In this collection of articles, Norman Webster takes readers on a journey through his 50 years of newspapering - in Canada, China in the early 1970s, the UK of Maggie Thatcher, and around the world. Webster, a distinguished international journalist, worked at a time when you couldn't rely on Google for your basic facts. You had to go there, look, ask questions. It's old-style reporting from a journalist with a sharp eye for the absurd, as the title (from a reporting trip to Tibet) suggests. As a renowned editor, Webster writes about some of the big issues in Canada, such as the Quebec Neverendum, the sovereignty debate that consumed the province and the country for three decades. Unlike so many political players in the world today, he is thoughtful and measured in his analysis. His book is entertaining and inspiring for readers of politics, and for journalists looking for award-winning examples of international reporting and editorial columns.

Norman Webster is a Canadian journalist and a former editor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail and the Montreal Gazette. Born in 1941 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, he was educated at Bishop's College School and received his B.A. from Bishop's University. From Sherbrooke, Québec, he attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship before signing on at the Globe, where he served as correspondent in Beijing and London, as well as in the Quebec, Ottawa, and Queen's Park bureaus. He also spent a year in Winnipeg at the Free Press. He has won two National Newspaper Awards: the first for coverage of China's 'ping pong diplomacy,' the second for editorial writing. As Editor-in-Chief of both the Globe and Mail and the Montreal Gazette, he brought depth, moderation, style, and vision to news reporting. His sense of professional excellence has brought credit to the print media and is an inspiration to young writers and students. His weekly column in the Gazette began in 1990, and for two years was joined by another column written for Le Devoir. He is rational on most subjects except hockey and Prince Edward Island, where he was born. In 1995, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Norman Webster's profile page