Literary Review of Canada on A Communist for the RCMP
The LRC in their April 2025 edition reviewed my book A Communist for the RCMP. The writer is David Shribman, a veteran U.S. journalist who was executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He teaches in the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and contributes to The Globe and Mail. The review is titled, Serge Protector? The RCMP informant who saw red. It took me a few moments to get it, but eventually I did.
Canadian Press story on A Communist for the RCMP
Jim Bronskill of The Canadian Press has published an article about my book, A Communist for the RCMP. Jim is an expert at using Access to Information to dig out news stories, something which I did also in researching and writing my book.
A Communist for the RCMP book review on Rabble.ca
Ottawa writer Lois Ross posted an article reviewing my book A Communist for the RCMP on the news site Rabble.ca. She writes: “A Communist for the RCMP is engaging. Not only does author Gruending provide us with an inside look at what it takes to become an informant, but also how reporting between the informant and his RCMP handlers took place, public meetings attended, and who was surveilled. It also provides insight into Frank Hadesbeck the person — who he was, how he lived, and how he came to be an informant.” Enjoy Lois’s review.
Monthly Review Article
Toronto-based writer Dawn Morgan has written a review of my book, A Communist for the RCMP. The piece was published recently by Canadian Dimension. Dawn’s article was then picked up by Monthly Review Online, an independent socialist publication based in New York City. Dawn used her background as a literary academic to compare my book of non-fiction to the spy fiction genre.
Champlain Society Interview
Greg Marchildon, a well-known academic, author-researcher, and former senior civil servant, has interviewed me about my book A Communist for the RCMP. Greg did the interview for Witness to Yesterday, a podcast sponsored by The Champlain Society. The Society was founded in 1905, and its goal to increase public awareness of, and accessibility to, Canada’s store of historical records.
CBC Radio interview on A Communist for the RCMP
I was interviewed on CBC Radio Saskatchewan on June 2024 about my new book, A Communist for the RCMP by Shauna Powers, their weekend show host. The province of Saskatchewan, and specifically the city of Regina, was the epicentre of this story. Informant Frank Hadesbeck provided information to the RCMP over a period of twenty-five years about “persons of interest.”
Book Nook: an interview on A Communist for the RCMP
I am a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan. Their alumni website has a feature called Book Nook, where they talk to graduates about their recent books. Here is their interview with me about my book, A Communist for the RCMP. It is on its way to bookstores for early June 2024.
Responsible tourism in Mexico
The November 2023 issue of Broadview magazine carried a piece that I wrote last winter after spending two weeks in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. The city is considered a tourist haven, but I wanted t look deeper.
Jackie Gruending, in memoriam
We lost our younger brother Jackie Gruending at age 57 to the ravages of multiple sclerosis in August 2021. My sister Charlene Dobmeier and I have produced a monograph memorial booklet released through her publishing company Kingsley. This is our way of saying a loving farewell to our younger brother while cherishing his memory.
RCMP spied on community clinics
In its opinion section on July 2, 2022 the Globe and Mail carried my article about RCMP surveillance of Medicare and its founders. This piece is based upon material which I obtained under an Access to Information request regarding the RCMP Security Service.
A child of medicare
The implementation of Medicare in Saskatchewan in 1962, and the doctors’ strike that followed had a lasting impression upon me. I write about that for Broadview magazine.
CBC Radio interview on RCMP spying on community clinics
CBC Radio in Saskatchewan was interested in the story about RCMP spying upon the advocates of Medicare. Shauna Powers, host of Saskatchewan Weekend talked to me for 12+ minutes.
COVID-19 diary
I went back and compared national and international events regarding the emerging pandemic with my personal calendar, in an attempt to understand why I was slow to realize what was happening. Here is the piece which appeared in my local community paper in Ottawa, Ontario.
Archiving My Literary Papers
A How-To article in Write, publication of The Writers’ Union of Canada in early 2020. Find the article by scrolling to page 16 in the pdf.
Politics in Rhubarb, part I
In 2013, Victor Enns, editor of the (now defunct) magazine Rhubarb interviewed Dennis about the time that he had spent in federal politics. Victor asked Dennis why he ran for office and how he would describe the experience of serving as an MP. Here is an edited version of part one of that conversation.
Politics in Rhubarb, part II
You can read here part two of an interview with Dennis by Victor Enns of Rhubarb magazine about a life in politics. Victor asked Dennis in detail about the experience of being a Member of Parliament. Here is an edited version of that conversation.
Speeches That Changed Canada
I was interviewed about my book Speeches That Changed Canada. The piece was published by the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians in their magazine called Beyond the Hill. You can read the interview here.
Reframing populism
Some forms of populism are democratic and inclusive. Others are authoritarian, spreading hate and scapegoating the vulnerable. I gave this speech about Reframing Populism.
Journeys to Justice
Read my review of the 2018 book Journeys to Justice: Reflections on Canadian Christian Activism.
Prairie Messenger farewell
Read my farewell to the Prairie Messenger, a paper published by the Benedictine monks at the St. Peter’s monastery in rural Saskatchewan, but which has ceased publication. I wrote for the publication for decades.
Martin Luther King’s rhetoric
Read my post on Rabble.ca about Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech delivered a few years before his assassination in 1968.
Towards a Prairie Atonement
I interviewed author Trevor Herriot about his new book, Towards a Prairie Atonement. Then I wrote about it in Christian Courier.
Hilary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s rhetoric
Read my article in Policy Options magazine about the political rhetoric employed by Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump in the U.S. election campaign.
Social democracy in Quebec
Read my review in the Canadian Parliamentary Review of Professor David McGrane’s book, Remaining Loyal: Social Democracy in Quebec and Saskatchewan
Guide for rookie MPs
The Hill Times: 2015 Canadian Election, a guide for rookie MPs. In this piece, I talk about my special relationship across the isle with the late Liberal cabinet minister Charles Caccia.
Prairie fiction
The Christmas Concert is thinly-disguised fiction about a much-anticipated event that occurred in my prairie village when I was a child. The story was carried some years ago by CBC Radio and was also published in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper.
Dennis Gruending 