Besides Louise Riley herself, for whom our library is named, several other notables have graced the hill of Hounsfield Heights since the early days at the turn of the last century.

Charlie Richardson- first principal of Hillhurst School. His daughter Barbara kept her horse Princess tethered where Sears is now.

Harry Pollard- world famous photographer of First Nations people. He was also Chief photographer of Canadian Pacific Railway and his collection is in the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton. You can view his photographs here https://hermis.alberta.ca/paa/Search.aspx?CollectionID=2&st=harry+pollard. His wife Ella (Eleanor Pollard) was was a beauty queen and rode in the Domion Fair Parade in 1908 as "Miss Canada."

Sam Adams- lawyer, alderman for five years, then mayor for 2 years. Long Lance (Sylvester Clark Long, reporter) threw a fake bomb through his window, which resulted in his being fired as a reporter for the Herald.

Alexander Calhoun- first director of Calgary Public Library lived in a nearby house on the hill and walked to Memorial Park Library every day. Louise Riley worked there also. The branch named after him (built into a hill) is located on 14th Street SW.

Dr. Huxley Johnson- a local doctor who died in the polio epidemic while assisting the communtiy. He was Huxley Jr. Huxley Sr, an early resident , was doctor at the Sunnyside Military Hospital.

Bill W. Saunders- vice principal of SAIT. In 1957, he started the first courses related to the oil industry.

W.R. Castell- also a Calgary Public Library Director

Ralph McCready- instructor at Mount Royal College

Charles Richardson-first principal of Hillhurst Public School for the first 23 years

Gerald Tailfeathers(1925-1975). "One of the first Native Canadians to become a professional artist, he came to prominence in the 1950s. His art had several influences: study in the Summer Art School in Glacier National Park (Montana) with New York portrait painters Winold Reiss and Carl Linck; the cowboy school of painting led by Charles Russell; the Oklahoma school of Indian painting; the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts and the Provincial School of Technology and Art in Calgary. In the main, his work exhibits a romantic and nostalgic vision of his Blood people's life in the late 19th century. Thus, it features warriors in their traditional activities of warfare, hunting and ceremonial life. Tailfeathers later began experimenting with cast-bronze sculpture that depicted themes inspired by cowboy art" -source:The Canadian Encyclopedia, which you can access in our E-library online.

Thank you to Marg McCready for her reseach, and to the Calgary Association of Lifelong Learner's for adding Gerald Tailfeathers.
See our earlier post about the Riley family and their influence on the neighbourhood.

Do you know of another famous Housfield Heights dweller? Please comment if you do!

Hounsfield Heights Briar Hill Community Association invite you to a Neighbourhood Walkabout with Rollin Stanley (General Manager of Planning, Development, and Assessment) on Saturday, April 6, 2013. Meet at 10:30 am at the parking lot behind the Louise Riley Library, to the west. The walkabouts are part of a PDA’s effort to learn more about the diverse communities that make up The City of Calgary. The walkabouts, which will tie into current and future planning efforts, provide an opportunity to explore issues related to connections, design, diversity and the environment in an informal, resident-led tour. Recently residents of Hillhurst-Sunnyside participated in a walkabout with Mr. Stanley. “We were delighted and encouraged with the openness with which Mr. Stanley shared his knowledge and perspectives, and received our vision for and concerns about the future of H-S. We urge Calgary City Council to heed the wisdom and progressive thinking Mr. Stanley brings, and understand that this is a significant opportunity for Calgary to become a model for the support of villages within a city.” This is an opportunity for our community to introduce Hounsfield Heights-Briar Hill to Rollin. We can discuss what’s important to us, what went well, what went wrong and in which direction we would like the community to develop.

I thought you'd like to meet some of our awesome Story PALS volunteers: Left to Right, Hannah, Mia, and Harry...We're at Louise Riley Thursdays 7-8 p.m. until March 21st.

A few words and details from our current artist Muditha Askin.

Details only, please visit the library to see full illustrations

1. The Carp fish start to swim upstream the Yellow River

2. Leaping over the Dragon Gate

3. The Dragon

There is a famous Chinese legend about the origin of the Dragon. On the ancient Yellow River in China there are two cliffs that frame the river that locals call “The Dragon Gate”. According to the legend each year three hundred and sixty carp swim upstream this river but only one carp from the three hundred and sixty will swim and rapidly leap high enough to get over The Dragon Gate. It is said that that one carp that is able to leap The Dragon Gate, will be magically transformed into a Dragon.

