― Arundhati Roy

Winnipeg, Canada

My 92-year-old Dad called a few hours ago to inform me that his 98-year-old brother Pete had passed on into the next dimension earlier this afternoon. Peter Jacob Peters (Uncle Pete to me and many others) will be remembered by his family as a joyous, poetic, green-thumbed patriarch; and to others as a truly remarkable and many-faceted “character” in the true sense of the word.

Peter J. Peters immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine with his family at age eleven (when my father was six). He took his schooling at Gretna in Southern Manitoba, and later enrolled in teacher training. At the outbreak of World War II, Pete enlisted in the RCAF—upon his eventual return from overseas service he attained his BSc. in Agriculture. Following graduation, he worked with the Extension Service of Manitoba Agriculture as a potato specialist (where he became known as “Potato Pete” to those in the field)—among other significant achievements he is credited with paving the way for the commercial potato industry in Manitoba. He also applied himself to the Strawberry Experimental Demonstration program at Hadashville in Eastern Manitoba, and as a direct result of his efforts, the Strawberry Growers Association of Manitoba came into being. Pete served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Manitoba Horticultural Association, was President of the Western Canadian Society for Horticulture, revitalized the periodical The Prairie Gardener, and wrote and published A Century of Horticulture in Manitoba. Aside from his horticultural pursuits, Pete was also a prolific poet (with too many published books to list here) and was active throughout his adult life in church and community activities, renowned for his entertaining hundreds with his photography-poetry-musical presentations.

Photo: Peter J. Peters in 1945 (while requisitioned to serve as a tri-lingual interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials after the war [on account of his fluency in Russian, German, and English]—a time he prefered not to speak about). Thanks to my brother Jim for the scan from an old photographic print.

Galicia, Spain

Renowned street artist Isaac Cordal creates beauty from simplicity. He recently transformed ordinary kitchen colanders into shadow-casting sculptures which reveal surprisingly detailed faces. To create the effect, Cordal took the geometric mesh of the strainers and carefully manipulated their forms into 3D visages of two men and a figure resembling the Virgin Mary. The series of three small sculptures are part of a test he’s conducting for future projects which use the abundant power of city lights for their illumination…

Ottawa, Canada

More than 500 websites went dark today, as a coalition of environmental groups, corporations, church groups and other political commentators joined forces for an “unprecedented” protest of what they see as the government’s effort to “silence” environmental voices using measures found in the omnibus budget implementation legislation… read more here.

(of potential interest to collectors)

This blog attracts attention from a wide variety of folks (+/-10,000 unique visitors per month). Today I heard from a chap named Michael Tyler in Bath, UK, who writes: “I came across your blog which featured some Cuban propaganda art.  I have a small collection of OSPAAAL posters which you may be familiar with. I have been looking for collectors to trade as I have a number of duplicates… I’ve attached images of the duplicate posters I have to exchange. They are all original (some are very rare) and in excellent condition.”

Anyone who might be interested can connect with Michael via email at: m_w_tyler@hotmail.com

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(thanks to my longtime colleague Carol MacKay; original sources unknown)