Although we never met personally, I now feel as though I somehow know Bruce Levett, a truly old school newspaper columnist, as I just spent a weekend with his work. This is all due to his wonderful wife of 60 years, Terry.
Levett passed away in 2004 after what was a truly fulfilling life marked by countless remarkable stories. To honour her husband, Terry spent three years toiling over his prolific essays, and just last week dropped off the compilation of her husband's humourous editorials and stories in her recently published book, A Likely Story.
Each one of the 90 or so columns encapsulates what the book's forward points out: "He had a keen eye for the interesting twists of life and his broad sense of humour helped him to see the lighter side of almost any situation." Levett started as a copy boy with the Vancouver Daily Province, graduated to rookie reporter and then joined the Canadian Press (CP).
His sense of humour soon found its way into his workaday world, as Bruce Ramsey's introduction explains."I was about to become his 'assistant.' Drawing himself up like Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator he informed me that on leaving the composing room I would have to take a shower to get rid of type lice and after leaving the press room, a shower to save me from getting printer's ink into my bloodstream. But first he sent me next door to get a beer milkshake (!)"
After years of covering everything from five Olympics to Watergate, his talent as a humourist was recognized and he was assigned as CP's first-ever humour columnist. For the rest of his career, Levett churned out a huge number of editorials.
He retired to Squamish in 1987, continuing to turn out his column for the local community newspaper, The Squamish Times.I was instantly sold with the cover alone, which features Levett in an absolutely classic writer pose with a pipe, fat tie and huge dark rimmed glasses. Today that look has become a hipster staple but there is nothing ironic about Levett. This guy is the real deal.
Having a soft spot for phrases and slang that time has forgotten makes Levett's writing a gold mine. When you're a conversational writer you have carte blanche to throw most rules of grammar out the window. You're also given a great opportunity to not only use, but even abuse, slang.
Since Levett was waxing poetic before I was born, it's great to see words that have long since vanished from most vocabularies. Expressions such as "dang, blast," "pay the piper," "hoser" and "whippersnappers" routinely make their way into his musings.
Throughout the compiled work one notices many columns featuring his wife, who from what I've read is a remarkable (not to mention understanding) woman. One favourite article is Levett teaching her how to properly smoke a pipe. "Oh, she lipped occasionally, 'it keeps going out, Every time I put it down, it keeps going out.' 'Gently, my sweet. Such is the nature of pipes. The ritual lies partly in the lighting'"
Another endearing quality of his work is the fact he almost never mentions himself or his wife by name, but only by "he" and "she."Seeing as how Levett was churning out five columns a week for years, it's nothing short of remarkable that Terry was able to whittle it down to a single book. As she tells it, that's why it took three years. It was only with the help of friends and family that they compiled this loving, not to mention telling tribute.
The moment I saw the cover I knew here was a man I would have loved to have a drink with. But even though I never met Bruce Levett, I'm glad to feel like I've had a few conversations with him, even if they were one-sided.
