Edward Willett

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The Willetts on Wine: Madeleine Angevine and beyond: adventures in wine-tasting

Adventure, discovery and exploring the unknown are all aspects of a great vacation—and a great wine-tasting. This summer we had both, when our trip to British Columbia brought us the Larch Hills Winery in the Salmon Arm area. Upon discovering at our hotel that the Okanagan’s northernmost vineyards were only a few minutes’ drive away, we headed out with GPS in hand. A winding, switch-back road took us to the top of a mountain, where both a vineyard and a spectacular view awaited. Larch Hills specializes (for obvious reasons) in cool-climate viticulture. We tasted several of the winemaker’s offerings, and found, to our surprise, that our favourite was made from a ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 10:25, December 3rd, 2010 under Blog, Wine Column | Comment now »

Fine Lifestyles Regina has feature article about me

Yes, I know, I edited the thing, but honestly, the story wasn't my idea: it was publisher Randy Liberet's. And since I have a new book coming out (November 15 is the new release date for Song of the Sword) I'd have to have been an idiot to let modesty get in the way of promotion. And so I assigned Mark Claxton, one of the best writers available to me, the task of interviewing me and making me sound interesting. Remarkably, I think he succeeded. The feature is called "A fantastic life" and begins thusly: Edward Willett has a few things on his plate these days. In fact, he ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 23:11, November 2nd, 2010 under Blog | Comment now »

Final Willett-edited Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon now online

You can now read the final issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon that I edited online. Just follow the links! Here are the covers again:

Posted by Edward Willett at 21:13, November 2nd, 2010 under Blog | Comment now »

Covers of the last two Willett-edited Fine Lifestyles magazines

The fall issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, the last edited by me, are now out. Here are the covers. (Similar, but not identical!) They should both be online sometime in the next little while. Fine Lifestyles Regina includes a feature about me, written by Mark Claxton, and although I'm not exactly shy about promoting myself, I do feel I should emphasize it wasn't my idea: publisher Randy Liberet suggested it, and who was I to argue? Once everything's online, I'll link to that and the other articles I wrote for ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 14:26, October 22nd, 2010 under Blog | Comment now »

End of a (brief) era

The freelance life is one of ups and downs and sudden changes of fortune, and it never pays to get too attached to anything. Even things that run for a very long time, like my science column, eventually wind down. And most projects never go on anywhere near as long as that did (around 20 years, which still boggles my mind). Case in point: my editorship of Fine Lifestyles Regina, Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, Fine Weddings Regina and Fine Homes Regina. I wrote for the first two issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina, but just a story in each. The offer to edit came along in the summer of 2009, and since then I've overseen the writing of five issues of FLR, and ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 23:37, October 4th, 2010 under Blog | Comment now »

The Willetts on Wine: East is east, and west is west…but which has the best wine?

Here's the wine column my wife, Margaret Anne, and I wrote for the Summer issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon... *** It’s Canada Day as we write this, and we’re feeling patriotic. Today’s Rider game is even a classic East-versus-West match tailor-made to resonate with the Canadian psyche. This is a wine column, not a sports column, but that East-versus-West dynamic can be found in the world of Canadian wines, as well...and here in Saskatchewan, we’re right in the middle of it. Grapes and wine make an early appearance in Canadian history. What we call Newfoundland Leif Ericsson named Vineland way back ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 12:01, September 22nd, 2010 under Blog, Wine Column | Comment now »

Women of influence: Five women, five extraordinary citizens

Here's the cover story I wrote for the summer issue of Fine Lifestyles Regina, on five prominent women: Jacqui Shumiatcher, philanthropist; Susan Barber, lawyer; Darci Lang, motivational speaker; Janine Wilson, realtor; and Susan Minard, businesswoman. Enjoy! *** Every community is built by individuals, living their lives, reaching for goals, creating things, building things, donating time and effort and money to the causes they believe in. Here are five prominent women—a philanthropist, a lawyer, a motivational speaker, a realtor and developer, and a business owner—who are part of our community today: extraordinary individuals whose drive and vision have shaped and continue to shape this wonderful corner of the world we ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 13:05, September 21st, 2010 under Blog | Comment now »

Latest issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon now online

The summer issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, both of which I edit, are now online. Fine Lifestyles Regina features five prominent women on the cover; Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon has Vaughn Wyant and Lori Leach. We're already hard at work on the fall issue, due out in early October. Clicking on the covers below will take you directly to each respective issue.

Posted by Edward Willett at 11:48, August 23rd, 2010 under Blog | Comment now »

The Willetts on Wine: How do I rate thee? Let me count the ways…

One last bit of writing from the spring issues of Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon, as the release of the summer issues approaches. Here's "The Willetts on Wine," the wine column I write with my wife, Margaret Anne... *** When you go into the liquor store, you’re faced with a bewildering selection of wines. So many bottles, so many possibilities. How do you choose a good one? You could judge the wine by its label, of course, and many do. Which is why wineries try so hard (sometimes a little too hard, if you ask us: Fat Bastard, anyone?) to come up with unique names for ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 10:17, July 16th, 2010 under Blog, Columns | Comment now »

Up close and personal with Paul J. Hill

With the summer issue of Fine Lifestyles Regina just around the corner, I thought I'd post my cover story from the spring issue, an interview with Regina businessman Paul J. Hill. Enjoy! *** Paul Hill says he’s most known in Regina for three things: his blue 1976 Mercury Marquis, his habit of consuming eight Diet Cokes a day, and his addiction to non-fat frozen yogurt. Of course, that list leaves out one other minor thing of note: Paul is president and CEO of The Hill Companies and Harvard Developments Inc., companies intimately intertwined with the history of Regina, owning and/or managing more than two million square feet in ...

Posted by Edward Willett at 14:01, July 13th, 2010 under Blog | 1 Comment »