The CBC’s Hello Goodbye, which premiered last month, takes place in an airport where travellers from near and far congregate to meet, greet and depart. The new show tells the intimate stories of the airport: the emotional highs and heartbreaking lows. Through it all, host Dale Curd needs to forge a relationship with each person, allowing them to open up and share in front of the cameras.
“What surprised me most was how willing people were to share their lives and stories with me,” says the Toronto native. “In each conversation there was a moment where the fact that we were strangers to each other disappeared and each person opened up to me like a good friend.”
Another thing they do at airports and airplanes is wait. A lot. And where there is waiting, in lobbies and aboard planes, there are books to fill the time. Here are five of Curd’s all-time faves for whiling the day away.
The World According to Garp by John Irving
It’s the first book I ever cried while reading. I think I could relate to Garp and his life: the experiences; his big-hearted nature, tragic relationship with girls and women; and his aloneness. He’s a listener and a loner, and at times both have been true for me.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
It’s an epic, and it took me a lot of perseverance to get through it when I was in my early 20s. I love the richness of the characters. These are people who struggle with life and others but mostly with themselves.
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler
I gobble up mysteries like candy floss. I guess I’m just like my mother. Dark, sensational, psychologically thrilling, this book keeps my mind humming. No one writes noir mystery better than the Scandinavians. They just seem to know that what we fear most is what is inside of us.
When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté
Spend enough time listening to people and their life struggles, as I have, and after a while, it becomes clear that there is a powerful link between our minds and bodies. When your life is un-healthy, your body will be the messenger of what is deeply ailing you. This is a must-read from a man who is a living Canadian legend.
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
I like tactile writing, which is to say I love writers who can make me feel the words on the page. This is a pure love story, an American version of Romeo and Juliet combined with Candide set in the grit of the southwest. I have a part of me that is a cowboy at heart, a restless soul who feels at home in big nature and big feelings and who would die for love.
