My New Book: Bono

"The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear."

Good news! My new book, Bono, will be published next month. Now I can afford some cream for my coffee, maybe even a little peanut butter on my bread...and the rent.

From my publisher, ABC-CLIO:

Bono is a passionate, articulate celebrity who has transcended his role as international rock star and become an effective political activist. This book provides insights into his life story and contributions to both popular culture and politics.

Bono is the highly recognizable, articulate, and well-known frontman of the band U2, one of the most successful, prolific, and widely respected bands in rock music. Bono has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and has won numerous awards for his political activism—highly unusual for a pop star. What makes Bono such a standout?

Bono: A Biography takes a broad look at the pop star's life from his birth until the present day while also examining in depth the major events throughout his life. It covers Bono's accomplishments as part of U2 and also provides great detail about this complex celebrity figure's achievements outside of his involvement with his band—for example, his activities as a major spokesperson on issues of debt relief and poverty.

This book will be appreciated by general readers as well as high school students with an interest in pop culture and politics. Authored by a writer who has been a fan of U2 and Bono since his youth, this book cites a variety of sources to present an engaging and comprehensive portrait of this passionate musician's contributions to popular music and his ongoing commitment to issues of social justice.

Features
• Contains many direct quotes from Bono's speeches and interviews that address his activism and his life with U2
• Presents a chronology of Bono's life from his birth onwards
• Includes a bibliography of works cited and other books worth reading

Highlights
• Provides a rich, detailed chronology of Bono's life
• Covers the significant milestones in his life
• Presents his struggles with celebrity vs. personal life
• Details Bono's political activism, explains his commitment to U2, and examines his Christian faith

Author Info:

David Kootnikoff is an award-winning writer. His published works include U2: A Musical Biography and Getting Both Feet Wet: Experiences Inside The Jet Program, winner of the Japan Festival Award for contributing to understanding between cultures. He is currently working on his doctoral degree in English at the University of Alberta, Canada.

A Man You Won't Meet Everyday: Jack Layton

"My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea." - Tommy Douglas

Canada is mourning a Prime Minister that should have been - Jack Layton, the greatest politician our country has seen since Tommy Douglas. The comparisons have been frequently made and will continue for a long time to come. Both were NDP leaders (Social Democrats) of Anglo dissent who loved their work and approached it as they did life; as optimists who believed in the collective will of people to change the world for the better.

(Jack Layton & Olivia Chow, 1997)

Most people do their work; Jack Layton loved his. And it showed. As with those rare individuals who relish what they do, Layton attracted others to his side and inspired their loyalty. That's what he did until last Monday when he passed away from cancer at the age of 61.

Yuko and I have just returned to Canada from living abroad for over 10 years and his passing is my very first genuine sorrow back home. I was looking forward to watching Jack in action, participating in his project to better the world.

I was too young to see Tommy Douglas in his prime so my recollections are culled from old archived news reels and his written words. Above all, what stands out is his voice and his undeniable integrity. With Jack I recognized the same timbre, the same dignity minus pretense or overwrought gravitas. It's the same quality of sincerity I recognize in the music of Stan Rogers and Leonard Cohen, in the poetry of Al Purdy or Susan Musgrave and in the paintings of Emily Carr or Lawren Harris. As a Canadian, I recognize this uniqueness as intrinsically belonging to us.

(Lawren Harris, "North Shore, Lake Superior," 1926)

An American or a Spaniard might hear or see something completely different and attach their own cultural attribute to it, but it will always remain originally from Canada. Sure, it's white, Anglo-Canada but that doesn't diminish its power for me.

(Tommy Douglas, 1968)

My own spiritual beliefs are agnostic but they bend towards belief in a just universe. I see karma at the centre, but as I grow older I also recognize something larger, perhaps grace, also at work. Grace, as Bono sang, "finds goodness in everything." It's faith, not only that my good or bad deeds will be returned, but that something beyond my control can also deliver me into the hands of joy. It's as simple and as plain as what Jack wrote in his last letter to Canadians:

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

It's not only there in the substance, but also in that tender phrase, "My friends." That's grace - the faith that a stranger is not really one at all, but is a soon-to-be friend. And as Tommy Douglas said:

"Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world."

(Greg Perry)

Thanks, Jack, for your courage and grace...

The Zen Of Bob Dylan: Dig Yourself

"To study the Way is to study the self
To study the self is to forget the self
To forget the self is to allow the ten thousand things to flow"
~ Dōgen

"You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal" ~ Bob Dylan

We don't celebrate "birthdays" in our home. A day is too short to cram all the festivities into twenty-four hours, so we like to carry on for a while and celebrate "birthweeks." This makes it easier when you live as far away from family as I do and suddenly realize mum's birthday is just around the corner. When you have a week there's still enough time to make that purchase and toss the treasure into the post. So it is with Bob Dylan. Although his "birthday" was technically on May 24th, Bobfest is still happening around here.

After reading all the tributes this week and reflecting a bit, I've realized too many really old people are being asked to recall things they no longer have a friggin' clue about. The best one can do is question all the authorities and crown yourself king. That's what Bob is all about, anyway. After years of sifting through his songs, the one golden nugget of wisdom that keeps being revealed is: "Dig Yourself."



Included among the many articles washing up in this week's flood is Ron Rosenbaum's premise that Bob's scathing sarcasm is rooted not in the backwoods of old, weird America, but in the black humour of urban comedians like Lenny Bruce:

"But I think if you want to place Dylan in a cultural landscape, it is more accurately located in the urban "Black Humor" movement of the late '50s and early '60s: Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Ralph Ellison, Joseph Heller and Catch-22, Terry Southern and the Dr. Strangelove script, Burroughs, Mailer."

Bob once sang that Lenny Bruce was "the brother that you never had" and like him, Bob is a natural provocateur. He agitates, Zen-like, by pointing to the world that exists right at the end of our noses:

"Let me tell you the truth. The truth is, 'what is.' And 'what should be' is a fantasy, a terrible, terrible lie that someone gave the people long ago." ~ Lenny Bruce

Over at Rolling Stone, Bono proclaims "Like A Rolling Stone" the greatest-ever Bob song, citing this verse as his personal favourite:

"You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you"

Nothing wrong with that - in other words, dig yourself. But my favourite line has always been:

"You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal"

That's as free as free can be, minus any thread of fear, self-consciousness or game-face. With nothing to hold you back, you can do anything without caring that anyone is looking...or at least that's how you feel. Imagine if you did that right now - got up and walked into the street wearing (or not wearing) whatever you felt like. Feel like singing? A little jig, maybe? Do it, let 10,000 things flow anywhere, anytime. The line has always been identified in my mind with William Blake, the Zen-bard and craftsman behind such masterworks as "Glad Day":

As the Zen master Dōgen wrote almost a millennium ago, you've got to lose yourself to be found. So, Happy Glad Week, Bob. Here's a video collage of our trip to India, remixed and shared with love: