A staged reading of a new play at the Heliconian Club

Angie Littlefield is the producer of "A Line of Dust", a play written by Victoria McIntyre.

It is a story of a choice her mother faced at the end of WWII. A cast and crew of theatre aficionados brought it to life with a staged reading at Toronto's Heliconian Club. Watch for it to be picked up by other groups.

About this event
SYNOPSIS: If you could save someone's life, should you? A Nazi officer saves Suse Schilling's life by placing her in a cell with sex workers, who are soon to be set free, instead of with the Jewish prisoners. After the war, she receives a letter asking if she will testify on his behalf in court. Suse is then faced with a difficult decision: whether or not to save a Nazi's life.
This play is based on a true story.
LOCATION: Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto
DATE AND TIME: Sunday, August 28th, at 2 p.m.
TICKET INFO: Tickets are FREE with a Pay-What-You-Can option. All donations are going to the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto's initiatives, The Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and UJA Women's Philanthropy.
The UJA's Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre is known for generating "knowledge and understanding about the Holocaust and serves as a forum for dialogue about civil society for present and future generations."
UJA Women's Philanthropy focuses on fighting poverty, antisemitism, and strengthening the Jewish community through the charitable work of women.
All tickets are general admission.

TT tALKS AND EVENTS:

• Feb. 28, 2024 ~ Victoria Women’s Association, Toronto
  Dec. 13, 2023 ~ Port Perry Senior’s Club at the Latcham Centre
• November 18, 2021 ~ Art Gallery of Hamilton Tom Thomson? The Art of Authentication
• September 23, 2021 ~ Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
• July 1 ~ Outer City Arts for the Cannington Lions' Canada Day event at McLeod Park. Authors' table in the afternoon will include: Lucy Black, Peter Fritze and Angie Littlefield | McLeod Park, 72 Peace St, Cannington, ON L0E 1E0
• July 25 ~ Life of Tom Thomson | South Grey Museum | 40 Sydenham St., Flesherton, ON N0C1E0
• September 9, all day Sunday, Eden Mills Writers' Festival, table with crime writer Peter Fritze and novelist Lucy E. Black (90 km west of Toronto, near Guelph)
• September 15 ~ Mount Zion Community Hall. The Port Perry Grandmother to Grandmother Group holds a Literary Fundraiser for African grandmothers who care for their grandchildren who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. This year their feature authors are the Waddingtons (In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven). Tickets $25 |
  11 am to 2 pm | Mount Zion Community Centre | 420 Salem Rd, Pickering | 905.471.4651
• September 16 ~ Volunteer and Membership Appreciation Event will be held from 2pm-4pm at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery with a panel including Tim Bouma, Geoff Taylor, Greg Klages and Angie Littlefield
• York Pioneers ~ TBA
• September 30 | Books Galore175 Perry St, Port Perry, ON L9L 1B8 with Lucy E. Black at 1 pm. 
• October 13, Indie Author Day, Sat. 11-5 pm with panel on "Discoverability" at 1 pm. Book display and sales in the auditorium. More details HERE.
• October 23 at noon, Member of the Day, Heliconian Club, $25. Angie talks about projects past and present.
• October 24, Women's Art Association of Canada, Wednesday Lunch,"Tom Thomson, Archie Belaney and the Rockies" 21-23 Prince Arthur Ave., Toronto
• October 28, York Pioneers Historical Society
• November 19, 11 am, Featured speaker for Scarborough Federation of University Women "Tom Thomson and Women"
• March 17, 2019 Scugog Shores Museum Village & Archives "Tom Thomson" 1-3 pm ~ 16210 Island Road, Port Perry, Ontario
  905-985-8698 | scugog.ca/museum
• Books Galore. Port Perry, book talk ~ date TBA

More dates and locations to come for: Algonquin Park, Chatham, Comber and maybe Oshawa, St. Catharines and Ottawa.
Organizations, including book clubs, interested in a free author’s talk should contact angie.littlefield@yahoo.ca

