by Nigel Scotchmer | Sep 2, 2025 | Humour
Nigel writes about a long-forgotten chapter of Roman history: the rise and recipes of Rattus Romanus, consul, Stoic, and father of fusion cuisine. Everyone knows the great suffering rats endured during the Black Death. For centuries, historians, poets,...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Aug 5, 2025 | Essays
A warm, observant paean to the spirit of Port Elgin, capturing the rhythms of slow living and the Canadian summer – with touches of nostalgia and humour. This summer we had a family reunion at Port Elgin. Our daughter rented a cottage near the main beach, in an older...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Jul 1, 2025 | Essays
Nigel Scotchmer describes how two towns in Hesse, Germany, do not hide their times of trouble. They can be seen both as symbols of the horrifying depths of evil to which humankind can sink, and, at the same time, the resilience of the majority of people to try to be...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Jun 10, 2025 | Essays
This Father’s Day, the dad is not on a pedestal. He’s mid-step, caught in the motion of leaving, watching his son become a man. A dad speaks- hesitant, unfinished, proud. There are five kinds of love here, and none of them are easy. This poem is not to celebrate a...
by Nigel Scotchmer | May 13, 2025 | Essays
Are you on the proverbial bus yet? Whether it’s the AI bus or just a good old TTC ride across Toronto, we all keep running to catch something. But the real question is: where are we headed? More than fifty years ago, I held a record for running fast in the City of...