Sparkling wine was poured, hors d’oeuvres were passed, speeches were given. There were panel discussions, an archives tour, a reception and dinner. I wasn’t there, and you weren’t either. Nor was anyone you know. And the occasion? Something you never heard about, involving someone you likely never heard of.

All that is by way of sharing a little-noticed event that prompted that celebration in Kingston, Ontario: the 150th anniversary of the birth of John Buchan.

John Buchan, you say. Who’s he? And why should we care that he was born in Perth, Scotland, a century and a half ago Tuesday?

Probably you don’t, but as a lazy summer comes to an end, maybe you should. For Buchan was a polymath of the old school, a historian, a politician, a novelist, a diplomat.

He was an important figure north

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