VIDEO: Graham Greene, RIP

Walt notes with sadness the passing of Graham Greene, the actor who gained fame (and an Academy Award nomination) for his performance as real-life Lakota Sioux medicine man Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in Dances With Wolves.

It was a natural role for Mr. Greene who was not a Pretendian, but a real Indian, and I don't think he would mind us using that term, rather than the politically correct "First Nations". 

He was born in 1952 on the Six Nations Reserve at Oshweken ON. He fell into acting while working as a recording engineer, after a friend persuaded him to read his script. He started on stage, performing in Canadian and English productions in the 1970s, before making his screen debut in 1979 in an episode of the Canadian drama The Great Detective. His first film role was in the 1983 biopic Running Brave. 

After Dances With Wolves (1980), Mr. Greene's Hollywood career included roles in Thunderheart (1992), Maverick (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009). 

Most of our readers will remember at least two of those, but not as many will remember him (as we do) for his occasional appearances on The Red Green Show in the role of Edgar K.B. Montrose, the explosives expert. Here's a clip -- you'll have to click on the YouTube link to see it -- which is perfect for this little tribute. In it, Edgar Montrose gives his explosive opinions on Hollywood movies, from The Bridge On The River Kwai to Speed. The inside joke is his reference to Dances with Wolves.

Geddit now? That's Steve Smith, aka Red Green, in the middle, with his nephew Harold, played by Patrick McKenna, on Red's right.  After a long illness, Graham Greene died yesterday in hospital in Stratford ON, at age 73. RIP.

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Book review: In the Empire of Genghis Khan

What is it about Britain that makes its people such tireless travellers and explorers? Perhaps it's that Britain is so small and -- let's face it -- dreary. Want to climb mountains? The highest is Mount Snowdon, nice enough but merely a pimple on the face of America or China. Want to go to the end of the world? In Cornwall you will find Land's End, which on an excitement scale of 1 to 10 rates -1. But I digress...

Britain has produced far more than her share of great travellers and travel writers. My list of great American travel writers would include Mark Twain, Paul Theroux (his novels suck, though) and Bill Bryson, who has taken up residence in Old Blighty so is only half-American.

My list of British travel writers worth reading is much longer: Graham Greene, Redmond O'Hanlon, Christina Dodwell, Jan Morris, Dervla Murphy, Bruce Chatwin, Cash Peters (see "Book Review: Gullible's Travels"), Tony Horwitz (see "Book Review: Baghdad Without a Map"), and others whose names I'll remember as soon as I post this.

Now let me add Stanley Stewart, author of In the Empire of Genghis Khan: A Journey Among Nomads (Flamingo 2001). Having often been called "a perfect little Mongol" by his mother, Stewart developed a fascination with the Mongols, the Golden Horde and Genghis Khan, which led him to attempt a ride (on horseback) across the homeland of the Mongol Horde's descendants.

His journey took him a thousand miles across Mongolia, from Olgii to Dadal, near which Genghis Khan is rumoured to have been buried. No-one knows for sure, as every last one of those involved in preparing his final resting place and conveying him thither was slaughtered.

In the Empire of Genghis Khan is roughly one-third history (see preceding paragraph), one-third descriptive geography (lots of pretty word pictures and a handful of photos), and one-third ethnography. It is full of bizarre encounters and colourful characters. The chapter entitled "The Wedding Battle" is not to be missed. Here's a summary: "A wedding receiption where you got to give your new in-laws a good thumping was the kind of thing that people in the West could only dream about."

Stewart's book is, as the cover blurb promises "a thrilling tale of adventure and an evocative portrait of a medieval land marooned in a modern world". If, like Walt, you are a fan of the travel adventure genre, you're sure to like it.