For five decades, Alan Maitland was celebrated for his resonant mellow CBC radio voice - and perhaps, most famously, for the stories he read over the airwaves in his alter ego of Fireside Al. For 19 years, Fireside Al read his favourite stories to a devoted radio audience and even though Alan Maitland died in 1999, his voice has been captured for posterity in a highly valued set of sound recordings of these magnificent performances.
Now ten of Maitland's favourite Christmas stories are being given new life in this Christmas gift book for the whole family. Fireside Al's Treasury of Christmas Stories includes:
- The familiar words of O. Henry's celebrated short story, "The Gift of the Magi"
- Along with Francis P. Church's famous Christmas editorial: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"
- "The Santa Claus Trap" by Margaret Atwood
- Stephen Leacock's gentle seasonal wit in "The Errors of Santa Claus"
- Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "Christmas at Sea" and
- Robert Service's "The Trapper's Christmas Eve".
- Click here to see the complete Table of Contents.
Each with a very different take on the theme of seasonal love and joy. And there are more delectable treats in store from Fireside Al's Christmas cupboard.
The treasury gains special lustre from the magnificently detailed and richly coloured paintings of Alan Daniel, Canada's best-loved illustrator of children's books. Above all the package is completed by a bound-in CD of Alan Maitland's reading of the ten stories included in the book.
Alan Maitland was a veteran CBC announcer and award-winning broadcaster. Popularly known as Fireside Al and Front Porch Al, he delighted listeners across the country with his inimitable storytelling. He was co-host of As It Happens, from 1974 until 1993, sharing the studio with Barbara Frum, Elizabeth Gray, Dennis Trudeau, and Michael Enright. In 1980, he and then co-host Barbara Frum shared an ACTRA Award for Best Public Affairs Broadcasters.
Before he retired to Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, in 1993, Maitland spent forty-six years at the CBC contributing to a variety of programs including The Gordie Tapp Show, Action Set, Read to Me, and his own music series Maitland Manor. He continued to read stories on the air for the CBC in his incarnations as Fireside Al and Front Porch Al until his death in 1999 of heart failure. He was 78 years old.
Alan Daniel’s art is notable for its fine draftsmanship, humour and versatility of style. He is the illustrator of numerous children’s picture books and has been nominated, with his partner Lea Daniel, for both Mr. Christie and Governor General Awards. Alan’s previous books for Red Deer Press include Eh! To Zed and Roundup At the Palace. Alan works from his home studio in Kitchener Ontario.
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