I’m not so sure.
Havel was one of those rare conscience-driven politicians we couldn’t afford to lose. He kept himself removed from the darker tricks of his craft and was never impressed by the fumes of fame. Havel believed that character is destiny and that it was therefore essential to live a principled life, even at the risk of being imprisoned for his beliefs—which he was.
A scruffy-looking man with once ginger-coloured hair and an orange moustache (one friend joked, ‘‘Václav looks as if carrot juice is flowing through his veins’’), he enjoyed a highly developed sense of the absurd. His plays were absurdist creations in mundane settings with universal characters. Havel started writing when he was thirteen, but Czech theatre was closed to him until the Velvet Revolution of 1989, of which he was the chief animator.
He led the peaceful overthrow of the occupying Russians and that winter assumed Czechoslovakia’s presidency. This meant moving into Hradcany Castle, a huge pile of palaces and cathedrals overlooking the Vltava River, which bisects Prague. Just eight months earlier, he had been serving a four-year sentence in a Communist prison a few kilometres away.
He had been the spiritual catalyst of the bloodless revolt that swept the Communists out of power, and now he was the country’s first democratic president since 1938. Being a playwright, one of the first things Havel did was to make sure everyone wore appropriate costumes. He asked his friend Theodor Pistek (who won an Academy Award for his couture in the movie Amadeus) to design properly pretentious royal blue parade uniforms—complete with toy sabres—for the castle guards. When they were delivered, Havel tried one on and yelling, ‘‘Let’s go scare the cooks!’’ ran into the castle kitchens, waving his pretend weapon. He later got fed up with soldiers stomping around the castle to regal marching music and had another of his friends compose a jarring melody in seven-eight time that no one could possibly march to, then insisted it be played for the changing-of-the-guard ceremonies. Hradcany Castle is so huge that Havel sometimes resorted to getting around the place on a scooter, but after the first few weeks in office, he reluctantly agreed not to come to work in jeans but received visitors wearing a polka-dot tie. (His first press secretary was Michael Zantovsky, whose claim to fame was as the author of the only study in Czech of the films of Woody Allen.)
As president, Havel granted amnesty to thirty thousand prisoners, presided over the peaceful withdrawal of Soviet troops, defied public opinion by supporting the reunification of Germany, masterminded the Czech Republic’s NATO application and generally brought some badly needed enlightenment to a country that had not known democracy for five decades.
But his main contributions were his evocative speeches, written by himself on a manual typewriter. Probably the best was his 1990 New Year’s message: ‘‘For forty years, on this day, you heard the same thing in different variations from my predecessors: how our country was flourishing, how many tons of steel we produced, how happy we all were, how we trusted our government and what bright perspectives were unfolding in front of us. I assume you did not nominate me to this office so that I, too, would lie to you. Our country is not flourishing … Entire branches of industry are producing goods that are of no interest to anyone … A country that once could be proud of the educational level of its citizens spends so little on education that it ranks today as seventy-second in the world.’’
He went on like that for about ten minutes. Then came his seminal point: ‘‘Let us teach both ourselves and others that politics does not have to be the art of the possible, especially if this means the art of intrigues, secret agreements and pragmatic manoeuvrings. But that it can also be the art of the impossible, that it is the art of making both ourselves and the world better.’’
‘‘Man,’’ Havel wrote from jail, “is nailed down—like Christ on the cross—to a grid of paradoxes. He balances between the torment of not knowing his mission and the joy of carrying it out.’’ Václav Havel did both. We are all the better for his historical presence, and we miss his impish presence in world affairs.
— 1998
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Index
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.
