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2/Dec/2000
David:
Just want to let you know how much I enjoyed being your guest at the November 22 Wednesday Night Salon #977. I know that my showing up a week early caught you unprepared, but I still got a good sense of how fun and interesting the evenings can be. I especially enjoyed the discussions on the stock market and analyses of your guest from the Bank of Canada. Before I turned to writing business columns and books I was an economist -- so these topics are close to my heart.
I enjoyed very much meeting all the people -- you have on hand quite a collection of brains and beauty (some of the latter were indeed quite tempting). And then there was the extra bonus of meeting persons form Bombardier and the consulting firm.
I should be coming to Montreal several times over the next few months to gather material for my forthcoming book on Bombardier. I hope you do not mind if I also drop by to attend some of your Salons.
Larry MacDonald see our Nortel page
From: larry MACDONALD [mailto:lmacdona@cyberus.ca]
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2000 3:02 PM
To: NICHOLSON Diana
Subject: Re: Wed #977
Diana and David
Just a note to thank you for the wonderful time I had at your Wednesday
Night Salon on Nov. 22.
see
It was so kind of you to say those nice things about my book. I definitely
hope I can come back and attend more Salons whenever I return to Montreal.
Larry MacDonald
dear david and diana,
now. i can manage pretty well on the internet. i went to your web site a few
times.
it is so interesting to see what is going on in westmount, specially with
one island one city and also at your soirees. i can imagine you were very busy with all
the organisation of the referendum.
i was myself busy with lucienne s campaign and also martin cauchon s. it was
a hectic time and fortunately we had a big win with the grits. we are luckier
than the u.s.a. at the present time. at least we have a p.m. solidly confirmed in his
post.
the last of november, i was invited to an international art auction in
new-york. mrs. stewart was there and there were beautiful art works from paris, london,
montreal copenhagen and the u.s.a. washington,new-york and philadelphia.
i also had the pleasure to visit the cloisters.
just can t wait to go back to your place. i learned on your web that you had
pierre-marc johnson one night and also a reflexion on the lack of nurses
here.
hoping you are recuperating from the hoopla of the last month.
hope to see you soon, helene audren hlaudren@aol.com
copenhagen, montreal and the u.s.a. washington, new-york and philadelphia.
13/Oct/2000
Hello Diana,
I want to thank you for the opportunity of joining your group the other
night [#971]. The discussion was highly stimulating and I enjoyed it very much. I
apologize for the early departure, however mid week is a school night, and a
few short weeks into the AMBA programme I find myself already knee deep in
course readings.
Regards
Robert Rennert rennert@look.ca
AMBA Class of 2001 President
12/Oct/2000
Dear David and Diana :
I am just taking a few seconds to thank you for inviting me at your meeting.[#962]
It was very interesting and I was impressed (not to say overwhelmed) by the
quality of your preparation.
I just got back from Montreal last week and have not yet had much time to
take any concrete action for "cloning" your idea here, but I still find it a
wonderful concept.
I will try to put my thoughts in order and think of a simple action plan
over the next few weeks.
I will email it to you to get your feed-back.
Best regards,
Gilles Therrien
National Bank Financial - Vancouver
Tel. : 604-643-2869 / 1-800-555-2812
[Gilles.Therrien@nbf.ca]
Wednesday, August 16, 2000
Thanks for the kind words. It was a very good Peter White on the
Peter White night and can speak for the Bombardier eCommerce
initiatives.
Jeremy Jonas
Date: Tuesday, July 04, 2000 11:31 PM
Hi Dave: [bad call ..David please]
I shall return , eventually , but not tonight. Jazz tickets. However I did
enjoy the nite and the gang - and appreciate getting wednesdays menu, which
keeps you in my mind for spontaneous last minute wednesday nite decisions.
As for your site, it''s so full of local stuff its practically a second
newspaper -maybe you should get a canada council grant ,for promoting
montreal pride.
Best wishes to you and Diana.
Josh jfreed@sprint.ca
Josh Freed writer
#954 Freed night 14 June, 2000
I thought you might enjoy this message from an old friend.
It seems nobody can forget the Nickelsons (sic).
