Angie Littlefield is an author, curator, educator, and editor. She has written three books about Canadian artist Tom Thomson, the most recent of which is Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends. Her eclectic interests include curating art exhibits in Canada and Germany and working with children from Nunavut and Tristan da Cunha to produce their books. Her other books include Ilse Salberg: Weimar Photographer, Angelika Hoerle: Comet of Cologne Dadaists, and The Art of Dissent: Willy Fick. She co-created www.readingandremembrance.ca, a website with lesson packages for Ontario educators. Angie lives in Toronto, Canada.
“Floss or Die” Really? By Angie Littlefield I was surprised by a recent smattering of headlines that stoked fears of heart disease for failure to floss. My brother, Dr. F. Michael Eggert, a successful periodontist, researcher and retired professor of dentistry, has long emphasized prevention and good oral hygiene as the best route to a Read more
Corpse-Ready by Angie Littlefield I was shocked to learn a few days ago that a very hearty seventy-three-year-old acquaintance had died. The entire community was upset and not just because this lovely lady touched a great many lives as a wife, mother, and friend as well as a choir, orchestra, and musical-theater director. The fact Read more
Breaking Historical Stereotypes by Angie Littlefield My father almost beaned me with a baseball bat when I was thirteen. I had returned home early from a trip to Detroit because my hostess and her family had failed to show up at the bus station to collect me. I arrived back home in the middle of Read more
Circumference Challenged by Angie Littlefield I used to joke, as a young woman of German heritage, that I had never seen a German woman past middle age who had a waist (with apologies to those who do!). I am now well past middle age, and a combination of sway back, poor posture, and weight gain Read more
Jean Miller Knit Me A Hat by Angie Littlefield One shining, smiling face stood out from among the teenagers slumped in their rows of standard issue, grey melamine-topped desks. Jean Miller, with very slightly wrinkled skin, always had her hand up first. She had returned to finish her high school diploma as an adult, much Read more
The Whip and the Carrot By Angie Littlefield Many of us, when we reach “a certain age,” want to write about our family. We do it for several related reasons: we want to set things down before memories are lost, we want to hand down our family history to the next generation, or we want Read more
A Little Birdie Told Me by Angie Littlefield I have known a number of Silver Sagers, particularly ones of retirement age, who have taken up birdwatching as a way to get outside more. In winter of course, this isn’t as easy, especially if, like me, you live in a snowy climate. But you can always Read more
Harlander: Never Forget by Angie Littlefield As Silver Sagers, we have come to know multiple generations of people in our lives—those who preceded us, ourselves, and those who have followed us. And it is especially crucial to understand what came before us, so that we can inform our children and grandchildren about the realities of Read more
On Dust, Germs, and Toilet Plumes by Angie Littlefield I really, really don’t like germs, so you can imagine how I am dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic—not well! It all started with a petri dish. In grade eight the teacher gave us a petri dish to label with our names and fill with a substance Read more
Hacked, Tracked, and Blinkered by Angie Littlefield A flurry of e-mails alerted me. Individuals I didn’t know had joined something called a “household” on a loyalty card I have for a drugstore chain. I quickly went to my local store where the kind cosmetics lady looked up my receipts from December to see if I Read more
