The Full Story
John Gardiner & Richard Knechtel
‘Like an Old Friend’
present
Sunday, November 19th 2pm
Join us at the Durham Art Gallery for an afternoon of stories and music with old friends Richard Knechtel and John Gardiner. John will read from his new memoir about growing up & coming of age in Hanover, Ontario during the 1950’s & 1960’s and Richard will perform a collection of heartfelt stories & songs gathered over a lifetime lived in music.
Free admission. Donations to the Durham Art Gallery gratefully appreciated.
John Gardiner
Canadian short story writer John Gardiner’s writing has been compared to another Canadian short story writer, the iconic Alice Munro, his work has been featured alongside Margaret Atwood, D.H. Lawrence and Amy Tan and has been published around the world, including India, New Zealand and England.
He calls his writing “emotional thoughtscapes” because they create vivid emotional images in the mind of the reader. Gardiner draws on his life experiences, spent mainly in small towns in Southern Ontario, to write mainly about ordinary people living fairly ordinary lives – because he believes that is where you find the high drama in life.
The Wallaceburg, Ontario writer recently toured in support of his literary collection, Memories for Sale: Tales From a Small Town. He performed over 50 readings to promote the book and is always looking for places to read.
John has since released of his memoir, My Lefthanded, Backwards, Upsidedown Life & Assorted Short Stories, a series of mostly humorous anecdotes about the author’s early life. His new work launched Fall of 2021.
Richard Knechtel
Richard Knechtel is a much-in-demand performer for festivals, concerts and special event shows. His confident, creative and friendly performances have charmed audiences throughout North America.
Armed with an enormous repertoire of songs - swing, pop, novelty, blues, country, comedy and folk; he can chose just the right tunes for any occasion. He accompanies these songs with dynamic guitar playing and virtuoso harmonica work. From wry commentary to completely comic send-ups, touching all the emotional bases, he entertains!
Richard hails from Walkerton, Ontario and is one of the best known songwriters in the province with over 400 songs to his credit. His first album of original material was released in 1977. Since then he has produced over 20 recordings on his Greentree Music label.
In musical circles, the name Richard Knechtel is synonymous with integrity and good taste. With his engaging personality and special joy, he has established himself as a highly respected musician with a large following of loyal fans.
