Great-Grandma Lillian at 18
While I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, I have an inkling of who I’d like to be… I haven’t met/spoken to all of these women, but from what I can tell, they’re crazy amazing and one could do a lot worse than ending up with a mishmash of their lives.
1. My great-grandmother
Grandma Lillian died when I was five so I have few memories of her, but according to family lore, she was a feisty little lady who saved the family business when Great-Grandpa hadn’t the acumen to do so, and was driving up to a week before she died at the age of 93. She wrote prompt thank-you notes and drank hot water with two slices of lemon every morning, two habits I endeavor to emulate.
2. My high school archives teacher
Ms. Gibson breathed life into dusty old archives, demanded excellence from her students, and battled with the administration to take our class on an Ottawa field trip even though the previous year’s students snuck out and got drunk while in the capital. She still responds to my emails years after I’ve left the hallowed halls of high school, she’s published a history book for children, and from what I’ve ascertained from eavesdropping, she’s pretty happy with her own children & husband, and has achieved the elusive work-life balance.
3. My favourite playwright
Hannah Moscovitch is my favourite playwright of all time, and I probably cyber-stalk her too much, but she has a public Twitter account and so many newspapers interview her. I became obsessed way back in 2008, when I saw a double-bill of her one-acts Essay and The Russian Play. The following year, we drove to Montreal to check out McGill via Ottawa so that I could see the premiere of her play The Children’s Republic. One year after that, I was lucky enough to have her as my dramaturge in a playwriting program I did with CanStage, and meeting her in person, let alone working with her, almost made me hyperventilate. I’m not entirely sure why I’m such a Hannah-fangirl. Obviously, I think she’s a talented writer, but so does the entire Canadian theatre scene, and there are lots of other great playwrights, even adding the limitations of being Canadian, female and relatively young (Erin Shields! Anusree Roy! Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman!). Maybe I love Hannah because seeing that double bill five years ago first made me go theatre-mad?
4. The only female professor in McGill’s Classics department
Lynn Kozak is a super-bamf. She teaches Greek language and literature, produces the annual Classics Play, started learning Latin in kindergarten (!), did a semester of pre-med, and has an amazing collection of dresses. She’s a little bit in love with Homer’s Hector, and doesn’t let her serious academic chops get in the way of having a pint laugh with her students.
5. The Internet’s favourite Mormon mommy blogger
Naomi Davis is pretty and thin and lives in New York City. Her kids are cute and her husband makes a goodly amount of money. She mainlines junk food, blogs about cupcakes and birthday parties and trips to Italia, and never not ever (at least these days) talks about anything sad. I wouldn’t mind (a Canadian version of?) her life. For a fortnight at least.
Players of Prince Arthur 