Advance Praise for Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends
Tom Thomson scholar, Joan Murray, retired Algonquin Park Naturalist Ron Tozer, film maker Nancy Lang and sculptor Ruth Abernethy are four of 12 advance readers who weigh in on Littlefield’s book. The news of all 12 is positive but here is a sampling: "What a delightful book! A great idea! Thank you for doing such excellent work." Joan Murray, art historian and Tom Thomson scholar; “This engagingly-written book presents well-researched narratives that enhance our understanding of Tom Thomson through facts and possibilities concerning his life. A good example is H.B. “Harry” Jackson accompanying Tom on his first visit to Algonquin in May 1912, a trip which was the initial spark in Thomson’s intense artistic love affair with the Park.” Ron Tozer, Algonquin Park Naturalist (retired) and author of The Birds of Algonquin Park; “Utterly enjoyable reading! The people and places in Tom Thomson’s life come alive in Littlefield’s richly detailed stories. Truly fabulous.” Nancy Lang, researcher and co-producer for White Pine Pictures’ West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson, and .”What struck me was the amazing mobility of the Thomson family and their friends. They were peripheral, or central, to so many endeavours in our young country. Ms. Littlefield has shown us life in early Canada with a much richer palette than we might have imagined. Do join us for dinner!” Ruth Abernethy, sculptor and author of Life and Bronze

Thanks to the Relatives!

I received help with research and photo permissions from descendants connected to Tom Thomson, his friends and relatives. It was a pleasure emailing with: Jane Cauffiel, a descendant of Arthur Lismer; Sylvia Telford, a descendant of the Hayhursts of Canoe Lake and Paul Gauthier, son of Joachim Gauthier, a friend of Franklin Carmichael. They generously provided photo permissions. I visited with Paul Simon, a descendant of Tom’s female friend Elizabeth McCarnen, Jaffray Rutherford, a descendant of the Thomsons’ neighbours in Leith and David Ainslie, a descendant of the Ainslies of Comber, a family into which Tom Thomson’s nephew married. Each person told fascinating family stories that enrich the knowledge we have of Tom Thomson’s life.

Helen Young, Margaret McLaughlin, Kay Morrison and David Thomson are direct Thomson or Matheson descendants. They were incredibly supportive with either Fine Kettle of Friends, The Thomsons of Durham, or both books. Their knowledge and resources are invaluable.

Thanks to all the relatives who help inform the reading public about the fascinating life of Tom Thomson, his friends and neighbours! Thanks to them for enhancing Canada’s history.

From PineRidge Artscene:
Launch of Marangi Editions

Mary Cook, PRAC’s media guru and all-round helpful person, recently partnered with author Angie Littlefield to establish Marangi Editions. The first official book for the new imprint launches spring 2017 at the Heliconian Hall in the Yorkville area of Toronto. Look for Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends: biography, history, art and food.

Angie and Mary have worked together before. They produced seven years of free educational material for Remembrance Day--available at all times on readingandremembrance.ca. They created Tom Thomson’s Toronto Neighbourhoods, a free e-book on angielittlefield.com in 2010. That book is now in its second, improved edition in e-book and print formats. The print version of Tom Thomson’s Toronto Neighbourhoods is available in a bundle with the 2005 book developed for the Durham West Arts Centre: The Thomsons of Durham: Tom Thomson’s Family Heritage.

Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends will occupy Mary and Angie for most of 2017 but there will be further projects under the new imprint. “Mary’s graphic design work is excellent and we work well together as a team,” says Littlefield. “We’ll always find projects that interest us.”

The 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson’s death in 2017 will focus a great deal of attention on Canada’s iconic artist. Ontario Tourism is supporting Cultural Tourism related to Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven in 2017. Parry Sound and Huntsville will be two Thomson ‘destinations’. Ontario Art Galleries are also preparing special Tom Thomson programs for 2017. The City of Pickering will highlight that Tom was born in Claremont.

Angie spoke at the Pickering Township Historical Society on Sept. 12, 2017.