FeedYou Need A Picture, You Go To The Top
January 30, 2012 in Boston Bruins, Letters, Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens Tags: Gerard Pelletier, Jean Marchand, La Presse, Lester Pearson, Maurice Richard, Pierre Trudeau, Sugar Jim Henry
I decided, when I was 13, that I needed an 8×10 glossy of the Rocket shaking hands with Sugar Jim Henry, so I went right to the top. I wrote a letter to La Presse and it ended up on the desk of editor-in chief Gerard Pelletier.
And who is Gerard Pelletier, you ask? Well, aside from being editor at the Montreal French-language daily, and according to Wikipedia, he, his buddy Pierre Trudeau, and Jean Marchand were recruited by Prime Minister Lester Pearson to help derail the rising Quebec separatist movement. Later on, Pelletier would become a cabinet minister in the Trudeau government, and would eventually take the role of ambassador to France, and then ambassador to the United Nations. He was also awarded the Order of Canada.
So as you can see, he was quite a big shot.
I think it was mighty nice of him to write to me, considering his paper was on strike at the time. And yes, he did pass my letter on to the sports department, because at some point, my 8×10 glossy showed up at my house.
January 30th, 2012 at 6:28 pm
Pretty cool. Nowadays, papers charge you for copies of photos.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
That’s brilliant. I love it.
Yes, he was a big shot. I like that he was so business-like and forthright about it, too.
I suppose there’s a lesson in there for me, too. I’ll let you know what it is once it sinks in.
Thanks, Dennis. This is gold.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I’d forgotten about the older indentation style of writing. I write full business block without even thinking of that old method anymore. It looks odd. But we got in trouble when we deviated back then, didn’t we?
January 30th, 2012 at 8:48 pm
HDS, I was a lousy student and wasn’t smart enought to deviate styles. I was a decent pool player though!
January 31st, 2012 at 11:17 am
Dennis, it’s amazing how you keep digging up such treasures!
Please keep digging!
Here is a description of Gerard Pelletier and the role he played in Canadian history along with Jean Marchand and Pierre Elliott Trudeau. They became known as the Three Wise Men:
http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/trudeau/3wisemen.htm
January 31st, 2012 at 11:55 am
Markov skated for 15 minutes today. according to dave stubbs.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:09 pm
You had amazing nerve Dennis writing for this stuff. Sad thing is, you can tell it’s a different time because today your letter probably would have been tossed in the garbage.
I remember once when I was a kid calling CFCF (local channel) and actually getting to speak to the programming director. My big complaint? Not enough superhero TV shows on TV. He actually talked to me and explained the whole process of getting shows and the cost, etc. It was amazing. I will never get over the fact that this man took time out of his busy day to talk to a dumb ten year old kid.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:10 pm
There is no way Markov plays this year. If he does, maybe it’ll be for a week at the end of March maybe? What a fiasco this was. He’s been gone so long that when he finally does come back it’ll feel like we made a big trade or something.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Darth, you mention this Markov. Who is he?
January 31st, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Darth, that’s funny. I agree. There’s never been enough superhero shows. Good for you for pointing this out.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Cool Danno, thanks. He was quite a big shot for sure. And all along I thought the three wise men were Milbury, Stock, and Cherry.
January 31st, 2012 at 4:35 pm
No Dennis. Milbury, Stock and Cherry are the Three Wise Guys. Not quite the same.
January 31st, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Isn’t Markov one of the last super-heroes from way back when. His show was moth-balled and replaced by the current reality. I’m with you Dennis and Darth, this reality TV sucks, I want the super-heroes back.
January 31st, 2012 at 10:04 pm
The only reality show I like is The Amazing Race. The rest can bite me.
There are some good shows on TV: Boardwalk Empire, The Borgias, Game Of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory…the rest is medicore to crap sadly.
One great show was Blackadder.
Markov is some guy the Habs had in the lineup years ago. I think he was a forward…or was it a goalie?
February 1st, 2012 at 9:18 am
Chris, wasn’t Markov the guy Kim Kardashian married?