Blog

MICHELLE MERLINDT's

welcome to the wonderful world of a literary adventuress

My blog is not a diary or journal but rather an eclectic collection of articles and essays both old and new. The most popular posting here is "The Equestrian Career of Miss Shirley Burr". It's a good place to start.

A Vancouver Christmas Story

Valentine's Day Dilemma

The Equestrian Career of Miss Shirley Burr

A Vancouver Christmas Story

In late December many years ago I found myself stranded in Vancouver. My passport was on the verge of expiring and I was temporarily...

Valentine's Day Dilemma

Be warned. It's coming. The day we love to hate: Valentine's Day. I’m well aware of the fraudulence of its sentiment and the pressure...

The Equestrian Career of Miss Shirley Burr

When I set out to write a profile of Shirley Burr for a local magazine some time ago I had no notion of the exciting, adventure-packed...

The Education of a Poet

Robert Burns is by some measures the most famous poet in the world. There are more statues of him dotted over the globe than of any other...

Why Vienna?

It is impossible to overestimate the influence of childhood experiences. I’ve come to realize that so many of the things I’ve done, so...

My Mother's Library

It was only by pure chance that I happened to be in the country on the day that my mother suddenly died. Shocked and bewildered, I...

My Reading Journal

I know plenty of people who keep a food diary. They’re really serious about it. They record in great detail what they ate, when they ate,...

Sparkle, Spirit and the Silver Screen

It was on a drizzly September afternoon in 2015 that I first met Joan Frost. She was soon to turn one hundred years old and I had agreed...

The Magic of Rhyming Poetry

I was born in Australia and grew up on a farm. In childhood I heard and loved the ballads and narrative poetry that was the signature...

A Woman Worth Remembering?

I created “The Figurine” in order to reveal the story behind a work of art. The mascot that adorns the hood of every Rolls-Royce car, the...