50 Canadians Who Changed the World. My new book will not turn up in bookstores until autumn. But you can read an excerpt in the July-August issue of VIA Rail's Destinations magazine. You guessed it: the excerpt focuses on Michaelle Jean. Even if you are NOT exploring the country by train, you can get a sense of the book by going here. Click through to page 42. One more thing: hats off to the folks at HarperCollins Canada. They're the ones who made this happen. Trust me, when you are bringing out a book, nothing beats having a great team around you.

So the big celebration happened: the 50th anniversary of JFK's 1963 visit to Ireland. They gave it a day-long street party in New Ross, County Wexford. Several members of te Kennedy clan were there. And the Irish prime minister. Not to forget Michael Flatley, the Lord of Dance, and folk singer Judy Collins. You can read all about it here. The photo above, shot a few weeks ago, is the closest I ever came to meeting JFK. As it happens, one of his great-grandfathers came from New Ross: Patrick Kennedy. And so did one of mine, his near contemporary: Michael Byrne (to get the spelling straight). So that's why I was poking around.

In case you missed yesterday's Globe and Mail, where this slightly doctored photo turned up in the Books Section, Our Hero will soon teach Narrative Non-Fiction at the University of Toronto Summer Writing School. It's an intensive, one-week, multi-genre program that runs this year July 15 to 19. Other instructors include Dennis Bock, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Marina Nemat, John Bemrose, Ken Babstock, Norman Snider, Alissa York, Joy Fielding, and Mariko Tamaki. They're teaching everything from historical fiction to screenwriting and writing a bestselling novel. If you're interested, you might be wise to act ASAP. The photo is courtesy of Matthew Plexman, who is secretly a magician.

Hats off to Merilyn Simonds! She not only runs an amazing meeting. But, with the help of Ottawa writer Eric Enno Tamm, she has pointed the way to a renaissance for The Writers' Union of Canada. In response to revolutionary changes in the publishing landscape, TWUC members at their 40th AGM voted unanimously to admit self-published authors. There WILL be an approval process. And the measure must win the approval of the membership in a referendum. Simonds, the outgoing chair of TWUC, called it "a landmark decision . . . that addresses our sincere desire for inclusion and innovation, while maintaining our tradition of defining and upholding professional standards for writers in Canada.” She noted that in "an increasingly fractured literary landscape, others in our sector are looking to TWUC to define what it means to be a professional book author." If the move wins approval of the general membership, she said, "we hope that granting agencies, festivals, residencies and other support programs for writers will follow TWUC’s lead and expand their own definitions to welcome what is becoming an increasingly important practice among professional writers.” And here's a link to the official release.

Around our house, the most anticipated book of the year is 50 Canadians Who Changed the World. HarperCollins Canada will publish it in October. The author? Mais, c’est moi! The jacket copy promises an “astonishing array of activists, humanitarians, musicians and writers, comedians, visionaries, scientists, and inventors, all of whom are transformative figures who have made an impact internationally.” It tells us that cutting-edge Canada is the focus of the book, and that “two thirds of those celebrated here are alive and thriving today.” It even names a few names, as you can see here. Last week, I received a small number of “ARCs” or Advance Reading Copies. These are uncorrected proofs subject to amendment. Now, I am going to give away one of these advance copies. Okay, okay: it's a VERY MODEST contest. I will sign this paperback ARC and mail it to the first person who submits a winning entry. Here’s the deal: you get one chance. You can name seven names. Five of those must be the names of figures included in the book . . . and also must NOT be among those identified at the other end of the above link. You can enter through the comment section below, or else through Facebook, if you are an FB friend. Deadline: May 30.

In 1999, when he was working as books editor at the Calgary Herald, Our Hero traveled to the Arctic with a fellow Calgarian to erect a plaque at the spot where explorer John Rae discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage. He told that story in his award-winning book Fatal Passage, which became an international bestseller and inspired a BBC docudrama. Last August, Ken returned to the High Arctic to see if the John Rae plaque was still intact. On Friday, August 30, he will bring that story full circle, when he returns to Calgary to give an illustrated lecture at the Calgary Public Library (John Dutton Theatre). Ken will be appearing courtesy of Clan MacRae.

As you can see from this poster, an international conference on Arctic explorer John Rae is happening in Orkney this September. Rae solved the riddle of the lost 1845 expedition of Sir John Franklin, and also discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage. Yes, I will be in Stromness during the conference, serving as writer-in-residence. And, yes, I will avidly participate: can't wait! This is a big year for Rae. I recently spoke about him at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Those with a passion for the subject can even catch some of the audio. John Rae will have me in Calgary late in August . . . but about that, I will reveal more soon. Why is the peerless explorer, the focus of my book Fatal Passage, attracting so much attention? This September marks the 200th anniversary of his birth.