life rattle show no. 1227

Presented on THURSDAY, October 25, 2012

Hosted by John Dunford

featuring

"Today"
by Laurie Kallis

and

"The Perfect House"
by Shane Driver

tonight's Show

Tonight, on Life Rattle No. 1227, we present a classic by Laurie Kallis and a sneak peak at the writing of new Life Rattle writer Shane Driver.

Tonight’s featured stories lay bare the gut wrenching pain of divorce, the raw emotions experienced by every family member. No one escapes. With a reserved approach, both writers capture low-key details that build to a climax. You know where things are going, and you don’t really want to hear how things end, but step by step you’re caught up in the events.

Our first writer, Laurie Kallis, was born in Hamilton in 1963, and raised as an only child. Her family moved and lived in various neighbourhoods around Toronto, then Mississauga and Etobicoke. Laurie left school when she was sixteen and worked an office job at a transport company. She had her first son at 18, married, then had her second son at 27. She returned to school in 1995 to study art and graduated from university in 1999.
Divorced, and her sons grown, Laurie moved to Hamilton in 2008, where she intends to focus on art making and storytelling, as soon as she finishes fixing up her house. To support her compulsion to make art, Laurie has worked as an art instructor, writer, editor, website developer, landscape designer and managing director of Life Rattle. A long-term theme of her art has been the strained coexistence of humans and nature. At Life Rattle, Laurie Kallis helps other storytellers polish their words and find an audience.

Our second story is a sneak peak at the writing of Shane Driver. Shane will be a featured writer at this year’s Totally Unknown Writers Festival on November 21, and you will hear four more of his stories in the comings weeks.

In tonight's story, "The Perfect House," Shane gives us a different perspective of a crumbling family—that of a child horrified by what he and his brother sees and powerless to prevent the inevitable.

Note: tonight's stories contain material that some may find offensive. Listener discretion is advised.