----- Original Message -----
From:
Judy Roberts
To: RonMeisels@phases-cycles.com
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 9:46 AM
Subject: A Wednesday Night Benefit
hi
i took myself off to see the movie "Gladiator" last night and
recognized Richard Harris in one of the cameo roles, because
he looked Exactly like the photo in the Nickelsons' dining room!!!
JUDY ROBERTS, President
Judy Roberts & Associates/Associés Inc.
20 Prince Arthur Avenue, Suite 9G
Toronto, Ontario M5R 1B1
Voice (416) 929-6283
Fax (416) 929-4454
E-mail judyrobe@istar.ca
WWW http://www.RobertsAssoc.on.ca
Harnessing technologies to meet your learning & training needs
10/6/99
Dear David,
You will be running in competition with "Angels or Apes" for the next
few Wednesdays, and as the new chair of the speakers committee, I am
expected both to attend and to stay awake as issues of evolution are
probed for whatever audience appears. Sorry.
Des Morton
10/6/99
Hello Diana and David:
Àfter a stimulating first visit to your salon, I do miss not having been able
to attend and participate for the past few weeks. A heavy work schedule and
travel outside Monteal have not helped.. I look forward to returning next
week.
Cheers.... Sheila Horn Bisaillon.
Sept 22.1999
À Diane Nicholson
Chère Diane, Je viens tout juste de prendre mes
messages, et quelle surprise de savoir votre
anniversaire, donc permettez moi de vous dire
combien je vous apprécie. Vous êtes réellement
une personne qui sort de l'ordinaire, vous avez
su toucher avec votre chaleur tellement de
personnes, moi inclue. Merci pour vos belles
soirées que j'adores.
Elizabeth Wojtowicz
9/10/99
Hi David & Diana,
just a little mail to thank you for letting me misbehave
on your wonderful wednesday evening chatting party
i didn't realize you have been doing this already 914 times
hope to be there for the 1Kth (and some before then) thanks,
Karel Driesen
School of Computer Science, McGill University
McConnell Eng. Bldg., #327, 3480 University Street
tel: 1-514-398-4258, n fax: 398-3883, cel: 402-1208
www.cs.mcgill.ca/~karel
Too much of a good thing will just have to do.
Dear Diana and David,
Thank you for the warm welcome to your
salon last week.
Obviously I came as a tourist and enjoyed the evening. Next time I will come better
prepared to join in the discussions. The formula of your Wed. Night
salon is most interesting, and I wonder if it exists elsewhere, and of
all places, here, in Brussels, the heart of Europe? If not, you may
wish to consider technology transfer, franchising or whatever approach
suits best your business and communications goals. Just let me know,
and I might be able to facilitate something -- Brussels is replete with
policy pundits, think thanks and intelligentsia of all stripes and
colours!
BTW I would appreciate it if you would correct my name on your web
site: I am generally known as Claude Gagné (in Europe, Claude is used
alternatively for men and women, and there has even been a Madame Claude
in Paris whose ill-reputation was only compensated by the sophistication
of her girls, but please note this is a digression intended to reassure
you that I am in no way less a women for using the name Claude). In fact
I am just too much of a Claude to be a Claudette (a small Claude!) --
and I'm sure you can appreciate this now!
Of course, I dare not ask you to morph the weird smile on the picture
into something more congenial and relaxed, but please retain the image
of a gentlewoman.
As discussed my role at the Mission of Canada to the European Union is
to monitor the S&T scene at the European Union level, to advise federal
science-based departments and agencies and to stimulate Canada-EU
cooperation and collaboration in science and technology, higher learning
and vocational training and information society initiatives.
Who knows will fly me back to Canada next time (hopefully a Canadian
carrier), but if at all possible I will let you know in advance of my
coming.
