Barrie Hopkins is a One-of-a-Kind Writer -- He's a Folksy, Country Kind of Guy, the Perfect Complement to a Rural Community Newspaper

His is the type of down-home, common-sense writing that readers come to rely on, as they have for many, many years at the Wellington Advertiser, a newspaper that serves the citizens of Wellington County in mid-western Ontario.

(PRWEB) September 5, 2008 -- Hopkins has written a weekly column -- called Bits and Pieces -- for the Advertiser for more than two decades. His work has become so popular and so much in demand that he has gathered together his best work and created a published compilation series entitled The Best of Bits and Pieces.

The first compilation was published in July 2007. Hopkins has just released Book 2 of the series and has plans to continue with further volumes.

The Best of Bits and Pieces: Book 2 will delight readers who found Book 1 so interesting and compelling. Hopkins has a straight-ahead, no-nonsense approach to his subject matter -- and it is his sheer, simple candour and honesty that make his work so readable and enjoyable as he comments on the Canada that he so clearly loves.

Whether the subject matter is politics or taxation or conservation or family life, a reader never has to guess where Hopkins stands. He writes clearly and decisively and with his emotions worn on his sleeve -- a Barrie Hopkins column is like sitting down for a chat with an old friend over a cup of tea.

One of his columns in Book 2, entitled War, tells of the day when one of his older brothers was sent off to fight with the Allied forces in World War II. Hopkins writes touchingly of that day -- he spent it working on the family farm with his father, both of them in silence, his father fighting valiantly to hold back his tears.

And Hopkins writes movingly, too, of his late wife, Eunice Jean Hopkins. They were married for 52 years -- she passed away while Book 2 was being created -- and Hopkins makes it very clear that she was the guiding light of his life. She was his beacon, his true love. She was, as Hopkins says, "my Little Lady.''

The Best of Bits and Pieces: Book 2 is pure Barrie Hopkins. And that's what makes it such a readable treasure.

The Best of Bits and Pieces: Book 2

By Barrie Hopkins

ISBN: 9780973766004

$24.95

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