What I'm Trying to Say Is Goodbye

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Victoria newspaper reporter Matthew Kelly lost his job and his wife
Delia because he is an alcoholic. Now he is a janitor in a seniors’
residence who attends Alcoholics Anonymous in an attempt to solve his
problems without Dewers. His chief worry is the fact that his daughter
Kate and his grandson Sam are living in the country with Kate’s
husband, Michael Taylor, a fanatical Christian fundamentalist.

The book’s American distribution enables one to dream of Hollywood
adaptation. Matthew is repeatedly compared to Patrick Stewart from Star
Trek: The Next Generation. When an RCMP investigator appears at the
Taylor compound, “Sam thinks of Fox Mulder,” an FBI agent from The
X-Files.

Although Simmie wrote several children’s books, she realizes that is
it difficult for adults to create credible adolescent characters. In
order to fully animate Sam, she prudently drew on the expertise of
“Daniel Simmie, my teenage consultant and Star Wars aficionado.”
Solid characterization enables the author to dovetail a juvenile
adventure tale with an adult redemption story.

This writer has a wicked sense of humour. Pregnant Kate reassures
Matthew and Delia that Sam’s real father, “a scary biker named
Shadow,” will become a good parent because he takes loving care of
Boh, his Doberman. The parents visit Shadow’s clubhouse, where they
discover the dog’s frozen corpse.

What I’m Trying to Say Is Goodbye won a 2004 Saskatchewan Book Award
in the People’s Choice category. Such recognition enhances Simmie’s
solid track record and bolsters reader confidence.