Best regards,
Claude Gagné
Counsellor, Science and Technology
Mission of Canada to the European Union
av. de Tervuren 2
B-1040 Brussels
BELGIUM
Tel.: 011 32 2 741 0686
Fax: 011 32 2 741 0629
E-mail:
From: Steve Poloz
Subject: RE: Wednesday July 7 #905
Diana and David:
Sorry I was unable to come. Life has taken a sudden turn for me. I have
decided to leave BCA and will do so in about a month's time. I have
accepted the position of Chief Economist for Canada's Export Development
Corporation, in Ottawa. It was one of those opportunities that I could
not pass up. So, we are deep into the real estate frenzy - we sold
quickly, but now we are shopping in Ottawa, and it is a difficult
process. On top of that, I must go to Tokyo for most of next week to
give two speeches.
In any case, I will certainly try to visit again later in July once
things have calmed down for me.
Regards
Steve Poloz
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 21:45:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jonesdt@aol.com
Subject: Re: Thank you
To:
As always, delightful to hear from you at any time. we should be triple thanking you for all your help. in any event, it can't hurt to have a link to Landry. he's been pretty thoroughly demonized in the press but we always found him to be very straight. it was nice that he had heard good things about you and your salon from way back.
Best to you all. Regards. Terry
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 11:28:08 -0400
From: G Delorme
Subject: The Guardian site
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211
Dear David,
I heard you mention last night that you could not find any site for the Manchester Guardian. I did some research for you with the help of a neat little search programme called Copernic and was able to come up with their URL. I believe this is what you were looking for:
www.guardian.co.uk/
Last night was my very first visit at your house. John had been telling me how stimulating these exchanges were... He was right. I had a wonderful time listening to some of our best minds. I also noticed the time you have spent preparing your videos and the nice montage you did to illustrate the topic of the evening. I was very impressed with what I saw last night and I enjoyed the atmosphere and the people present. As it is, I have just spent a couple of hours browsing through your extensive site. Scintillating, truly! I thank both you and Diana for your hospitality and I hope to see you again soon!
Ghislaine Delorme
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 16:42:50
From: John Wright
Many thanks for allowing me to attend your meeting last Wednesday-Night in
Montreal, at Chil Heward's invitation. I greatly enjoyed the occasion. When
asked what we think about Canada, I had to resist the temptation (partly
because I did not know my audience too well, and partly because it no
longer seems quite so true) to pass on a comment in "Over Here" by Raymond
Seitz (1st career diplomat to be appointed US ambassador in London).
"Canada," he said, "should have had the best of all worlds: British
politics, American economics, and French culture. Instead they seem to have
ended up with the worst: French politics, British economics, and American
culture." Best wishes.
Wednesday Nights and David
Xmas #877 1998
Ron Meisels rose on a point of privilege to pay tribute to David as the guiding light of Wednesday Nights. He and Diana stated that when David had been in the hospital he had insisted that Wednesday Night must continue even if he were not there. They expressed their consternation at the idea of running Wednesday Night without his choice of topics and deftly edited videos to inject the right tone of seriousness - or laughter - for each issue.
John Ciaccia and David Oliver quickly followed Ron in expressing their thanks to David for having conceived the idea of Wednesday Night and for having persevered over all these years to maintain it as a vibrant and intellectually stimulating event which has also afforded many opportunities for the participants to meet and form lasting friendships among themselves.
Further tribute was paid to the energy and expertise brought to the table, the items and knowledge, interpretation of the news and intimate knowledge of current events acquired each evening. A case in point was Pierre Marc Johnson's visit when he spoke on the introduction of the anti-Scab legislation; "you could have heard a pin drop".
Marie recounted that she had first heard of the Salon in Quebec City (perhaps because of the article in La Presse) some years ago. However she had not thought that the experience would be so enriching personally nor offer her an opportunity to give back to the other participants from her own knowledge.
David responded by thanking all those present and the many absent friends including some who will never return, notably our dear Vlad Slivitzky who died in November. Glasses were raised to "absent friends".
Finally, while it has long been acknowledged that Wednesday Night is a tradition, Ron pointed out that it has also given rise to a new noun. Recently he was at a dinner with some 10 people gathered around the table. To get a general conversation started, the host said: "By the way, what do you think of Clinton? … One at a time!" The response was "Don't be a Nicholson".
