{"id":138,"date":"2009-08-23T19:50:09","date_gmt":"2009-08-23T23:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/?p=138"},"modified":"2009-08-23T19:50:09","modified_gmt":"2009-08-23T23:50:09","slug":"a-tribute-to-muriel-duckworth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/2009\/08\/23\/a-tribute-to-muriel-duckworth\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tribute to Muriel Duckworth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Muriel<\/a>
\nMuriel reading. Photo: Terre Nash<\/em><\/p>\n

Sadly we just learned that our friend Muriel Duckworth, pioneering feminist and peace activist, passed away Saturday morning at the venerable age of 100<\/strong>. I say we, because many of my relatives and friends knew and admired Muriel, a tireless opponent of war and injustice in all forms. You can read a biography of Muriel below.<\/p>\n

Muriel is also one of the main characters in the documentary I am making about the Raging Grannies,<\/strong> together with Muriel’s son Martin who is doing the camera work, Carole Roy, Minerva Gow, \u00c9tienne Gagnon and our producers at Island Film Works. The last time I saw Muriel was when we did our last shoot with her some five weeks ago, at the Magog hospital. She received a visit from another Raging Granny, Marguerite Bilodeau, who is a retired nurse in addition to being a singer and peace activist. In characteristic fashion, ever the good-humoured activist, Muriel repeated her mantra ‘War is stupid.’<\/p>\n

\"Marguerite<\/a>
\nMarguerite and Muriel – my photo
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Last year, we filmed Muriel’s 100th birthday party<\/strong> in the Eastern Townships – only one of three parties. I don’t believe in documentary being purely observational, and I helped organize a contingent of Raging Grannies from several cities who sang a song about Muriel, written by Granny Barbara Seifred.<\/strong> The song was in two parts. It’s a worthy tribute to a remarkable woman.<\/p>\n

[Tune: Sweet Betsy from Pike]<\/p>\n

Imagine Muriel Duckworth 100 this year….!
\nAn occasion for a rousing good cheer…
\nWith a cake and bright candles and much love to share…
\nTo show our dear Muriel how much we care.<\/p>\n

Oh Muriel Duckworth is a dear friend of ours…
\nIn th’ Peace activist firmament she’s recognized as a Star!
\nLiving legend…national treasure….beyond measure…by far…
\nMuriel Duckworth is our brightest spark!<\/p>\n

[Tune: Clementine A SONG FOR MURIEL]<\/p>\n

Muriel Duckworth, dear Muriel Duckworth…
\nRaging Granny….Superfine!
\nPeace activist and living legend….
\nA gold standard for Womankind!
\nA humanitarian…sometimes contrarian….
\nA hell-raiser with the Raging Grans ….
\nShe wouldn’t be part of the revolution
\nUnless….like Emma…..she could dance!<\/p>\n

She’s a Living National Treasure….
\nAn inspiration for our lifetime….
\nA Quaker…a Peace maker
\nAnd mischief-maker…by design!
\nA founding member of Voice of Women….
\nShe’s by definition: a pacifist…..
\nAnd a pilgrim to Hiroshima….
\nTrue anti-nuclear activist….<\/p>\n

Muriel has the Order of Canada….
\nAn impressive list of…..honorary degrees…..
\nTo that we’ll add our Happy Birthday….
\nAnd our song….in a heartbeat!<\/p>\n

[Tune: Sweet Betsy]<\/p>\n

To Muriel Duckworth…femme formidable!
\nWe treasure you as a friend….vraiment inestimable…
\nSo here’s our Happy Birthday…you know that it’s meant
\nWith Good Health and Good Cheer….and much merriment<\/p>\n

Muriel H. Duckworth<\/strong> (born October 31, 1908) is a Canadian pacifist, feminist and social and community activist. She is also a practising Quaker, a religious faith deeply committed to non-violence.<\/p>\n

Duckworth was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Voice of Women<\/strong><\/a>, a provincial branch of the Voice of Women <\/strong>(VOW). She served as the National President of VOW, now called the Canadian Voice of Women for
\nPeace<\/strong><\/a>, from 1967 to 1971. She also helped establish the Canadian Council for International Cooperation<\/strong><\/a>, a coalition of about 100 Canadian organizations working for the elimination of poverty in Canada and around the world. Duckworth was among the first women in Nova Scotia to run for political office as a New Democratic Party candidate<\/strong> in Halifax during the provincial elections of 1974 and 1978. She was the 1991 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace<\/strong><\/a> for furthering the cause of international peace as well as the equality of women and men. She was made a Member of the Order of Canada<\/strong><\/a> in 1983.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Muriel reading. Photo: Terre Nash Sadly we just learned that our friend Muriel Duckworth, pioneering feminist and peace activist, passed away Saturday morning at the venerable age of 100. I say we, because many of my relatives and friends knew and admired Muriel, a tireless opponent of war and injustice in all forms. You can … Continue reading A Tribute to Muriel Duckworth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-general","category-raging-grannies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1037,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions\/1037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdoc.net\/magnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}