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Scorned & Beloved: Dead Of Winter Meetings With Canadian Eccentrics
Date not stated
- GenresNonfictionBiography
339 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Bill Richardson
77 books51 followersBill Richardson was born and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba on a quiet little street. He admits to being a shy kid, a quality that has carried over into his adulthood. With his two brothers and the neighborhood children, Bill would play hide and seek, red rover and tag. They got into the usual sorts of mischief: garden raids and snowball fights.
Bill has always taken comfort in reading. As a child his tastes were very diverse, ranging from the adventures of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, the Happy Hollisters, and the Enid Blyton books to comics featuring Archie, Richie Rich, Little Lulu, Casper, Batman and Superman. The Alice in Wonderland books were favorites, and he still loves them today.
Bill’s parents also influenced his reading habits at a young age. His mother introduced him to a six-volume set called Our Bookhouse, an anthology of readings from many different sources; and Bill’s father would share his favorite poetry with the family. And Bill took to reading poetry as well: A Child’s Garden of Verses and the A.A. Milne poems. He claims that he didn’t start to read with anything like purpose or intensity until he reached adolescence. Many of the classic children’s books, such as The Wind in the Willows and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he came to as an adult.
In 1976, Bill received his B.A. from the University of Winnipeg. He went on to pursue a Master of Library Sciences at UBC, graduating in 1980. In 1998, Bill was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Winnipeg. For six years he worked as a children’s librarian.
Bill is well known in Canada as a CBC Radio host. He’s also made many freelance contributions to both network and regional shows. In 1992, Bill began hosting a summer show called Crosswords, which would continue for four years. He next became the guest host of a classical music request show, and when the show moved to Vancouver in 1996, he was chosen as the show’s permanent host; it became known as As You Like It, to reflect Bill’s interest in the music and letters of his audience. In 1997, Bill became the host of a new program, Richardson’s Roundup. The Roundup is very interactive with its listening audience.
Bill has always dabbled at writing. Even as a child he had a vivid presentiment that this is what he would do. His columns have appeared in The Globe and Mail, Western Living Magazine, The Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, and Xtra West Magazine. Bill won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1994.
In 2000, Bill published his first novel for young adults. After Hamelin tells the tale of Penelope, the only child to escape the lure of the infamous Pied Piper. Now grown to the ripe age of 101, the feisty Penelope recounts her fantastic adventure to rescue the other children of her village from the clutches of the nasty Piper. Bill’s wonderful story has gone on to earn more than a dozen awards and nominations.
Bill makes frequent public appearances reading poetry, narrating musical works, giving keynote speeches and signing books. As time slips away, Bill hopes to use as much of it as he can catch. He believes that “if you’re going to write, you damage yourself if you don't pay attention to the ideas that come your way and try to make something of them. It’s a kind of responsibility, which isn’t to say that you’ll write well, but you still need to make the effort.”
Bill has always taken comfort in reading. As a child his tastes were very diverse, ranging from the adventures of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, the Happy Hollisters, and the Enid Blyton books to comics featuring Archie, Richie Rich, Little Lulu, Casper, Batman and Superman. The Alice in Wonderland books were favorites, and he still loves them today.
Bill’s parents also influenced his reading habits at a young age. His mother introduced him to a six-volume set called Our Bookhouse, an anthology of readings from many different sources; and Bill’s father would share his favorite poetry with the family. And Bill took to reading poetry as well: A Child’s Garden of Verses and the A.A. Milne poems. He claims that he didn’t start to read with anything like purpose or intensity until he reached adolescence. Many of the classic children’s books, such as The Wind in the Willows and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he came to as an adult.
In 1976, Bill received his B.A. from the University of Winnipeg. He went on to pursue a Master of Library Sciences at UBC, graduating in 1980. In 1998, Bill was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Winnipeg. For six years he worked as a children’s librarian.
Bill is well known in Canada as a CBC Radio host. He’s also made many freelance contributions to both network and regional shows. In 1992, Bill began hosting a summer show called Crosswords, which would continue for four years. He next became the guest host of a classical music request show, and when the show moved to Vancouver in 1996, he was chosen as the show’s permanent host; it became known as As You Like It, to reflect Bill’s interest in the music and letters of his audience. In 1997, Bill became the host of a new program, Richardson’s Roundup. The Roundup is very interactive with its listening audience.
Bill has always dabbled at writing. Even as a child he had a vivid presentiment that this is what he would do. His columns have appeared in The Globe and Mail, Western Living Magazine, The Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, and Xtra West Magazine. Bill won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1994.
In 2000, Bill published his first novel for young adults. After Hamelin tells the tale of Penelope, the only child to escape the lure of the infamous Pied Piper. Now grown to the ripe age of 101, the feisty Penelope recounts her fantastic adventure to rescue the other children of her village from the clutches of the nasty Piper. Bill’s wonderful story has gone on to earn more than a dozen awards and nominations.
Bill makes frequent public appearances reading poetry, narrating musical works, giving keynote speeches and signing books. As time slips away, Bill hopes to use as much of it as he can catch. He believes that “if you’re going to write, you damage yourself if you don't pay attention to the ideas that come your way and try to make something of them. It’s a kind of responsibility, which isn’t to say that you’ll write well, but you still need to make the effort.”
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 12, 2009
Bill Richardson is a bit of an eccentric himself, but this cast of odd people from Glenn Gould, famous pianist, to Bill Jamieson, who collects shrunken heads, really take the collective cake. Yes, Bill Richardson was definitely influenced by Dame Edith Sitwell. He seems to be channeling her ghost, and adding a hefty dose of droll. I think I prefer his skills as a radio personality, however. There are many correlations between this book and his old CBC show "Richardson's Roundup."
March 23, 2018
Clearly had trouble connecting with this book
Took me forever to read
Took me forever to read
August 3, 2025
I enjoyed this book. I found it entertaining diving into the world of the cat man, drag queens, and the dancing hotelier.
January 21, 2025
Reading this book is torturous. The narcissistic author of this book is rhetorical, pretentious, and filled with long nonsense. He is a terrible storyteller and makes the eccentrics of Canada that should be interesting incredibly boring. Maybe he is very pleased with himself for having stumped readers.
April 27, 2008
This was one of those books you wished was just a little bit better. It had great moments and lulls. Worth a read through, but leaves something to be desired.
July 30, 2017
Read this in 1997. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Bill Richardson from CBC when he attended an event at Red Cross. Delightful man. Read a couple of his books and truly enjoyed them.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews