26th ICSC Annual Dinner 2024

Click this PayPal link to register

Guest Speaker: Charlotte Gray, author of: Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons

We are thrilled to have as Guest Speaker for this year’s Annual Dinner, the premier Canadian historian, Charlotte Gray, a recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for popularizing Canadian history.

In her choice of subjects, Charlotte has veered from the conventional path, with her latest work being on the lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt.

While these two women are identified now, because of the achievements of their sons, Charlotte, in an eminently readable tome, shows that they warrant examination on their own merits.

Both grew up in an atmosphere of privilege. Jennie in New York with her Father being a major  “swashbuckler” on Wall Street, and Sara in a family, which traced its ancestry back to the Mayflower, in  1621, and with “old money” enjoyed a life of financial security.

In raising their sons, Jennie was a detached parent. As Winston wrote: “She shone for me like the  Evening Star. I loved her dearly – but at a distance.” Sara, on the other hand, was front and centre in  Franklin’s upbringing,  imparting   the responsibilities of upper society.

Did Winston develop his confidence (which some thought of as arrogance) and conviction of his destiny  because of his self- reliance? As Churchill wrote in his book “The River War,” on the Mahdi, “Solitary  trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.”

Did Franklin develop his relentless drive because of his mother’s instilled values? As Roosevelt wrote  when a freshman at Harvard in 1903, “It is not so much brilliance as effort that is appreciated here –  determination to accomplish something.”

These questions, and more, will be answered, on May 9!

Charlotte’s book will be available for purchase & inscription.

MENU

APPETIZER

BOWL OF MINTED SPRING PEA AND WATERCRESS PUREE

MAIN COURSE

POULET A LA MOUTARDE FRANCAISE

FRENCH GRAINY MUSTARD ORGANIC CHICKEN BREAST

in White Wine Cream Sauce

Dauphinois Potatoes and Spring Vegetables

DESSERT

McCABE DARK CHOCOLATE AND HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART

with Bourbon Vanilla Ice-Cream

Fish Alternative: To be ordered in advance

PAN SEARED ATLANTIC SALMON FILLET

with Tomato and Caper Sauce

or

Vegetarian Alternative: To be ordered in advance

STRIPED BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI

with Mushrooms, Tomato Basil Sauce

COFFEE & TEA

Cocktails (Cash Bar): 6.00 p.m. Dinner: 7.30 p.m.

Albany Club – 91 King Street East, Toronto (416) 364 5471

$200 for Members/Subscribers/Guests.

Click this PayPal link to register

Dress Code: Business Attire

Payment can be made by PayPal. Through

https://www.winstonchurchillcanada.ca/ics-events

Alternatively, by Cheque payable to ICS Canada, and Mailed to:

Myra Dodick, ICSC Treasurer,  6595 Mackle Rd. #419, Montreal, Quebec, H4W 2Y1

Our Guest Speaker

Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University, and the London School of Economics, Charlotte Gray emigrated to Canada in 1979 and resides in Ottawa.

She worked as a journalist, writing a regular column on national politics for Saturday Night, and has also written for Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen.

Charlotte  an adjunct research Professor in the department of History at Carleton University, holds honorary degrees from Mount Saint Vincent University, University of Ottawa &Queen’s University.

She was awarded the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography in 2002 and as mentioned overleaf the Pierre Berton Prize for distinguished achievement in popularizing and promoting Canadian history, in 2003.

A prolific author Charlotte has written twelve acclaimed books of literary nonfiction with her first, Mrs. King (the life and times of Isabel Mackenzie King) winning the Hilary Weston Trust Prize for nonfiction in 1997.

Sisters in the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Trail  It was  among the top 25 most influential Canadian books in the past 25 years as decided by the Literary Review of Canada in 2016.

The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country was the winner of the Toronto Book Award in 2014.

Charlotte is a Member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

We highly encourage early booking to ensure you are not disappointed.