Michael Taube

Michael Taube on the death of Gord Downie and the end of the Tragically Hip, "Canada's house band."

It seems only appropriate, in Merrie England, that the lighthearted humor of a very British cartoon canine brightens the mornings of newspaper readers each day. Fred Basset first appeared in the Daily Mail on July 9, 1963. The philosophical basset hound, his nameless middle-aged owners, and…

It seems only appropriate, in Merrie England, that the lighthearted humor of a very British cartoon canine brightens the mornings of newspaper readers each day. Fred Basset first appeared in the Daily Mail on July 9, 1963. The philosophical basset hound, his nameless middle-aged owners, and…

When John F. Kennedy addressed the Canadian parliament in 1961, he depicted relations between the two nations in beautiful prose: “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined…

Last year, a bluegrass musician took America by storm. A liberal Democrat by political persuasion, he’s had a storied career as a comedian, actor, and author/playwright. He also just might be the one person who can help bluegrass music reach greater heights and a wider audience. Who is it? Steve…

On June 5, 2009, The Washington Post posed the following question in a readers’ poll: “Do you think expressions of faith -- and not just satiric references to religion -- belong on the comics page?” Of the 257 participants, 70 percent answered “YES - the funnies are all about personal expression,”…

Shakedown

The Adventures of Tintin

A World of Wealth

Causes Won, Lost & Forgotten

Memoirs: 1939-1993

Cornelius David Krieghoff may be Canada's best-known artistic product, though "byproduct" is perhaps the better word. The German-Flemish painter was born in Amsterdam in 1815, emigrated with his parents to North America in 1835, and eventually settled in Montreal in 1840. He was completely…

It hardly matters where you go. In newspapers across the continent -- from the Bangor Daily News to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Seattle Times to the Miami Herald -- there appear on the inside pages ten, twenty, even thirty comic strips. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times may…

Well known for his social satire on British law and jurisprudence -- represented by his famous character Horace Rumpole, the crotchety barrister of the Old Bailey -- the novelist John Mortimer now ranks as one of Great Britain's premier mystery writers.