From: FKinnelly@aol.com
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 07:44:03 EDT
Subject: Re: Wednesday Night #857 Nazi Gold
Dear David and Diana,
We enjoyed last Wednesday's meeting. We always do, but this session with its
discussion of the Canadian economy and the choices - and constraints - facing
monetary authorities topped them all. There are so many facets to the Nazi
Gold story. I hope that the discussion left the participants with some sense
of perspective that is missing from most of the reporting.
We talked about the session all the drive back to Peru, so it didn't seem a
long drive at all. We'd gladly do it again tomorrow, but we have to be up and
out early on Thursday morning to have lunch down in Woodstock Vt. with my
collaborator on Nazi Gold research, and then on to Maine for my high school
reunion. Please tell Sonia and Gerardo that we're very sorry we shall miss
them. It's especially hard, what with their being so close, but I know these
trips can get to be so jam-packed full.
Take care,
Yolanda & Frank Kinnell
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 19:24:31 -0400
To: "D.T. Nicholson"
From: carrollm@citenet.net (Carroll McCormick)
Subject: Re #857
Dear Diana and David,
It was fascinating listening to the conversation on the Nazi Gold and the Loonie last night. Definitely not the daily white bread served up on the 6:00 news. Thank you for another fine evening.
Thank you too for conferring upon me the status of "Regular". I consider
it an honour to be welcome at your Salons.
As for Herb's fine sculpture, If I were asked to offer a name, I might
suggest "Fugue" (2 Psychol. loss of awareness of one's identity, often
coupled with flight from one's usual environment). She seems to have an air
of smoke and ether about her. This strikes me as how the world must look
when someone is in a fugue state. Please fill in our name Poll
And here is a coincidence - since I did not know this until I looked more
closely at the first meaning this afternoon - fugue also means: 1 Mus.
contrapuntal composition in which a short melody or phrase (the subject) is
introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by
interweaving the parts.
So, was the fugue evesdropping on a fugue last night?
David: As per your reminder last week that we should go through you in
making business contact with other members, I have the following request: I
would like to learn more about the publication guidelines, payment rates,
proposed style of the articles, et cetera for Blue Metropolis.
Although the usual route for obtaining such information is familiar to
me, I think that since (do I remember her name and spelling correctly?)
Linda Leigh and I crossed paths at your Salon, she might appreciate my
request for more information on the magazine being channeled through you.
Warm regards,
Carroll McCormick
Independent journalist
941 Van Dyck
Brossard, QC
Canada
J4W 2E7
(514)465-3785
From: "Bertrand, J Pierre"
Subject: Re: Y2K
President Clinton has sent draft legislation to Capitol Hill that would
You may see your efforts at :-
http://pages.infinit.net/westweb/Y2kBOMA.htm
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 08:01:00 -0400
Where do you find the time to do all these nice things? Looks great.
Best regards
AN EVENING AT THE NICHOLSONS'
by the Hon Lucienne Robillard - député
Last Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of being the invited guest
at the home of Diana and David Nicholson for their weekly Wednesday
night discussion group. These meetings have, over the years, become a Westmount
tradition, as members of the community come together to talk about the
issues making headlines.
The debates are made interesting by the fact that there is a true sense
of a freedom of opinion, as those in attendance are encouraged to voice
their views on the issue at hand. As well, the participants not only come
from various backgrounds, but there is also a range in age, giving the
discussion a certain uniqueness as all opinions are welcomed.
Every week is different. For instance, on the evening I spoke, those
in attendance included Westmount Mayor Peter Trent, Canada’s Ambassador
to Israel Mr. David Berger, Constitutional lawyer Julius Grey, as
well as one of my former colleagues from my days in provincial politics,
Mr. John Ciaccia, MNA for Mont-Royal.
Upon my arrival, I took some time to mingle with those in attendance,
discussing their concerns and opinions regarding the various issues facing
us today. After an hour, Mr. Nicholson lead us to the dining room where
we watched a videotape highlighting my career in politics, both on the
provincial and federal level. This provided the basis from which an interesting
discussion evolved. Those present were interested not only with my duties
as a Member of Parliament and as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration,
but the current situation facing Canada in terms of immigration. This provided
me the chance to discuss my recent trip to Australia and New Zealand where
I met with various immigration officials to learn more about their recent
reforms on immigration.
