I’m late generating this report. For reasons. The fund raiser screening was scheduled for Friday, November 17. Then I learned that my surgery to repair a double inguinal hernia had finally, after a very long wait, been scheduled for the same day.

There was no way I was going to reschedule the screening, for which plans and publicity had already been finalized, nor was there any way I was going to postpone that surgery after month, maybe even years, of waiting for it. I was locked in for both. Accordingly I reported to the hospital at eight on that Friday morning and shortly after that was poisoned unconsciousness,

Doctor T_______, my surgeon, did a deep dive into my groin through my belly button to fix the bilateral hernia that was making me miserable. It was a laparoscopic operation, which means they poked three holes in my lower belly through which they could send in the camera crew and surgical instruments. I felt nothing until I woke up.

Since then I’ve been recovering, and letting everything, including this report on the screening, slide. And now I’m back.

So… how did it go, you ask. And the short answer is it was perfect. The screening was a fundraiser for the Unitarian homeless shelter in the basement of the Unitarian Hall. Which meant a good proportion of the audience was members of the congregation.

This photograph is from the Q&A session that followed the screening. This event wasn’t my idea. I get a bit embarrassed going on and on about a movie I made some forty seven years ago. That aside, I’ve been wallowing in the warm glow of the audience response for several weeks now. The whole event was simply wonderful, like old times, sitting with my producer and music director and answering audience questions about our movie. We’ve all aged, but the movie remains very watcheable and even more relevant than when it was produced, forty seven years ago, with it’s theme of predatory lending and manipulation, both of consumers and those who take advantage of them.

Unitarians tend to be an educated and intelligent group of Social Justice Warriors. Woke to an extreme. A perfect audience for “Skip Tracer”, which could hardly be described as an entertainment movie. They got it, right down to the fine points and nuances. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude toward all involved. Suzanne Andre suggested the event. She’s been a huge fan since the film’s release in 1976. My current wife, Ruth Anderson, took over the technical aspects and organized a great group of helper volunteers. The discussion after the screening included the film’s producer, Laara Dalen, the music director, J. Douglas Dodd, and me, Zale Dalen, the writer, director and editor. And of course those of the audience who could hang in for the discussion session asked perceptive and intelligent questions. I’m so grateful to everybody. We raised raised more than eight hundred dollars for the Unitarian homeless shelter. That left
me feeling like a hero.

After my general anesthetic that morning, it’s a wonder that the nostalgia didn’t do me in. Too bad in a way. Would have made a great exit. My sincere thanks to everybody for giving me this night.

It’s now two days short of a month since the surgery. Recovery has been amazingly fast and the scars are now almost invisible. Yeah medical science, eh. Thank you Tommy Douglas for making Canada such a great country for the indigent.