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mS4!J )M aU < ? ?JJ1V )fA 0 T 3 v Y V A H OCf C2 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday Qffpbes 3> "The Question" asked of author over 15,330 times By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Do you know how offensive it is to ask "The Question" of anyone who does not "look convincingly white?" Do you even know what The Question is? It is certainly a question I often ask, although I'm not moti vated by skin colour. I am more likely to hear accented English and then ask The Question. Yet, I still ask it of people who are "not like I." I never considered that my curiosity about someone else's SEWING MACHINE STORE REPAIRS TO SINGER and all other makes & models EXPERT PINKING SHEARS & SCISSOR SHARPENING 198 SPEERS RD. 842-2033 Inside Oakville Vacuum culture and native land could be offensive. But now I wonder. After reading Lawrence Hill's newest book - Black Berry; Sweet Juice: On being black and white in Canada - 1 certainly will be wary of asking someone "Where are you from?" The Oakville author estimates that he has been asked that question 15,330 times during his lifetime. Have I inflicted that question on someone for the thousandth time? I hope not. "It's a question that comes up repeatedly. And after about the 7,000th time, it begins to wear a little thin," the author explained in an interview prior to Bookers most recent Books and Brunch event. However, he did suggest that other "mixed race" Canadi ans, whom he interviewed for his book, welcome The Question as a way to "engage in an education campaign about who they are." Subsequently, he admitted that, depending on the circum stances in which it is asked, he is not always offended by The Question. "The follow-up questions are the worst If somebody asks, `Where are you from?' and I say, "I'm from Newmarket,' which is where I was bom; they come back and say, `But where are you really from?' And what they really mean by that is: `You can't really be from here,' because you don't look like they do," he said. "If you feel that you're being required to state your iden tity and sort of put it beside a formula and place for someone to adjust until they're satisfied, it becomes a little bit irritating." The former journalist insisted, however, that he didn't write Black Berry, Sweet Juice for whites or for blacks, but for him self. "I think that the first and foremost obligation is to satisfy myself.. .and I always hope, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, if 1write something that has truth and meaning for me, it will some how resonate for other readers," he explained. Although he prefers writing fiction, he said non-fiction seemed to be the appropriate vehicle for this particular story - a story that combines his own experiences of racial identity with those of other "mixed race" Canadians across the country. (See `Toronto' on page C3) Photo by Barrie Erskine Lawrence Hill, seen here with his trusty computer and his last novel, Any Known Blood, discussed his newest publication, Sweet Berry, Sweet Juice: On being black and white in Canada, at a recent Books and Brunch event. CRAFT Fair "A Ckristmas celebration" a X IU e O akville FALL SPECIAL! Lube, Oil, Filter & d Includes up to 5 Litres Penzoil 10W30 oil, oil filter, ,check all fluid levels, check belts & hoses, chassis lube See the professionals at Eastside for your complete automotive/light truck maintenance and repair needs. I I I I +taxes | Eastside Auto Service Limited Offer expires November 30/0' H · O n e o f O n ta rio 's m ost im p o rtan t C k ristm a s skows. · F ind great, original, h a n d m a d e gifts... eveiytk in g fro m jewelliy to fine a rt · C o m m e n ts from last .year's show visitors: "A first class skow" ... "It gets b e tte r every y e ar"-, "great quality!" 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