A light-hearted and touching memoir of Bill Sherk’s 30-plus-year career as a Toronto high school history teacher with a creative flair and passion for his work. Bill Sherk taught history to Toronto high school students for more than thirty years. With his dynamic, creative, and occasionally unorthodox teaching style, he instilled in his students a passion for history and learning. Sherk was loved by his students and remained in their memories long after graduation. Keep Up If You Can is a light-hearted and touching memoir that will appeal to anyone who’s had a special teacher impact their life. Fun facts: He learned the names of all his students on the first day of school. He assigned ancient names to his ancient history students. They called him Sherkules ( SHERK-yoo-leez ). After reading Webster’s Dictionary cover to cover, he encouraged his students to coin new words, and many of these were published in his three dictionaries. Firmly believing in physical activity, he would leap atop his desk and lead his students in an aerobic «Sherkout» to a rock-and-roll beat.
In this hilarious collection of stories, Old Autos columnist Bill Sherk describes in vivid detail the trials and tribulations of those brave souls who, throwing caution to the wind and money down the drain, made the fateful decision that would forever change the course of their lives. They went out and bought their very first cars. And whether it came from the showroom or the scrapyard, your first car was your ticket of admission into the adult world. Gas, oil, repairs, tow trucks, speeding tickets, insurance, and fender benders would take a vacuum cleaner to your bank account, but you didn’t care. You were behind the wheel and on the road.
500 Years of New Words takes you on an exciting journey through the English language from the days before Shakespeare to the first decade of the 21st century. All the main entries are arranged not alphabetically by in chronological order based on the earliest known year that each word was printed or written down. Beginning with «America» in 1507 and spanning the centuries to «Marsiphobiphiliac» in 2004 (a person who would love to go to Mars but is afraid of being marooned there), this book can be opened at any page and the reader will discover a dazzling array of linguistic delights. In other words, this book is unputdownable (the main entry for 1947). If Shakespeare were alive today, he would buy this book.
Winner of the 2004 International Gallery of Superb Printing Bronze Award for Superb Craftsmanship in Production, and the Ontario Printing and Imaging Association Excellence in Print Awards, commended for the 2004 Honourable Mention for Superb Craftsmanship in Production From rumble seats and running broads to power tops and tailfins, 60 Years Behind the Wheel captures the thrill of motoring in Canada from the dawn of the twentieth century to 1960. There are intriguing stories of cars with no steering wheels, and fascinating photographs of historic vehicles from across the country. From the Studebaker to the Lincoln-Zephyr, from the showroom to the scrapyard, here are over 150 vehicles owned and driven by Canadians.