To be honest, Jeff Lee from the Vancouver Sun's question, "Where was this Sam Sullivan when he was mayor?", which leads off his recent article about the former Mayor of Vancouver's latest event that we both attended? Well, it was lost on me. He and I were among 650-or-so humans who recently gathered at the Vancouver Playhouse for Sam's quarterly speakers series aptly entitled Sam Sullivan's Public Salon, and Jeff has had a much longer view of our city and its politics than I have; the only thing I was paying attention to when Sam was mayor was how gruelling my commute from Santa Monica to Torrance was getting. Which is to say, I didn't live here for most of Sam's tenure, and aside from the time that KTLA News showed a clip of him waving the Olympic flag when it was announced Vancouver was hosting, I wasn't really paying attention. But I'm paying attention now. And the Sam Sullivan that was up on that stage delivering a curated group of engaging speakers and incredibly talented musicians and performance acts every 3 months? I vote yes to him putting on more of these events, and to you (and I) attending them and being exposed to some great Vancouverites changing your city for the better.
Photos: Sarah Murray
Jeff offers a great play-by-play of the night HERE in his aforementioned article, and you should certainly go and read it but first I must tell you this: Jas Johal is a new hero of mine. Not only did he put together a powerful collection of photographs shot of and by him while covering international conflicts for broadcast news but he delivered his personal story and connected us to it by sharing the most humanizing of facts about himself: While sitting in Muammar Gaddafi's palace on the day that he was ousted, after wrapping up his news story, Jas found himself marvelling at the fact that "a kid from Williams Lake" (Jas, of course) was sitting in "Muammar's house". He got out his pocket knife and he cut off a piece of a chandelier there, and he put it in his pocket. This photo below is of him showing it to us. Not pictured is the collective jaw of the audience hitting the floor due to this exclamation point at the end of a fantastic presentation.
Find out more about Sam Sullivan's Public Salon HERE, and I'll see you there next time.
