Another Perch for the Martlet

Heraldry experts might want to look closely at the coat of arms for Marie-Claire Kirkland Strover, BA'47, BCL'50, LLD'97. The pioneering Quebec politician has adopted a McGill touch for her new personal coat of arms.

Some years ago, a life-long heraldry buff was visiting Marie-Claire and husband Wyndham Strover, BCL'50, on Ile Bizard, a western suburb of Montreal, when his eye was caught by a coat of arms displayed in the hall of the house. The visitor was the Honourable Mr. Justice John Ross Matheson, perhaps best known for his efforts while a Liberal M.P. in promoting the adoption of the design of Canada's present national flag. The arms were those of the late Dr. Charles

A. Kirkland, Marie-Claire's father, who from 1939 until his death in 1961 had been Liberal Member of Quebec's Legislative Assembly for Jacques-Cartier (in those days the whole West Island of Montreal plus Ile Bizard), and for whom the City of Kirkland had later been named.

Judge Matheson observed that Marie-Claire's own groundbreaking political career as the first Quebec woman to be elected to a provincial parliament, to hold several Cabinet posts and once even to be named acting Premier for a few days, before becoming the first woman judge of the Provincial Court, would make it highly appropriate to seek a separate grant of arms in her own right from the Chief Herald of Canada.

As a necessary first step in the lengthy process, a preliminary sketch was created, with a shield containing elements based upon those in her father's arms, surmounted, as a crest, by a somewhat gloomy looking black bird identified as a bustard. "Happily, it did not take too long to find a rather more auspicious replacement, thanks to dear old McGill," says Wyndham.

When he asked Marie-Claire what she would think of a martlet, she at once approved, because not only had McGill's Law Faculty been the scene of their original encounters many years before, but since then she had often served as class representative for the Alma Mater Society as well as championing McGill's interests during her Cabinet days.

The only possible difficulty seemed to be that the heraldic martlet traditionally has no feet, unlike his bustard cousin. When the alternative recommendation went forward, this rather technical point was not raised, so that in the coat of arms finally promulgated by the Chief Herald of Canada, McGill's martlet floats serenely above a coronet of alternate blue fleurs-de-lis and red maple leaves, much to the joy of Marie-Claire and her husband.

Popular With the President

	PHOTO: Courtesy ORT

As McGill principal for eight years, Bernard Shapiro has met countless politicians and dignitaries. But last February 18, Shapiro received an exceptional invitation -- to meet the 42nd president of the United States and introduce him to Montrealers.

William Jefferson Clinton was the featured speaker of a glitzy fundraiser, where 2,600 attendees paid up to $500 to hear the former president, thus helping to raise nearly $1 million for charity. Part of the evening's proceeds went towards educational programs at the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre. The Clinton event was put on by the Montreal chapter of ORT, the Organization for Educational Resources and Technological Training, one of the largest non-governmental, non-profit educational and training organizations in the world.

When ORT was looking for a leading Montreal anglophone to introduce Clinton, Shapiro was seen as a natural choice, given his lifelong commitment to education. A happy coincidence was that Shapiro's twin brother, Harold, BCom'56, LLD'88, is the former head of Princeton University and chaired Clinton's Bioethics Advisory Commission.

After Shapiro's overture, where he mused about the historical weight and significance of Clinton's names, the former president returned the compliment. He praised the Shapiro brothers; Bernard for his warm intro (which Clinton later requested a copy of) and Harold for his work advising on science and technology. Having finally met both Shapiro brothers, Clinton deadpanned, "My only regret is that their parents didn't have triplets."

Harlequin Reunion

Steve Klingaman's new contemporary folk CD, Packwood, is a reunion of sorts for a favourite McGill band of the '70s, Harlequin. Klingaman, BA'77, and Montreal violinist Joel Zifkin, BA'77, were the co-founders of the band, which got its start performing Childe Ballads as a class project for the late McGill professor Alan Goldberg. The band made its debut at Redpath Hall in 1974, and went on to record at Radio McGill and the CBC, and perform countless times at the Yellow Door, Golem Coffeehouse, and the Rainbow Bar and Grill.

"Over the years," says Klingaman, "the band was home to nearly a dozen McGill undergrads."

Twenty-five years later Zifkin and Klingaman reunited with Juno-award-winning sound engineer Morris Apelbaum, BSc'72, in Apelbaum's Silent Sound Studio in Montreal to record tracks for Klingaman's CD. Apelbaum "was the original sound tech and den mother to Harlequin," Klingaman says. "And Joel has performed as part of the McGarrigle Sisters' band for many years."

Klingaman had moved to California and lived there 20 years, "playing in a variety of bands and releasing a couple of recordings." He returned to Montreal for the Packwood sessions and a chance to work with old buddies. "Joel's and Morris's careers in music have been much more interesting than my own, but in the great scheme of things, music is its own reward."

Klingaman hopes the reunion may provide some fond memories to some fellow alumni, and adds, "Maybe some things -- like musical partnerships -- even get better with age."