As the evening progressed, so did the discussion, which turned towards
Mr. David Berger, the former Member of Parliament for St-Henri-Westmount
and Canada’s current Ambassador to Israel. After watching an informative
tape examining recent events in Israel, Mr. Berger explained to us our
country’s policy and position in light of these recent developments, as
well as what life is truly like in that region of the world. This was quite
interesting as it gave those in attendance a unique insight into something
most of us only read about and see on television.
In closing, I would like to thank Diana and David Nicholson,
and acknowledge the wonderful work they do in preparing these evenings.
For example, the various videos that were shown throughout the evening
were not only well prepared, but contained footage dating back a few years,
as well as, some as recent as a few hours prior to the meetings. This clearly
demonstrates the amount of time and work dedicated to making the discussion
both interesting and entertaining. They also have a unique ability to keep
the discussion going at a comfortable pace, while maintaining a certain
amount of decorum I know that for myself, this proved to be both an enjoyable
and insightful evening, where I had the chance to truly address the concerns
of those present.
Date: Thu, 02 Jul 1998 13:01:14 -0400
From: sylvain henry
Organization: QuadRA Systems Corporation
Subject: Wednesday's meeting
Dianna and David Nicholson:
I just wanted to thank you for yesterday's invitation. It was an
evening I wish to treasure. You are great hosts. Your idea of creating
a problem-solving think tank (or mastermind group) for our society is
noble and exciting. No doubt you have the power to do much good for
Canada. I was quite happy to meet such prominent and interesting guests.
sylvain henry
From: "Antoinette Taddeo"
Subject: Article: Gazette
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 04:55:57 PST
Dear David and Diana,
Great article in the Gazette.
I enjoyed reading it.
Keep up the good work.
Season's Greetings to you and your loved ones.
Antoinette Taddeo
From: FKinnelly@aol.com
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 17:44:15 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Gold and Plutonium
Dear David & Diana,
I wonder if i should turn to alchemy?? But what an interesting evening that
was. I was impressed by how informed a discussion we were able to have on
nazi gold. As for climate warming, I'm afraid I couldn't give a spirited
defense of the US stance. I am both disappointed and frustrated by the
slippage in the US commitment to control greenhouse gases. Now I see that
Canada has announced its position, which seems to be about the same as - or a
little weaker than - the US. I think we'll see a train wreck at Kyoto - but
perhaps that's for the best. It may jar some action.
What a splendid, detailed write-up of the session! You do us far too much
honor, but i shall not protest. The only trouble: I can't reach your home
page. It's the first time I've tried to reach a site that's not a www page.
Do you have any suggestions? I'd like very much to be able to access it -
it's a great way to keep up with your sessions, and with what's going on
north of us.
Take care, Yolanda & Frank
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 22:15:19 -0400 Diana, I
won't make you blush by repeating all the great
things said about you and Wednesday nights--but we
are heartily agreed that there is one hope for
Western civilization so long as your salon allows
doers and thinkers to just talk and think--rather
than go through life with no more thought than a
frog hopping across a pond. Best wishes. Terry
David T. Jones
73622.1767@compuserve.com;
Washington, DC U.S.
From: hanoi!Piap@netnam.org.vn@postbox.anu.edu.au
Date: 1 Oct 1997
17:25:16 EDT Subject: Greetings from Viet Nam
Chere Diana,
Thanks for your e-mail of 30 September.
It was indeed wonderful to be back at 33 rosemount
and observe that so little has changed at all! You
are truly a beacon of stability in a world (and a
province in particular) which seems to be buffeted
by so many contrary winds... I trust you are all
well and look forward to seeing all of you, and
Marc of course, at Xmas time. Meilleures amities a
David et a toi. Andre Saumier
Andre Saumier
hanoi, Viet Nam
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 19:41:04 -0700
Hello,
http://pages.infinit.net /westweb/Wed812-India.htm
on this page you have an incorrect URL for Daily
NEWS. Currently you are linking to our absolute
page Our permanent page is
http://www.samilan.com/news.html . This page will
remain and will provide daily news for India on a
permanent basis. Thank you. regards, aj
South Asian Milan
webmaster@samilan.com;
India, India
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 17:14:10 -0400
Subject: Re: Wednesday Night Files on westweb
Hello. I have juste received your word about tomorrow on Mexico.
