The Measure of a Man Is the Size of His Toolbox

Les Harding is the author of The Voyages of Lesser Men: Thumbnail
Sketches in Canadian Exploration and The Journeys of Remarkable Women:
Their Travels on the Canadian Frontier.

Carol Picard is the editor of the Canmore Leader, a weekly newspaper in
a small Alberta town. As part of her job, she was required to tap out
exactly 3024 characters a week on her faithful Mac in order to fill the
op-ed page. What we have here are some 60 newspaper columns, each about
one and a half to two pages in length, and all composed over the last
four years.

At times the pieces refer to local events and people; usually, though,
the author, in a mildly amusing style, ranges far and wide on subjects
with universal appeal—environment, tourism, politics, the battle of
the sexes, and so forth. Picard admits that she has no startling
insights or flashes of wisdom to impart and advises readers to place the
book in the bathroom as soon as they bring it home. It is that kind of
book, she says. And it is.