I like to improvise these interviews, so I had no real plan when I sat down with John Ibbitson in front of an audience at the National Arts Centre on Monday night. I’ve known Ibbitson, a writer-at-large for the Globe and Mail and, I suppose, the dean of Ottawa political writers, for something like 30 years. He may even be more of a talker than I am. I knew we would come up with something. Indeed we did. It helped that the material at hand was so rich: The Duel, Ibbitson’s rich and passionate new twin biography of two of Canadian politics’ great rivals, John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson.
There is no easier interview than an author who comes pre-loaded with fresh anecdotes. Off we roared.
