By Eileen Daniel
Kathy Moore has been the mayor of Rossland for the last eight years and a city councillor for six years before that. She has lived in Rossland for 20 years and is still just as passionate about the community and our wonderful outdoor lifestyle as ever. Reading has always been a major interest since she was a small child.
1. What is your favourite childhood book?
I loved all the Dr. Seuss books. They were so creative and also, as I learned as an adult, so instructive. The Sneetches pointed out the absurdity of prejudice while Horton Hatches the Egg taught a valuable lesson about dedication and responsibility. Growing up with three older brothers made No Fighting, No Biting by Else Minarik one of my favorites as I was learning to read.
2. What book did you most enjoy in school?
I can’t say I enjoyed it, but I found Lord of the Flies by William Golding to be incredibly powerful. The total anarchy and chaos that results from the shredding of social norms was frightening. Ironically, it seems today’s society has taken on some of the worst characteristics of those marooned boys: survival of the fittest, self-interest above all else, no care for the less fortunate, and attacks on those who are different.
3. What book do you read over and over?
I rarely re-read a book, but I have read some of the Bronte sisters’ classics more than once: Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. They evoke a very different lifestyle that I find it quite interesting and a bygone, and perhaps non-existent sense of romance.
Also, those books portray just such a wretched life for women and that makes me so glad to have been born when and where I was!
I’ve re-read Pat Conroy’s Prince of Tides more than once. His style is lyrical and captivating, and the story is heartbreaking.
I also read A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin twice. I read it to my son when he was young, then re-read it after visiting the Alto Adige in Italy where some of the most brutal mountain fighting during WWI took place. I was amazed at how the soldiers could have survived in the caves, in winter, so high in the Dolomites (and without Gore-Tex, down clothing or waterproof gear!).
The book is written from the point of view of an Italian soldier but covers much more than his wartime travails.
By the way, Mark Helprin has some really excellent and diverse titles to his name. He is a multi-dimensional author, tackling all sorts of fascinating topics.
4. Name one book everyone should read.
I wouldn’t presume to be able to answer this question. I think everyone has their own interests and their own reasons for reading books. The good news is that books are for everyone, for every purpose, and can be such an illuminating window on the world. In my family my mother started a “Reading Race” for all of us with monthly prizes. Her intent was to encourage my sister, who had learning disabilities, to read. The result was we all grew up to be avid and voracious readers. It’s a habit, when started young, that can have a lifetime of benefits.
5. What is your favourite movie version of a great novel?
I love The Count of Monte Cristo with Gerard Depardieu from 1998. Maybe that doesn’t count because it wasn’t a movie — but instead a 13-part French mini-series. That said, nothing can compare with the book by Alexandre Dumas Sr. written in 1844. I have an early 1900s edition that my dad had as a young boy. It’s well loved and beautifully illustrated.
6. What are you reading now?
I have read a fair amount of non-fiction lately; mostly dealing with world politics and climate change. Most of it is unrelentingly depressing.
I don’t feel as optimistic as I would like about the state of our world. I struggle to imagine world leaders and individuals getting done what needs to happen to keep our planet functioning to support all forms of life in perpetuity.
As my young granddaughter has said more than once, “We are doomed,” and that breaks my heart.