Here’s a picture of me when I was five. I still look the same,and I even sometimes wear the same outfit...but only on special occasions, of course, like book signings and family weddings.
When I was eight-years-old, I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada because I was sad that the Canadian government seemed to be doing nothing to prevent the slaughter of polar bears in the far north of Canada. I was cheeky even back then and figured that I should get a response.
And I did! Thats a copy of the letter to the right.
Can you imagine my reaction to this letter? I was a pretty upset eight-year-old, to say the least, because I knew Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was wrong to allow the bears to be killed. So, I went to Ottawa to plead my case but all I got to do was sit in the Prime Minister’s chair in parliament...the janitor let me do it.
When I grew up, I became a lawyer to fight this kind of injustice. I have never been lucky enough to represent a polar bear, but I have had lots of cases that involve dogs, roosters, and even cows.
Polar bears are now an at risk species. I guess the Prime Minister should have listened to me when I was eight!
To learn more about polar bears, here is a great link you can check out!
The letter to the Prime Minister seems to mark the beginning of my professional writing career. Later, that same year, I wrote a letter to the President of the United States of America, Gerald Ford, to invite him for a swim in our pool and to discuss a topic of great international concern ... polar bears, of course. Much to my dismay, I received no response. I think my mother was relieved.
People sometimes ask me when I started writing stories. Apparently, I was not quite six-years- old when I started writing stories. To the right is a copy of a story I wrote when I was seven; The Bear Cub and the Magic Music. This would appear to be where the bear thing started.
I also enjoy acting and writing plays. My most recent play is entitled "War of the Unknown Warriors".