The Geography of Hope

There is bold new research afoot here at TGOH HQ, and this post is coming to you from the field office in Stavanger, Norway. Details on the next chapter(s) in the continuing saga will be posted here as soon as your 'umble reporter has overcome his jetlag - and indeed plans are afoot to move the whole online operation to Wordpress - but in the meantime, some housecleaning.

First, the National Business Book Award luncheon was a lovely affair, and it was a hoot to meet my fellow nominees and to chitchat beforehand with none other than CBC National News anchor Peter Mansbridge himself, who is lovingly referred to, down TGOH HQ way, as "the dude." (This moniker stems in part from my wife's enormous admiration for the grace and aplomb with which Mansbridge anchored the news live from blacked-out Toronto back in '04 despite the evident absence of make-up, stage lighting, and all that.)

The award itself went to William Marsden's Stupid to the Last Drop. My consolation prize was a drink at the Royal York with Marsden himself, who is a thorough and passionate reporter and well-deserving of the prize (especially since his subject, the unfolding environmental disaster that is Alberta's tar sands, is capturing front page headlines after the oily drowning of 500 ducks in Syncrude's tailing pond.)

Second, back in early April I had the rare opportunity to see Ray Anderson of Interface - possibly the planet's first and certainly its most prominent corporate sustainability crusader - speak in Lake Louise. His speech was electrifying, particularly the bit where he got everyone in the room (this at a trade show of the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association) to close their eyes and imagine their ideal place of rest, relaxation and peace. Eyes still closed, we were asked by a show of hands to indicate if we were imagining some place outside, in nature. The yays were virtually unanimous, and it was a powerfully simple way to get the whole room on the same basic mental plane in terms of thinking about sustainability. (For the record, I was imagining the little plaza at the base of the giant outdoor Buddha at Likir Gompa in Ladakh in twilight, with the looming purple masses of the Himalayas as its backdrop. Om mani padme hum . . .)

Afterward, thanks to the generosity of Interface's Alberta team, I had the chance to visit with Ray and Ashley shot his portrait for the book she's working on. And then we snuck in the opportunity for a photo that will surely earn a prominent and lasting place in the family annals:

L to R: The ever-charming Sloane Lantau, yours truly, and the visionary Ray Anderson

More details on European sustainability soon to come!