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24 February 2005

NeverLand

Ok.

Strictly speaking, Peter Pan is not a public policy issue.

Politics sometimes resembles a fantasy world and yes, there are more than a few male politicians who seem like boys who never grew up but that is a digression.

Over on John Gushue's blog he noted that today is the anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Florizel in 1918. For people not from here, the Florizel was a steamer running between New York and St. John's. Due to an error in navigation the ship went onto the rocks at a place called Cappahayden with a loss of 94 lives.

Shortly after the sinking a statue of Peter Pan was erected at Bowring Park in St. John's as a memorial to a girl who was drowned on the Florizel.

Anyways, John mentions that the statue is one of several in the world. There are at least five. The original is in Kensington Gardens, London. There's another in Bruxelles (Brussels), one in Camden New Jersey, another in Liverpool and then there's the one in St. John's. Check this link.

More than a few local children went to see the movie Hook a few years ago and wondered when Robin Williams had been here filming at Bowring Park. Older children, like say...me... have been wondering lately how we might possible persuade Kate Winslet to visit here but that would be an entirely different story.