ADRIENNE CLARKSON

Born in Hong-Kong in 1939, Adrienne Clarkson came to Canada as a refugee with her family during the Second World War. An accomplished journalist and broadcaster, she received numerous prestigious awards during her distinguished career. Clarkson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992, and in 1999 became the twenty-sixth Governor General of Canada.

HEART MATTERS
A Memoir by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson

Heart Matters, the #1 bestselling memoir by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, is now available from Penguin Canada in paperback.  On national bestseller lists for 12 weeks, Clarkson’s book released last fall to a flurry of critical acclaim and cover stories in Maclean’s, a CBC Life & Times television special and national feature coverage across the country both in print and on air.

More than a public life remembered, Heart Matters shares Clarkson’s unique story of aspiration, triumph and turmoil. Sharing honest reflections on the heartaches that accompanied her journey  – escape from Japanese-occupied Hong Kong as a child, her beautiful but troubled mother; the death of an infant; a divorce; estrangement from her two daughters and their later reunion – Clarkson’s shares her story with remarkable candidness.

Adrienne Clarkson became Canada’s twenty-sixth Governor General in 1999 and served until September 2005. During her tenure, she forged a unique bond with the military in her position as Commander in Chief and traveled to Kosovo, Bosnia, the Arabian Gulf and twice to Afghanistan to visit foreign troops; and she met with international figures from Queen Elizabeth to Nelson Mandela and Vladimir Putin.

Ultimately, what Adrienne Clarkson brought to public service was the same curious and intelligent mind that informed her multi-faceted career as a CBC broadcaster, at Take 30, the fifth estate and Adrienne Clarkson Presents. Her determination to invest meaning in all her official actions created controversy at times, whether it was refashioning Rideau Hall into a real home, or including artists and writers on state visits. In Heart Matters, she reflects on some of the behind-the-scenes machinations with a close-up view of how politics sometimes works.

Clarkson’s commitment to the arts and to the North’s aboriginal population reinvigorated the office of Governor General, giving Canadians pause, offering them a look at a more activist Governor-General, one with style, panache, humour and compassion; and defined her as one of Canada’s most beloved public figures.

Insightful and inspiring, Heart Matters is an extraordinary work by an extraordinary Canadian.

The release of Heart Matters in paperback coincides with several of Clarkson’s other recent arts projects.  Her co-translation with director/translator John Van Burek of Molière’s Le Malade imaginaire will premiere in Toronto at the Theatre Centre (1087 Queen St. West) on October 12th and run until November 4th; and will open in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre on November 16th and run until December 1st.