Community
Studies: Publications
The 1968 Literary Society
By Bruce McCowan
Well, as far as I know, it wasn't really a Literary Society -- or even a Library Club for that matter.
But let's imagine for a moment that Mrs. Harjan had sincere plans to start one for her half dozen "top-o'-the-class" Grade 8 English students. Perhaps she had even made a formal written proposal to Mr. Richardson, the Principal, adorned with a collection of superlatives perfectly describing her top students -- wonderful, trustworthy, scholarly, well-read, well-behaved and so on. I don't know that she did -- but then I don't know that she didn't. It's definitely more fun to think that she did. In any case, the rest of this story is actually true.
My favourite book in Grade 1 or 2 had been "My Hopping Bunny". It was on about the second shelf at the far end of the library on the left side. It began:
I went to the store
I had some money
I bought myself
A hopping bunny.
My hopping bunny -- an amusing character and more bold with every verse -- first jumped onto my knee, then over the fence, then over the car ... then over the house and, finally, over the moon.
And so, in 1968 ... one afternoon when Mrs. Wheaton, the librarian, wasn't in, Mrs. Harjan gathered together her top six or so Grade 8 English students. She sent us to the library where we were to debate the most profound qualities of Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" that made it such a literary masterpiece.
As I recall, I was the first in the door. I made a beeline for "My Hopping Bunny" -- "cool, it's still here!"
We quickly organized our chairs in a tight circle. The antics of my hopping bunny soon had us howling with laughter ...
I went to the store
I had some money
I bought myself
A hopping bunny...
Clearly, on an entertainment scale, My Hopping Bunny beats the dickens outa' Dickens! Well, in a few minutes, someone was hopping all right -- hopping mad! Scowling, Mrs. Harjan took us back in with the rest of the class for the usual uneventful English lesson.
So ended the first -- and last -- meeting of the 1968 Literary Society. Now we need a Seconder for the Minutes!
From The Scarboro Heights Record V8 #1
A Few of the "Members" of the1968 Literary Society
Are in this Photo Taken the Previous Year
