The highs & lows of
politics
Steve Paikin on John Robarts
Erin M. O'Toole
Volume
18 Issue 1 Spring 2006
The Churchill Society's outreach luncheon
program continues to bring engaging and entertaining speakers to our
members and their friends. Started in 2004 by director Megan Harris,
this series provides an excellent opportunity for members and their
guests to take in a premier event over the lunch hour in downtown
Toronto.
This past fall, the series featured Steve
Paikin, host of T.V. Ontario's Studio 2 and noted political author.
After the success of his political culture books, The Life and The Dark
Side, books chronicling the highs and lows of public service, Paikin
turned his talents to political biography and Ontario's 17th Premier.
In Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The
Double Life of John P. Robarts, Paikin reveals the highs and lows of a
single political life. The book provides a fascinating portrait of a
politician that rose to the highest office, but paid a heavy price in
the process. With Paikin's exhaustive research and interviews with
Robarts's friends and contemporaries, readers are able to peer behind
the polished veneer of Robarts' apparently perfect life to show the
heartache and personal challenges that ultimately led to tragic and
truly unfitting end.
At the luncheon, guests were given an
intimate portrait of Prime Minister Robarts, as Ontario Premiers were
still called at that time. The author shared his personal reflections
about his subject to an audience that included a few of Robarts' former
colleagues. It was a fascinating lunch.
These more intimate business lunches
offer excellent interaction with guests and prove to be an excellent
forum for entertaining friends of clients. We hope to see you throughout
2006!
