FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2003

CBC PRODUCER MARK STAROWICZ SPEAKS AT ROOKE LECTURE TONIGHT

Mark Starowicz, an executive producer at the CBC, will talk about Canada: A People’s History as a featured guest in the Rooke lecture series tonight, January 9, at 7:30 p.m.

Canada: A People’s History is a thorough, thought-provoking analysis of the nation’s heritage, and has been made into a television series, two hardcover books, and a Web site complete with teacher resources and video/DVD sales.

Mr. Starowicz is a 30-year CBC veteran and the force behind some of the corporation’s most successful programs in radio and television. One of the challenges he faced in creating Canada: A People’s History was designing episodes that could run simultaneously in both English and French. This required a collaborative process between crews in Montreal and English-speaking Canada, as well as a journalistic approach to the content of the series.

The result, says Mr. Starowicz, is programming that focuses on the human element of Canadian history: "That, for me, is the dramatic centre, that if you’re in Calgary, you will be moved by the story of the dispossessed and the wretched of Paris that came here with nothing but a wilderness. And if you’re in Quebec City and in St. Jerome, the story of the Selkirk settlers is just as moving and just as extraordinary as the story of the filles du roi, because it’s human… just the drama of hope and love and war and loss."

The free Rooke lecture featuring Mr. Starowicz will be held at the Peterborough Public Library and is open to all members of the Trent and Peterborough communities. Everyone is welcome to attend.

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For more information contact:
Margaret Steffler, professor of English literature, Trent University,
(705) 748-1011, ext. 1822