John Hartig

Time in a Bottle Trilogy John Hartig

Book Two of the Time in a Bottle Trilogy is "Fighting Cancer: Ken Janzen, Anwar Knight & Me". Book Two starts out with the last few days of Kenny's life when he went into a coma. It was "the hardest journey" for the family. Kenny died at home as he wished on January 18th, 2008. Although his Blog touched people around the world, the Blog disappeared off the internet like it had never been there. Vineland author, John Hartig, compares the two Blogs: "Anwar's Journey - hodge-podge of an optimist" [2010] with "Ken Janzen's Health and Wellness Blog" [2007-2008]. John relates to both men's fight with cancer because he, himself, was diagnosed with chronic leukemia since 2003. In Book Two, John's diary recaps his experiences as a news reporter and as a teacher. He also writes about how he met his wife, Marjorie, in Grande Prairie, Alberta, about going to Bible College in Winnipeg [to find God], about moving to France for a year, and about becoming a "house-husband". John even finds time to do movie reviews of a few episodes of his favourite black and white TV shows from the 1950s and 1960s: Peter Gunn and The Rifleman. John Hartig expresses a worry about Canada's Universal Health Care system, that it is becoming less and less universal, facing cutbacks, huge waiting times and privatization. Canada is being brought back to the pre-1960s when people with money got top care. Nobody remembers that national hero, Tommy Douglas, anymore, the man who pushed for universal healthcare for all Canadian citizens.