Death of a Patriot: Stompin’ Tom Connors- 1936-2013

My first post on this blog was a meditation on George Orwell’s essay “Notes on Nationalism.” At the beginning of that essay Orwell takes pains to distinguish between nationalism (which he abhorred) and patriotism which he valued highly. He described patriotism in the following terms:
“By ‘patriotism’ I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people.”
Today, over the noon hour, I was listening to Canadians from all walks of life and all parts of the country phone in to CBC’s Radio Noon show with their memories of Stompin’ Tom Connors. All agreed (as I do) that he was a great and proud Canadian. But no one described him as a Canadian nationalist, while several described him as a patriot.
Consciously or instinctively, all were using the right word to describe this unabashed lover and troubadour of Canada’s people, places and stories- a man whose love for Canada was entirely positive and unalloyed by hatred or contempt of other nations or even a desire to impose the Canadian way of life on others.
He simply felt fortunate to be a Canadian and he wanted to make other Canadians aware of what a great county they lived in and the texture of the lives of the diverse people who were their fellow citizens. He had “true patriot love” and he expressed it unforgettably. That is why his life and death touched us all so deeply.