St. Mike’s is turning on the local star power to celebrate the 2021 Alumni Reunion.
Four of our graduates—including two celebrated authors, a noted television writer and producer, and a famed tenor—will share their thoughts with our Alumni in Entertainment panel. The online discussion, to be moderated by St. Michael’s Associate Professor Dr. Iris Gildea, takes place Saturday, May 29 from 3 to 4 p.m.
Panelist Natalie Jenner, the best-selling author of The Jane Austen Society, graduated in 1990 with a B.A. in English literature and a minor in cinema studies. When she looks back on her undergraduate years, the memories that arise surround the power of the written word.
Jenner recalls “my Shakespeare professor warning us as they were about to read from King Lear that they always choked up during a final moment between Lear and Cordelia. I remember how surprised we all were when the professor began to read, did indeed start to tear up, and had to take a moment to collect themselves.
“When I think about my own privilege in being a published writer, it is this moment—its power, its realness, and its vulnerability—that I return to again and again.”
Kevin Sylvester, writer and illustrator of more than 30 children’s books, graduated in 1989 with a joint major in English and Philosophy (USMC) and a minor in Latin. His most recent project is illustrating The Fabulous Zed Watson! with current St. Mike’s student—and Kevin’s child—Basil Sylvester. Reflecting on his time at St. Mike’s, Kevin says that a favourite spot on campus would be “the offices of The Mike, where I was editor (sort of a disastrous one) and illustrator, and where I discovered interests and skills that would set me on the path I’m on now.”
Justin Jalea, who graduated in 2007, is a human rights activist, conductor and JUNO-nominated tenor. He graduated with a specialist designation in Philosophy, with a focus on ethics, legal and political philosophy. The St. Mike’s campus is particularly dear to Justin’s heart, with his favourite spot on campus the “picturesque” Scollard Park, in between Brennan Hall and St. Basil’s.
The significance of that spot?
“I walked through the square almost daily as a student and always tried to take a moment to enjoy the relative peace and quiet. I have such an attachment to the (park) that I even proposed to my fiancée there,” he says.
Rounding out the panel is 1980 grad Peter Mohan, a writer and producer of Canadian and American dramatic programming, including The Hardy Boys, Orphan Black and Night Heat. While at St. Mike’s, Peter spent long hours in the Coop, but his fondest memories are of Faculty of Theology prof Fr. Arthur Gibson, who wrote a book on the films of Ingmar Bergman. Peter took a film class from Fr. Gibson and remembers him as being “brilliant, supportive, and truly insane.”
The panel is just one of many great events scheduled for this year’s reunion, which also includes a Dons Reunion, a lecture by Drs. Alison More and Paolo Granata on building a virtual scriptorium to bring mediaeval manuscripts to an online format, a virtual cocktail party for honoured years, and, of course, the Alumni Mass. For more information and a complete list of events, please see our alumni reunion page.