May 12: Mark Leiren-Young

Happy Mother's Day! To commemorate the day, we've got journalist/author/playwright/performer Mark Leiren-Young!... Wait, I'll come up with a connection... I'm sure he's been called a mother on a few occasions. Okay, that's all I got. When we booked this date months ago, who knew it would be Mother's Day? Not I.

But we're glad to have him any day of the year. I do believe he's our first Leacock Medal Award winner. He won it in 2009 for his memoir Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, about his life as a cub reporter in the wilds of Williams Lake. If reading ain't your bag, you can get the Coles Notes version at the Granville Island Stage where it's been mounted as a one-man play starring Zachary Stevenson and directed by TJ Dawe.

The guy also has a new book out called Free Magic Secrets Revealed. And he still finds time to write about the arts in newspapers. Damn go-getter.

Anyway, tune in tonight at 11 pm PST on CFRO, 100.5 FM and we'll get the low-down on all things Leiren-Young.