Shelagh, you vixen! You just called the faulous Billeh Nickerson a slut on the national network! Big laughs!! Mr. Nickerson is a wonderful poet and I thank you so much for having him on the program. All the best!

Thank you for this episode. I have worked in traditionally male professions both as an apprentice electrician and as a repair person in an assembly plant. I understood your guest Kate Braid's description of feeling torn by conflicting feelings about both hating and loving the job. I had difficulty with some of the men I've worked with, but do not regret having the experience. I believe working in the trades allowed me to grow a thicker skin. I now work as a social worker in a traditionally female work force. My experience has enabled me to empathise with the young men who enter the profession. I must admit that I sometimes fail to recognize the stereotypes that exist in our workforce. There are times where I feel ashamed because I've unconsciously assumed too much about defending "my territory". It is because of this fact, that I am able to have some understanding of the reasons why the young men in the trades protect their perceived territory.

Mention of Peter Gzowski during the show on "work writing" reminded me of poet, editor, polemicist, Tom Wayman. I'm sure Tom was on Morningside a few time, possibly even This Country in the Morning. (I definitely remember him on the CBC radio afternoon show "Day Shift" with Erica Ritter.)

For a number of years, decades even, Tom championed writing about work and the workplace in poetry and fiction. His three anthologies of work poetry are testament to the need for us to write about what we do.

As a disclaimer I confess to being in one of those anthologies. Tom Wayman wasn't the sole reason why I tried to write, and continue on occasion to do so about work, he was an early cheerleader for the things I wrote. And I'd like to thank him for that.