Because of their prior commitments, not many people were on hand to hear Bruce Deachman’s interesting and entertaining talk on October 24, 2023 and to enjoy a meal together before the meeting. But perhaps because it was a smaller group, it was a more interactive meeting than usual.
Deachman discussed some of the numerous items he has written for the Ottawa Citizen during the close to 30 years he has been working for that paper. He noted that the Citizen’s motto is “inform, enlighten, and entertain”, and said that’s what he tries to do when he writes.
While speaking about his various stories, he mentioned an interview he had with American voice actress, June Foray. He told us that among her roles she was the voice of Cindy Lou Who in the television show The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, but for some reason she did not get a screen credit for it.
He also read some stories from his book, Front Page Ottawa: The Ottawa Citizen from 1845 to the Present, that was published in 2022 by Ottawa Press and Publishing. Deachman wrote most, although not all, of the items in his book for the Citizen’s Sesquicentennial. He pointed out though that they aren’t exactly the columns he wrote, but rather his take on them. “It’s me writing about those stories,” he said.
One story he read to us from his other book is entitled “Ottawa Prophet” Was Wrong About Almost Everything. The Ottawa Prophet – Ezekiel Stone Wiggins – and his wife Susan Anna – moved to Britannia in 1892 and built Arbour House where they lived until his death in 1910. Interestingly, although this is not in Deachman’s story, it’s the same house as current Media Club member Iris ten Holder and her husband, Wim, live in today. The city of Ottawa designated Arbour House a heritage property in 1994 and a plaque with details of the first owner of the home was placed on the house by the front door.
Another story Deachman read, called The Life and Extremely Hard Times of Jane Waters, is about an Ottawa woman whose name appeared in Ottawa newspapers numerous times after she was arrested, usually for street walking and vagrancy. Illustrating how much her life story touched him, Deachman dedicated his book to her as well as to his children.
In keeping with the month, he also read his story about an old newspaper report on Halloween shenanigans called Eleven Hens A-drowning, Among the Halloween Misdeeds of 1877.
Deachman told us that in 2020 to mark the Ottawa Citizen’s 175th year, he wrote a series of columns originally published under the title of That Was Then. Because that twice-weekly column was so popular and readers wanted more he continued writing it until the Spring of 2021. During Canada’s sesquicentennial, in 2017, he photographed, interviewed and wrote the stories of 150 Ottawa citizens for a series called Capital Voices.
In addition to the already mentioned items, Bruce Deachman’s writings include a column about curling, a series on organ transplant and three plays.
His book, mentioned above, is available at local book stores as well as online.
He was introduced by June Coxon and thanked by Iris ten Holder.
Bruce Deachman is a city columnist and senior writer at the Ottawa Citizen. His first article appeared in the paper in 1994. Since then, he has written more stories than he can remember, covering sports, music and other entertainments, municipal and health issues, politics and more. He even hosted and produced how-to cocktail videos during the first summer of the pandemic, when many people were confined to their homes.
The city where he was born and spent the first handful of years of his life – Port Arthur, Ontario – before moving to Ottawa is no longer on the map. As a city columnist in Ottawa he intends that not to happen here, for the heart of every city are people. A good friend of his once described his stories as love stories to the city. That’s probably too much to live up to, but it’s a worthy aspiration.