A
Acquisitors, The, 39
Actualité, L’,111
Agnelli, Giovanni, 197
AirBC, 314
Algoma Steel, 256–57
Allen, Ralph, 55, 67–70
Allison, Stacey, 342
American Airlines, 291
Amiel, Barbara (Mrs. Conrad Black), 173–74
Annie, 287
A.R. Clarke & Co., 352
Arequipa Resources, 184
Argus Corporation, 245, 251–52, 333
Armstrong, Louis, 397
Art Gallery of Ontario, 235
Asper, Izzy, 276, 280–82, 293
Atwood, Margaret, 13–15, 45
Austin, Jack, 112, 271
Automotive Industries, 282
B
Back to Dry Martinis (album), 266
Baer, Hermann, 232–33
Bailey, Pearl, 320
Bank of Nova Scotia, 290, 301, 326
Barnet, Charlie, 394
Barrett, Dave, 315
Barrick Gold Corporation, 165, 170, 177, 180–84, 187–188
Bartók, Béla, 396
BCE Inc., 273
B.C. Lions, 316
B.C. Telephone, 319
Bear Stearns, 279
Beaudoin, Laurent, 271, 273
Bechtel Canada, 194
Bégin, Monique, 107
Bel Air, 286, 304
Belize, 323, 324, 382, 386–88
Benson, Ben, 139
Berton, Janet, 48
Berton, Pierre, 47–51, 55
Bethune, Dr. Norman, 6
Biafra, 104
Bissonnette, Lise, 112
Black, Conrad, 173–75, 251–52, 256, 261, 264–65, 266, 273, 333, 357, 358
Black brothers (Conrad and Montagu), 251–52
Blair, Tony, 360
Bluhdorn, Charles, 278
Blyth, Sam, 210
Bombardier Inc., 273
Bouchard, Lucien, 254, 255
Boucher, Gaétan, 7
Bourassa, Robert, 18, 254
Box Grove, 243
Brantford Expositor, 54
Brascan Ltd., 378
Brazeau Transport, 353
Bre-X, 187–88
Britannia Airways, 197
Brock, General Isaac, 4
Bronfman, Allan, 372–75, 377
Bronfman, Bruce, 376
Bronfman, Charles, 365, 367, 373, 377, 379
Bronfman, Edgar, 365, 377
Bronfman, Edward, 367, 373, 374–76, 377
Bronfman, Peter, 165, 192, 297, 365–79
Bronfman, Phyllis, 367
Bronfman, Sam, 372–75, 377
Bronfman family, 197, 313, 385
Brookfield Properties, 385
Brown, Peter, 319–20
Bruyère, Jean de La, 109
Bryce, Bob, 152
Brydson, Sherry, 198, 212–13, 214
Buckerfield, E.E., 319
Budget Rent A Car, 295
Burchill, Julie, 400–401
Burger King, 291
Burgess, Anthony, 64
Burns, Charlie, 244
Burns, Jim, 259, 271
Burns, Patrick, 352
Burns Foods, 346, 347, 350, 352, 354
Cabot, John, 3–4
Cabot family (Boston), 267
Cadillac, Antoine Laumet dit de Lamothe, 4
Caesar, Julius, 351
Caisse Desjardins, 268
Calgary Cowboys (hockey team), 316
Callaghan, Morley, 23
Callwood, June, 53–56, 379
Cambridge University, 81, 213
Camflo Mine, 180–82
Campeau bankruptcy, 166
Canada Assistance Plan, 127
Canada Club, The (London), 139
Canada Packers, 352
Canada Pension Plan, 124, 127
Canada Steamship Lines, 267, 269
Canada Trust Tower, 305
Canada West Foundation, 346, 353
Canadian Authors Association, 351
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, (CBC), 31, 67, 257, 393–94
Canadian Establishment (TV series), 257
Canadian Establishment, The (trilogy), 39, 73
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), 336
Canadian National Railway (CNR), 184, 268, 371
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), 3, 50, 253, 256–58, 268, 274
