www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, June 1, 2012 · 4 McDermott performs for fan who lost cancer battle By John Bkila OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Glen Wideman was a music lover, the type of guy who would just wake up singing. Calling him a fan of famous tenor John McDermott, would have been an understatement, as Wideman and his daughter Kim Severin would attend at least one of his concerts a year. "Often at intermissions, we would go and talk to him (McDermott) and shake his hand," Severin said. "My dad was a very Christian man and a lot of John's songs talk about spirituality, so my dad just connected to his lyrics." So it made sense to Severin, when her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer six weeks ago and brought to the Ian Anderson House (IAH) last Thursday (May 24), to try to contact McDermott to see if he would come and visit her dad as a kind of last gift to her father. The connection between Wideman and McDermott was a deep one, explained Severin. During a concert in 2008 in Oakville, Severin went out during the intermission to see McDermott alone, as walking had become difficult for her father after suffering a stroke nearly 20 years ago and he had to walk with a quad-cane. "I spoke to John and told him my dad is here again, but he can't come out for the intermission, and was wondering if he would mind if when he went back on stage, to make mention of my dad or dedicate a song to him," Severin said. "He made a big point of it. He came into the audience and hugged my dad and we got pictures. It was great." It's for that reason that Severin and her sister Julie Navarro sent McDermott an e-mail explaining the whole story, to try to bring him to see their dad. "I knew John was coming to Toronto on May 30, and if there was any way to get him to visit my dad at Ian Anderson House just See Tenor page 8 Glen Wideman