I never met him in person, but I've long admired his work ...
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Today, poet, professor, play-write and fellow alumni of Stratford Central Secondary School, James C. Reaney died at the age of 81 ...
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I remember studying one of his poems in High School and having our teacher assign us with the task of tracking the poetic journey from the school we sat in, to James Reaney's home ... it took some doing, but we found all the milestones Mr Reaney had marked in his words ...
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In 1980, I was amongst the many residents and visitors to Stratford that marked the Centennial of Central School by watching Mr Reaney's play King Whistle that commemorated the whistle at the old Kroehler's Plant on the corner of Ontario and Romeo St that sounded several times a day to guide the daily lives of factory workers who made the beautiful hard wood furniture that once rolled out the back door of the massive red bricked building ...
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Later, I would work in a metal shop in the Old Swift Meat Packing plant where the strike in 1933 lead the Government to bring Tanks into the city to quell the uprising ... the story we grew up with was that the tanks being deployed was the first time in Canadian History that the army was dispatched to deal with its own citizens ... the other was the October Crisis in Quebec !! Regardless, I remember standing in the upstairs doorway that Mr Reaney highlighted in his play, where the Strike Leaders defiantly stood shouting out their demands ...
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And last year, I had the opportunity to meet Thomson Highway who shared with me one of the greatest influences on his life and writing was a poet, professor and playwright James Reaney ... "ever heard of him?" Thomson asked ...
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"Heard of him? Hell, I grew up in the same town as him and I LOVE his work ..." was my reply.
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Today, we say a fond farewell to a literary gem ... and give thanks for the legacy he has left ... in word and in lives touched ...
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