Fun at the fair has a lesson

I, for one, will be brushing up on my T.C. Haliburton - particularly his Sam Slick-related works.

A gut-wrenching illustration error on the cover of this year’s Sam Slick Days event in Windsor has caused many to think the fictional Yankee clockmaker Sam Slick and his creator, Windsor-born Thomas Chandler Haliburton, either need more scrutiny - or banishment.

The program matter is every editor’s nightmare. The C. W. Jefferys drawing of a person of African background grabbing at Sam Slick’s legs has bad optics, no question. At first look, it appeared to be submission. Even in context, it’s meaning isn’t too good.

Members of the African-Nova Scotian community are deeply hurt and upset by the picture. They have good reason. Some have asked the annual event be stopped or undergo a change, so Slick and Haliburton aren’t celebrated.

That’s somewhat radical and counterproductive. In fact, it would squander whatever potential good that could be rendered from this incident.

Haliburton was a founder of Canadian literature and a Windsor native. In fact, he lived most of his life in and around Windsor. He wrote many of his works there, and they reflected his home province – warts and all.

He was a satirist, writing about and poking fun at many things. Ethnic relations often weren’t the best back then, not just between African Nova Scotians and others. Haliburton is said to have reflected some of the worst. It wasn’t malicious, more paternalistic. As a person of status, station and responsibility, he meant well. But, things have changed for the better. Generally.

Haliburton’s works have been read around the world. In fact, Canadians were often identified with Sam Slick early in the last century. One story has it, during the First World War, Canadians in a quiet front unleashed a barrage against unsuspecting Germans. Later, someone called from the German trenches asking, to the effect, “Hey, Sam Slick! What trickery will you be up to tonight?”

That Haliburton has become less known today is likely due to a number of things, including the fact there are more Canadian writers, among them those whose works are subsidized. Of course, there is time itself.

As for the Sam Slick Days festival, the event has a good brand, and it has legs. Its volunteers have worked hard and come up with a winning formula: something for everyone. It’s something that can be developed even further, and with better understanding of Haliburton, Slick and their times.

Failure to study Haliburton – including the Slick works – denies Nova Scotian heritage and an opportunity to show how it has evolved and continues to change for the better. It behooves all Windsor and eastern Valley residents; in fact, all Nova Scotians - of all ethnic groups - to seize this heritage and show how far we’ve come.

Let’s all talk about this - and make Sam Slick Days a venue to have even more family fun.

We have to make sure our man Haliburton – carbuncles, warts and all – is maintained in his position as a founder of our national literary heritage. Nobody else is going to do it.