Dilettante's Diary

Who Do I Think I Am?
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Who Do I Think I Am?
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December 2020
Autumn Mysteries 2020
Aug 12/20
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Oct 29/15
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July 29, 2015
July 1, 2015
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May 19/15
Apr 30/15
Apr 19/15
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March 23/15
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Winter Reading 2015
Feb 20/15
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Highs 'N Lows of 2014
Dec 19/14
Dec 2/14
Nov 10/14
Oct 29/14
Fall Reading 2014
Sept 17/14
Summer Reading 2014
Aug 22/14
Aug 8/14
July 11/14
June 16/14
May 28/14
Apr 30/14
Apr 16/14
Apr 2/14
March 21, 2014
March 13/14
Feb 11/14
Sept 23/13
Favourite Works: 2004-2013
Two Novels by BARBARA PYM
Sabbath's Theater by PHILIP ROTH
July 18/13
Summer Reading 2013
June 19/13
May 30/13
Spring Reading 2013
May 10/13
Apr 18/13
Mar 29/13
March 14, 2013
The Artist Project 2013
Feb 25/13
Winter Reading 2013
Feb 7/13
Jan 22/13
Jan 12/13
A Toast to 2012
Dec 19/12
Dec 16/12
Dec 4/12
Fall Reading 2012
Nov 17/12
Nov 6/12
Art Toronto 2012
Oct 23/12
Oct 4/12
Sept 28/12
Summer Reading 2012
Aug 26/12
Aug 8/12
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2012
July 14/12
June 28/12
MIMC
May 27/12
May 20/12
May 4/12
La Traviata: Met's Live HD Version
Apr 21/12
Apr 6/12
Mar 22/12
Mar 9/12
The Artist Project 2012
Academy Awards Show 2012
Feb 26/12
Feb 11/12
Jan 23/12
Jan 15/12
Jan 7/12
Dec 20/11
Dec 12/11
Nov 27/11
Nov 18/11
Nov 7/11
Art Toronto 2011
Oct 22/11
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Sept 30, 2011
Summer Reading 2011
Aug 11/11
July 28, 2011
July 19/11
TOAE 2011
June 25/11
June 20/11
June 2/11
May 14/11
Apr 29/11
Toronto Art Expo 2011
Apr 11/11
March 24/11
The Artist Project 2011
March 11/11
Feb 23/11
Feb 7/11
Jan 21/11
HIGHS 'N LOWS OF 2010
Jan 17/11
Dec 21/10
Dec 6/10
Nov 11/10
Fall Reading 2010
Oct 22/10
Summer Reading 2010
Aug 9/10
Aug 2/10
TOAE 2010
July 16/10
The Shack
June 27/10
June 3/10
May 5/10
April 17/10
Mar 28/10
Mar 17/10
The Artist Project 2010
Toronto Art Expo 2010
Feb 22/10
Feb 3/10
Notables of '09
Jan 11/10
Dec 31/09
Dec 17/09
How Fiction Works
Nov 24/09
Sex for Saints
Nov 11/09
Housekeeping
Oct 22/09
Oct 6/09
Sept 18/09
Aug 23/09
July 31/09
July 17/09
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2009
Toronto Fringe 2009
Zen Wrapped In Karma Dipped In Chocolate
June 28/09
June 6/09
Myriad Mysteries 2009
May 10/09
CBC Radio -- "The New Two"
April 14/09
March 24/09
Toronto Art Expo '09
March 1/09
The Jesus Sayings
Feb 8/09
Jan 26/09
Jan 10/09
Stand-outs of 2008
Dec 24/08
Dec 4/08
Nov 16/08
Oct 27/08
Oct 16/08
Sept 26/08
Sept 5/08
July 21/08
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 08
July 5/08
June 23/08
June 4/08
May 18/08
May 4/08
April 16/08
March 26/08
Head to Head
Feb 26/08
Feb 13/08
Jan 30/08
Jan 17/08
Notables of 2007
Dec 30/07
Dec 8/07
Nov 22/07
Oct 25/07
Oct 4/07
Sept 18/07
Aug 29/07
Aug 8/07
Summer Mysteries '07
July 20/07
June 28/07
June 8/07
May 21/07
May 2/07
April 14/07
March 23/07
Toronto Art Expo 2007
March 8/07
Feb 16/07
Feb 2/07
Jan 24/07
Notables of 2006
Dec 27/06
December 11/06
November 28/06
Nov 8/06
October 14/06
Sept 22/06
Ring Psycho (Wagner on CBC Radio)
Sept 6/06
August 12/06
July 18/06
June 27/06
June 9/06
May 23/06
Me In Manhattan
May 2/06
April 12/06
March 17/06
March 9/06
Feb 16/06
Feb 1/06
Jan 11/06
Dec 31/05
Dec 12/05
Nov 25/05
Nov 4/05
Oct 24/05
Sept 7/05
Sept 16/05
Sept 1/05
Aug 10/05
July 21/05
Me and the Jays
July 10/05
June 15/05
May 18/05
April 27/05
April 18/05
April 8/05
March 21/05
Feb 28/05
Feb 21/05
Feb 4/05
Jan 28/05
Jan 19/05
Jan 5/05
About Me
Dec 20/04
Dec 5/04
MOVIES
BOOKS
RE-READINGS
MYSTERIES/CRIME books
VIDEOS and DVDs
PLAYS
OTHER STUFF: Art Exhibitions, Concerts, etc.
So Who Does Patrick Donohue Think He Is?
 