I will be missing another great one, I'm afraid.
But I did want to let you know that I am terribly
impressed by the new invitation Web page and by
your whole Web site for that matter. You never do
things half way, don't you? All my best.
Guy Lalonde
glalonde@iq.ca;
Montréal, PQ Canada
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 00:24:16 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Wed #798 HiTech+
Wish I could make it
since the subject is of great interest, but I
teach on Wednesday (last lecture in my course onthe
political economy of globalization) and will be in
Toronto the following week at the Global
Knowledge97 conference sponsored by the world bank
and the C government to deliver a paper in that
many ringed gab-fest circus (lots of noise
signifying not much beyond something of
entertainment value for those with a taste for
such things). Good luck - Morris
Morris Miller
Miller2257@aol.com;
July 2,1997
According to my notes, I believe that
tomorrow evening marks #800. Congratulations. The
number 8, as you may know, is considered
significantly lucky by many people. It significes
great wealth in Chinese. As an aside, you may be
interested to know that the Chinese homonyms for
my name "Bar-ree" translate roughly to "rich old
man" so I have something to look forward to as
well. Lots of 8s to you both. May good fortune and
good talk always share your table. - Barry
Barry Lazar
blazar@babylon.montreal.qc.ca;
Montreal, Babylon
Westmount, PQ - Le 21 Mai 97, 11:26:01
Subject: Accolades Dear D&D,
Congratulations on a truly remarkeble performance. You were
magnificent! I would even venture to say that with
the possible exceptionof the NDP yours was the
stellar performance of the evening. You did us all
proud. MML
Margaret Lefebvre
whitehallk@citenet.net (MML);
A Wednesday Night at the Nicholsons
Referred by: Just Surfed On In! From: Montréal
1997-04-01 Je cesserai ma
chronique la semaine prochaine à CKVL, ce qui me
permettra dans les semainesà venir de me prévaloir
de votre aimable invitation d'assister à vos
réunions qui rappellent à certains égards les
salons du siècle des lumières. Amitiés YVES
MICHAUD
YVES MICHAUD
http://pages.infinit.net/westweb/sooncomewed.htm;
Montréal,
Wednesday Night Time: 1997-03-30 18:05:00
Comments: David,
you know that I only comment on those rare
occasions when I have something to say. On the
other hand, once again, welcome to the old codger
club.
Herb Bercovitz
1997-03-28
Dear David and Diana, Thank you both very
much for having made the effort,on such a special night for
you, to come to the elections tonight. My victory was by the
very narrow margin so every gesture of support was obviously
very important. Thank you very much. Simon
simon.potter
a page de WEB de Jacques Chagnon, Député
1997-03-26 For those of you who enjoy
trivia and have survived St. Patrick's, today is >the Feast of
St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters (and cabinet
builders?). Please join us.
Mr. T. Nicholson, I never
thought that St. Joseph could have been a Cabinet builder,but
it makes sense... I am sorry to be oblidge to stay in Québec
city the wednesday evenings,but when I will be home in
Montreal,expect me at your discussion whatever the topics
could be... Truly yours, Jacques Chagnon.
www.vir.com/Chagnon/ Jacques Chagnon, Député.
This was the first site a Politco had .. may be close now
1997-03-26
Dear David, 14 March 97 it was mighty easy
to find your page. I just put out " west" on the videotron
search mechanism and there you were. Congratulations on a nice
looking site and interesting links.I will explore at greater
length later. Yours, Congratulation on your expanded web site.
It looks wonderful.
Lynne Casgrain Grey
1997-03-25 My friend Alex Weinstein
has not stopped telling me how much he enjoyed Wednesday
night. He has repeated how lucky I am to be included in the
group, and how lucky we all are that we have you. So, on
Alex'x behalf, and again for myself, I thank you for Wednesday
night, the latest one and all of them.
Jan Davis
westweb/ Guest book entries