Symbolic Meaning:

Having the persistence to resist the hardships of swimming upstream, rapidly jumping above the water and achieving success shows the carp to be a tough fish. That they could resist the big currents in China’s ancient Yellow River symbolizes great achievement in ones pursuit or the high ambition of a life time.

On the basis of this legend the carp became cultural tradition a symbol of “courage”. The legend teaches us that only the fittest and strongest can achieve the highest goal. We must strive for our highest goals with patience, believing in yourself and always trying to do your best, this will prove you to be fit and strong enough to conquer any hardships and overcome any obstacles.

~Muditha Askin

Contact at: askinart@gmail.om

Artworks currently on display at Louise Riley Library

Flavia fans rejoice! Alan Bradley's lastest novel Speaking from Among the Bones is his most recent mystery starring the determined investigator Flavia de Luce. For those who don't know her, Flavia lives in 1950s rural England in a mansion with her father, sisters, and staff. She uses her chemistry lab and interview skills to catch criminals, and she doesn't suffer fools. Now twelve, Flavia is starting to notice some troublesome behavioural changes in herself. In spite of this, she manages to tunnel though the local graveyard in search of clues to the murder of a church vocalist found dead just before the official unearthing of a renowned saint.

With a mystery series, I'm always concerned that the latest novel will be too true to formula, and that I'll lose interest. But Flavia never fails. I whipped through Speaking Among the Bones and once again thought "Blast! now I'll have to wait another year for Bradley's next novel to be published!" Just when I thought there would be a straight-forward end to this Flavia novel, Bradley leaves me with a doolally of a cliffhanger! Although I'm dying to tell, I won't.

Read his others first:

1. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
2. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
3. A Red Herring without Mustard
4. I am Half Sick of Shadows

An Old Sri Lankan Village Scene: The young women are plucking lotus. At the boat, a young man is looking over at them. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Artist: Muditha Askin

An Old Sri Lankan Village

Artist Muditha Askin was born in Hatton Sri Lanka and has a BFA from the University of Visual & Performing Arts in Sri Lanka. She has worked as a Freelance Artist, as an Artist & Graphic Designer in Dubai U.A.E. and Sri Lanka. She moved to Canada in 2008 and has recently been volunteering at the Artist Discovery House in Calgary. Come see her lovely illustrations at the Louise Riley Library this month!

Muditha can be contacted by email at: askinart@gmail.com

I am sad to find out this morning that Jakob Arjouni, a German writer of both hard-boiled detective novels and literary fiction, passed away last month at the age of 48. Despite his relative youth, Arjourni leaves behind nine novels, four of which have been translated into English and are available from the Calgary Public Library.

A year ago I read his book Kismet and thought it was one of the best examples of hard-boiled detective fiction I have ever read. Arjouni's detective, Kemal Kayankaya, is of Turkish descent – so in addition to having to deal with Croatian mobsters and various other thugs he also endures prejudice and stereotyping. The result is that the reader is treated to top notch noir with a side order of humorous social commentary from the wisecracking Kayankaya. As great as the Kayankaya character is, what i really enjoyed about the book was how tightly plotted it was. It reminded me a great deal of the work of Raymond Chandler, but without the holes in the plot big enough to drive a truck through. The ending of Kismet still strikes me as one of the best in all of detective fiction.

So today, feeling hungry for some good noir, I hopped on the internet to find out a little more about Arjouni and maybe place a hold on another Kemel Kayankaya story. That is how I discovered that Jacob Arjouni passed away on January 17 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. I have just read that when he discovered his terminal condition, Arjouni decided to race the clock and write another Kemel Kayankaya book even though he had not written detective fiction in twenty years. I look forward to that book but until then I'm glad there are other Kayankaya stories I can enjoy.

So farewell and thank you, Jacob Arjouni. We could use more like you.

RILEY LIBRARY CHILDREN'S

Book of the Month

Big Mean Mike, by Michelle Knudsen
illustrated by Scott Magoon

Meet Big Mean Mike.

He has a big, mean bark and a big, mean car.

And he does not hang around with tiny, fuzzy bunnies!