The Read by the Sea Literary Festival at River John, and  WordPlay (for children of all ages) at Tatamagouche, Now in the 16th year of bringing Canada's best authors and poets to Nova Scotia's North Shore HOME

WordPlay Presenters - 2015 Starr Dobson was the producer and co-host of the Maritimes' most-watched news magazine program--Live at 5. In that capacity she interviewed many Canadian authors and helped promote their work. She is now President & CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of NS. She lives in Halifax with her husband and two children. Her publications include My Goat Gertrude, and Gertrude at the Beach,  both published by Nimbus.

   Linda Little Starr Dobson    Andy Jones is a Canadian comedian, and a former member of CODCO. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador,  Jones often writes children's books based on Newfoundland folk tales. His most recent, Jack and Mary in the Land of Thieves, won the Winterset award in March 2013. Andy wrote for one season of The Kids in the Hall, and played a small role in their film Brain Candy. He also starred in, co-wrote, and co-directed the 1986 feature film The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood. He played "Phonse" and starred with William Hurt in the 2001 film Rare Birds. Since 1983 he has written, starred in and toured 5 one-man comedy shows.

Linda Little's first children's picture book Work and More Work has been published by Groundwood Press. Her most recent novel is Grist (Roseway 2014).  Her previous work includes two award-winning novels: Scotch River (Penguin 2006) and Strong Hollow (Goose Lane 2001). She has published short stories in many reviews and anthologies, including The Antigonish Review, Descant, Matrix, The Journey Prize Anthology, and The Penguin Book of Short Stories by Canadian Women. Linda Little lives and writes in the north shore village of River John.

    Andy Jones ​ 

   Annie and Bev are The Wild City Roses - a city dwelling musical duo with wild, country hearts.They love to share music that brings joy, lightness, and laughter to children of all ages.

Sheree Fitch is a multi-award-winning author  and poet for children and adults. Her publications include Toes in My Nose, Kiss the Joy as it Flies,  Pluto's Ghost, Mable Murple, Sleeping Dragons All Around, and Singily Skipping Along.  She appears at major Canadian literary festivals, leads writing workshops, and speaks at conferences, schools and libraries. She taught at St.Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick. Sheree lives in River John, NS.

​​Sheree Fitch​ 

Mistress of Ceremonies The Wild City Roses Musical duo © 2013 Read by the Sea

Contact
readbtsea@gmail.com

Report: US Needs New Small Nuclear Bombs By Marcus Weisgerber

June 21, 2015

The United States should develop new low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons to deter countries from seeking nuclear weapons of their own, a new think-tank report says. It also argues that the U.S. should base more nuclear weapons around the world to better deter attacks.

“Forward deploying a robust set of discriminate nuclear response options conveys the message that the United States will ‘respond in kind’ and proportionately to nuclear attacks on its allies,” wrote Clark Murdock, a former Pentagon policy official who is now a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

CSIS' “Project Atom” report, provided to Defense One in advance of its June 22 release, was produced by Murdock and eight co-authors as a "zero-based, blue-sky" look at American's nuclear arsenal. It challenges the Obama administration’s policy of seeking to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in national strategy, and argues for new bombs, missiles, and delivery platforms to replace the ones that have been around since the Cold War.

Murdock’s report comes just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would deploy 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles. It also comes as the Obama administration faces a handful of decisions on nuclear modernization, including proposals to develop new weapons.