life rattle show no. 1290

Presented on THURSDAY, january 9, 2014

Hosted by John dunford

featuring

"ICU"
and
"Dinner at Il Fornello"
by Martha Sinclair

tonight's Show

Tonight, on Life Rattle Program No. 1290, we feature two stories by new Life Rattle writer Martha Sinclair.

Martha Sinclair, born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, is the middle daughter of three, raised in a family of both English and French descent. In high school, a guidance counsellor called Martha into her office and went through her aptitude test scores with her. After confiding that guidance counsellors weren’t supposed to tell students their scores, the counsellor told Martha that she had scored only average in artistic ability, but had scored high in other areas. Martha Sinclair decided to go to art school.

Martha Sinclair’s writing is restrained, almost clinical in her descriptions, and her voice is unsentimental. It’s these qualities that make her stories so compelling and so powerful.

In tonight’s first story, "ICU," a woman visits her partner in the intensive care unit where he remains on life support after having been in the coronary care unit.

Tonight’s second story, "Dinner at Il Fornello," is a continuation of the first. The narrator’s partner has recently died, and she dines with his family at an Italian restaurant, after seeing the body of her beloved for the final time earlier in the day.