 2008), ed. Fred Wah, with Michael Barnholden and Glen Lowry.
“Googling the Bardo,” The Heart Does Break: Canadian Writers on Grief and Mourning, ed. George Bowering and Jean Baird (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2009). An earlier version “Rubbed Out” was published in West Coast Line 53, 41:1 (Spring 2007), ed. Amber Dean and Anne Stone.
“Yew and Me,” Dooney’s Cafe, www.dooneyscafe.com, (November 18, 2009), ed. Brian Fawcett.
Copyright © 2010 Renee Rodin
Talonbooks
P.O. Box 2076
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V6B 3S3
www.talonbooks.com
Cover photograph: Renee with her children, left to right, Joey, Noah and Daniel (ca. 1973).
Cover design by Adam Swica.
First Printing: 2010
Electronic edition: 2015
The publisher
gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program; and the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit for our publishing activities.
No part of this book, covered by the copyright hereon, may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical—without prior permission of the publisher, except for excerpts in a review. Any request for photocopying of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), 1 Yonge Street, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5E 1E5; tel.: (416) 868-1620; fax: (416) 868-1621.
Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada
ISBN 978-0-88922-966-2