Ok. You want to know something about me. Fair enough. If I'm going to sound off about other people's work, they have a right to know where the opinions are coming from.

Most of my professional life so far has been spent as a writer and freelance journalist. My articles on a wide variety of topics have appeared in many Canadian and American publications. In the 1980s, I worked for a couple of years as a staff writer in the Communications Department of the University of Toronto. If there have been areas of specialty in my journalism, you might say they have tended towards family, the arts, spirituality and generally matters of human interest. My preferred style is usually light and humourous. My articles have won a number of awards and I have served as a juror for national journalism competitions.

Years ago, I did a lot of freelance writing for CBC radio and TV in Vancouver, mostly in the areas of humour and variety. My short stories have appeared in various publications and have won some awards.

In recent years, my writing has focussed mostly on books and plays. My book Grappling With God: The Naked Truth About My Spiritual Life was published by Novalis in 1994. (I believe it's out of print.) In 1998, I published I Give You My Word: The Autobiography of Mary, the Mother of Jesus through my own company, Arcadie Books. (You can still get a copy through the US distributor, New Leaf, but I believe the Canadian distributor has disappeared into the frozen wasteland.) I have also ghost-written or collaborated on various other books.

In the last few years, I have staged public workshop performances of some of my plays. I have also acted in two one-man shows Roses From Heaven and My Dying Day that I wrote for Fringe festivals in various venues across Canada. The latter play was directed by the well-known Dora-award winning Toronto actor Liza Balkan. I have also appeared recently at Toronto’s Alumne Theatre in Modern Ritual by Rob Downes.

As for my education, I attended St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ont., where I received a BA in philosophy (or "Pre-theology" as it was technically called) from the University of Western Ontario. I left the seminary after five and a half years, just a little more than a year short of ordination to the priesthood.

While in the seminary, I became very active in student politics on the UWO campus and was acclaimed to the position of the first student representative on the university's board of governors. I was also very involved in the UWO student newspaper, The Gazette, where my whimsical column, "The White Collar Worker" ran for several years.

My first training in watercolours was with the very accomplished Jane Hunter in Sarnia, Ont. She had just returned from studies at the Ontario College of Art and I was her first student. The teacher with whom I have studied most in Toronto is the well-known Canadian watercolourist Margaret Roseman, the founder of the Toronto Watercolour Society. I am now on the executive of the TWS and have won several prizes for my watercolours, including the Gold Medal for "Best in Show" in the TWS Spring Show 2007. In the fall of 2006, a watercolour of mine was included in "Open Water", the annual juried show of the prestigious Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour. A watercolour of mine chosen for "Open Water" in 2008 won the award presented by Curry's and the M. Graham Paint Company.

My first piano studies, up to the grade eight level, were with Pauline McGregor in Sarnia, Ont. As an adult, I studied for several years with Margaret Grant, a distinguished Toronto teacher and adjudicator, and the author of Your Child and the Piano. More recently, I have studied with Sue Polanyi, a prominent personality in Toronto musical circles and with Lawrence Pitchko, a  concert pianist who has had a brilliant career in Europe and Canada.

Long ago, I studied singing (mostly lieder) with Madame Catharina Hendrikse in Vancouver. She is famous for having discovered the great Canadian baritone Cornelius Opthoff. Apparently, Mme Hendrikse's knack for picking winners did not pan out in my case.

My wife Jane and I live in Toronto where she taught high school English until her recent retirement. Our son, Michael, is an economist with Health Canada in Ottawa. He is the father of two lovely daughters, Alora and Ella. Their mother is Barbara Sherman. Our daughter, Madeleine, is a graduate of George Brown Theatre School and has performed with many theatre companies in Canada and the US. She and her husband, Geoff Pounsett, also an actor, are the parents of two delightful children: Arthur and Rosaline.

You can respond to: patrick@dilettantesdiary.com