Day Tripping: November 17

That’s what you get for lovin’ me

Described by The Band’s Robbie Robertson as a national treasure, Gordon Lightfoot was born in Orillia, Ontario in 1938. Gord performed in front of an audience the first time in grade four and he hasn’t stopped since.

“I have just a really strong love for people when I perform. I really do.”

Gordon Lightfoot became a major international recording artist in the 1960s, and he was the featured performer for canada’s 100th birthday in 1967. He wrote the Canadian Railroad Trilogy for the occasion.

After six decades of writing, recording and touring the world, Lightfoot was rushed to hospital in 2002 for emergency surgery on a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Six weeks of ICU later and three months of recuperation, Gord began rehearsing for his 2003 tour.

In 2006, Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke during a performance which left him without the use of two fingers on his right hand. He hired a guitarist to cover difficult passages and continued performing.

Four years later, a rumour was started on radio that Gordon Lightfoot had died. He was sitting in his dentist’s chair when he heard the news. So naturally, Gord called the station dispell the runour.

In 2017, Gordon Lightfoot performed the Canadian Railroad Trilogy again at Canada’s 150th celebration. We fully expect him to be there for the 200th.

Today is:

Homemade Bread Day — I’m on it.

Musical Ride

All that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters — The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot

Interesting Notes

The first known case of coronavirus was discovered in a 55 year old man in 2019. Yep, it’s been two freakin years.

Gone But Not Forgotten

In his book, Screenplay: Foundations of Screenwriting, Syd Field, introduced ‘paradigm’ , his three-act structure for film scripts. His contribution became a template for cinema writing. Syd Field died in 2013 at 77.

Notable Births

1942 — Martin Scorsese: “It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and if it does, then only temporarily. “

1944 — Danny DeVito: “A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful the way you lean.”

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping