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A Discussion with Nancy Silcox

in partnership with Words Worth Books

For Adults

About the Event

Join us to welcome Nancy Silcox as she discusses her new book, Keep In Touch: The Serendipitous Life of Canadian Arts Icon David Silcox. 

Presented in partnership with Words Worth Books.

About Keep In Touch

The life of David Silcox was indeed a serendipitous one: born in the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression, he was later selected as one of the Canadian Boy Scouts to attend Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation. He attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto, there becoming friends with future best-selling Canadian author Margaret Atwood and Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. After Art studies in England, he returned to Canada to become the Canada Council’s first Arts Officer, charged with travelling the country assisting to fund Canadian art galleries and artists. From there he became Toronto’s Arts “Czar,” developing ballet, film, music and art galleries in the city.

Appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture for Canada (under Pierre Trudeau), developing the Canadian film industry was his main task; moving on to become Deputy Minister of Culture at Queen’s Park, he focused on developing visual art, artists, opera and live theatre across the province. Becoming President of Sotheby’s Canada, he was instrumental in returning lost masterpieces of the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and other Canadian visual arts pioneers. All work and no play would have made David Silcox a dull boy. He was an avid Arctic adventurer and canoeist, alongside his friend Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and other government faces.

A writer superbe, David authored The Silence and The Storm: Tom Thomson, The Life and Work of David B. Milne and Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. He passed away in Toronto in February 2023. Nancy is David's sister-in-law.

About Nancy Silcox

Nancy is a former secondary school teacher with the Waterloo Public Board of Education, and then Counsellor at both UW and WLU. She began writing as a columnist on education for the Waterloo Region Record and, later, Grand Magazine. Nancy's focus is biography. She has written a number of personal biographies for individuals across Ontario as well as published biographies of: midwife Elsie Cressman; writer Edna Staebler; world renowned opera singer Paul Frey; and Dr. Vera Good, the first children’s producer at TVO and from whose fertile brain sprang the popular television series The Polka Dot Door and its mascot, “Polkaroo.” Nancy's writing also features animals—primarily household pets. Three such books have sold many copies with all proceeds going to Animal Rescue Agencies across Canada. Nancy is currently working on The Cat Did it: Tales from Marvellous and Magnificent Canadian Cats, featuring 40 notable Canadian felines, including Canada’s “First Cat,” Nico Carney. 

Photography Notice: Please note that photographs and videos may be taken at this event and may be broadcast, reproduced, and/or made available in print or online. For individual or small group photos, staff will make attendees aware of their presence and will ask permission before taking photos. 

For larger public events, please note that by attending, you are consenting to the use of your appearance, image, and voice in print or digital productions created by the Waterloo Public Library for promotional use only. Please speak to library staff at the event if you’d like to be excluded from any photo/video. 

Programmer: Nancy