Canadian Who’s Who, 244
Canbra Foods, 352
Canyon Golf Club, 311
Carlin Trend (Nevada), 363
Carney, Pat, 138
Cartier, Jacques, 3
Cartier Wines, 304
Casey, William, 320
Castro, Fidel, 161
Celestica, 290, 291
CFRB, 337
Chagall, Marc, 371
Chainway Stores, 249
Chant, Maureen, 316
Chapman, Sidney F., 217
Charlebois, Robert, 266
Charles, Prince of Wales, 171–73, 400–401
Charlottetown Accord, 110–11, 114, 341
Château Champlain (Montreal), 258
Château Laurier (Ottawa), 97, 102, 261
Chester Playhouse (Chester, N.S.), 360
CHFI, 330
Child, Arthur, 345–55
China Business Council, 271
Chisholm, Posy, 199–202
Chrétien, Jean, 18, 112, 114, 269, 301, 305, 357, 358
Chrétien Desmarais, France, 269
Christie, Agatha, 232
Churchill, Sir Winston, 8, 121
Ciaccia, John, 111
Ciupka, Richard, 37
CJOR, 315–16
CKEY, 334
Clairtone Sound Corporation Ltd., 163, 168, 175–78
Claridge’s (London), 267
Clark, Joe, 4, 114, 353
Clark, Lord Kenneth, 233
Claude Neon, 315
Club 22, 29–33
Clyne, Jack, 319
CN Tower, 166
Cohen, Robert, 31
Collins, Jim, 238
Columbus, Christopher, 4
Company of Young Canadians, 128
Connery, Sean, 176
Constable, John, 234
Consumers Gas, 192
Cooper, Bob, 31
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), 153
Cornell University, 248
Cornfeld, Bernie, 277–79
Courtesy Leasing, 315
Courtois, Jacques, 366
Coutts, Jim, 130, 260
Crawley & McCracken, 352
Creighton, Donald, 107
Crown Trust, 280
Crush (soft drink), 315
Cullen, Maurice, 268
Cummings Engine, 282
Curry, Floyd, 378
Cybele III (boat), 346–348, 354
D
Daily Mail (London), 90
Daily Press (Timmins), 213
Daon Development Corporation, 57, 58–59
Davey, Keith, 112, 135, 156, 301
Davies, Robertson, 23–27
Davis, Bill, 260
Davis, Eloise, 247–48, 251
Davis, Miles, 229
Davis, Nelson, 241–52
Dawson, Graham, 58
Deer Park, The, 108
Delaney, Ian, 161–62
Depression, Great, 134, 212, 249, 318
Desert Passage (Las Vegas), 166
Desmarais, André, 260, 269
Desmarais, France Chrétien, 269
Desmarais, Jacqueline, 258, 266
Desmarais, Jean, 262
Desmarais, Paul, 185, 253–72
Desmarais, Paul, Jr., 260
Detroit, Nathan, 317
Devlin, Joyce, 120–21
Devoir, Le, 112
Dexter, Grant, 126
Dhillon, Navjeet (Bob), 323, 324, 381–89
Dhillon, Saproon Singh, 383
Diana, Princess of Wales, 399–402
DiCaprio, Leonardo, 324, 387
Didion, Joan, 29
Diefenbaker, John, 40, 93, 119, 121, 129, 131, 143, 205, 261–62, 335–36, 394
Diller, Phyllis, 320
Dion, Stéphane, 54
Distemper of Our Times, The, 72
Donaldson, Bob, 307
Dorsey, Tommy, 394
Dosco steel mill, 262
Doyle, Kevin, 219
Drabinsky, Garth, 31
Drake, Paul, 30
Drifting Home, 49
Drouin, Marie-Josée, 286
Drudge, Matt, 6
Dublin, Ann, 54
Dulles, John Foster, 147
Dumont Wines, 304
Duncan, Dorothy (Mrs. Hugh MacLennan), 45
Dura Automotive, 282
Dutoit, Charles, 286
Duvall, Robert, 36
Eagle House, 246
Eaton, Fred, 221, 222
Eban, Abba, 368–70
École des Hautes Études, 81
Economic Council of Canada, 128
Heroes Page 29
