The Gazette and Centaur Theatre Company invite you to take part in a very special speaker series. Join us for a few evenings of meaningful dialogue with notable Montreal personalities. Ask questions and enjoy a post-show meet and greet in Centaur’s gallery!
Hosted by The Gazette columnist, Bill Brownstein the three nights will feature distinguished guests: Sue Montgonmery and Phil Carpenter, two of The Gazette journalists that have been covering the reconstruction effort in Haiti, Montreal Alouettes quarterback, Anthony Calvillo and political columnist and author L. Ian MacDonald, in a lively staged discussion.
Bill Brownstein has been a columnist at the Montreal Gazette since 1987. He can be regularly heard on CJAD radio and regularly seen on CTV-Montreal, also commenting on city and cultural life in Montreal. Brownstein, born, bred and educated in Montreal, has made two documentary films, Bill Lee: A Profile of a Pitcher, about former Montreal Expos pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee and Skating on Thin Ice, about the nomadic life of two journeymen hockey players in the NHL. Brownstein is the author of Sex Carnival (2001), a whimsical peek into the wide world of sex, and Down the Tube (2002), a frightening account of the week he was forced to spend in TV hell. He is also co-author and co-editor of The Great Canadian Character Anthology. Brownstein wrote the bestseller, Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen: The Story (2006), a quirky probe into the legendary Montreal deli. The French version of Brownstein’s take on Schwartz’s came out in 2008. And troubadours Bowser and Blue have transformed his deli saga into Schwartz’s: The Musical, which will be presented on the Centaur Theatre stage in 2011. Brownstein’s most recent book, Montreal 24: Twenty-four Hours in the Life of a City (2008) is an around-the-clock odyssey through the city that never sleeps.
More at: 
On Monday, March 8 at 7 PM
Sue Montgomery and Phil Carpenter on Hope for Haiti
Proceeds from ticket sales for this event will go directly towards reconstruction efforts in Haiti.
Sue Montgomery has been a journalist for close to 25 years, working at the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, Gemini News Service in London, England, and The Gazette. She covered the 1989 Velvet Revolution in the former Czech Republic, the independence of Namibia and the release of Nelson Mandela. She has taught journalism at the National University of Rwanda in Butare. She also covered the first war crimes trial in Canada of Desiré Munyaneza, convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. She's been to Haiti three times, including during the coup d'état in 2004. She's married to a saint and has a boy and girl, aged 11 and 14.
Phil Carpenter has been a photojournalist for 14 years and is currently a photo and video journalist at The Gazette. He has been to Haiti twice and has worked on other stories and projects in Bosnia, Israel, Rwanda and Monaco among others. He has won awards for his work including two Society of News Design awards for photo essays on Olympic athletes and their injuries, and swimmers in the FINA games in Montreal. He has also taught at Concordia University’s school of journalism.
More at:
On Monday, April 19 at 7 PM
Anthony Calvillo
Proceeds from ticket sales for this event will go to the Cedars Cancer Institute family room at the Montreal General Hospital.
Anthony Calvillo was born in Los Angeles, California where he was a two-sport standout in football and basketball while attending La Puente High School followed by a fruitful college football career. He started his Canadian Football League career in 1994 with the US expansion Las Vegas Posse and a year later Calvillo was selected first overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the dispersal draft. In 1998, Calvillo signed as a free agent with the Montreal Alouettes where he became one of the most outstanding CFL quarterbacks in history. He led the Alouettes to the 2002 Grey Cup for the first time in 25 years and was named the most valuable player in the game.
The 2003 CFL season was stellar for Calvillo. He broke numerous Montreal Alouette passing records and became the fourth quarterback in CFL history to pass for more than 6,000 yards in a single season, earning him the East Division nominee for Most Outstanding Player for the third consecutive year. The 2008 CFL season saw him hit a number of career milestones. Calvillo surpassed Danny McManus to become the 2nd all-time leading passer in the CFL, became the fourth quarterback in CFL history to reach 300 career touchdown passes and the second quarterback in CFL history to reach 4,000 career pass completions. Calvillo led the Montreal Alouettes to the 2008 Grey Cup final and despite the loss, Calvillo still won the 2008 Most Outstanding Player award.
On July 23, 2009, he surpassed Canadian Football Hall of Famer Ron Lancaster's 334 career touchdown passes and is now second only to Damon Allen's 394 total with 354 himself. He sat out two games during the regular season, accumulating 4639 yards with a remarkable 72.0% completion rate, which is the second best completion rate in CFL history. Calvillo led Montreal to a comeback victory in the 97th Grey Cup on Nov. 29, when the Alouettes defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders on last-second field goal.
More at: 
On Monday, May 10 at 7 PM
L. Ian MacDonald
Proceeds from ticket sales for this event will go directly towards reconstruction efforts in Haiti.
L. Ian MacDonald is a columnist, author, editor, broadcaster and speaker. He is the author of the best-selling biography Mulroney: The Making of the Prime Minister and From Bourassa to Bourassa: Wilderness to Restoration, a critically acclaimed narrative history of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1976-1994. He is the editor of Free Trade: Risks and Rewards, a benchmarking of free trade and co-author of Leo: A Life, the best-selling autobiography of former Senator Leo Kolber, longtime adviser to the Bronfman family.
Previously, he was Minister of Public affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Washington from 1992 to 1994 and chief speechwriter to the Prime Minister of Canada from 1985 to 1988. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of Concordia University from 1983 to 1987, and a member of the Quebec Press Council from 1982 to 1985. He was co-chair of the retail corporate division of Centraide, Montreal's United Way, in 1997, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Loyola High School in Montreal. Born in 1947, Mr. MacDonald lives in Montreal, and has two daughters, Grace, born in 1990 and Zara, born in 2009. He is a graduate of Concordia University (Loyola), Honours Political Science, in 1969.
More at: 