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Old generals never die, they just fade away piece by piece — going once, twice, gone.
Retired Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, now 78, was once the most famous soldier in Canada — maybe he still is. But life went on from his glory days in Sarajevo in 1992, when he commanded a UN peacekeeping force that managed to open the airport for the delivery of humanitarian aid, not to mention polish the country’s reputation as a fair broker in wartime.
Today he is a widower, standing in the living room of his farmhouse outside Almonte, preparing to let much of his surroundings go.
“Big, massive downsizing,” he says. “I want to simplify things.”
MacKenzie has hired MacLean & Associates to hold an online auction of the bulk of his possessions accumulated during a 35-year military career and a 51-year marriage.
His wife, Dora, died Feb. 21 at the Ottawa Heart Institute, in her early 70s. The 78-acre farm, the marvellous collection of Canadiana, the antiques — much of it was her doing, he said. Now she’s gone, leaving him alone with the memories.
“She did just about everything here that justified the farm, like gardening. She did everything.”
Nights in bed can be tough, he said, long drives a killer. “I didn’t think it would be that way, but I’m surrounded by reminders, too.”
So MacKenzie has put both the property ($1.2 million) and much of its contents up for sale, including some military memorabilia and a pair of high-end sports cars.
(There is an awesome horse-riding arena, which cost $177,000, a stable for half a dozen horses, and a huge workspace for cars and tractors.)
Lewis MacKenzie is selling more than a few memories.
Among items to be sold are military uniforms, but also a couple of vintage sports cars, tractors, furniture and pottery. Tony Caldwell
The catalogue — at more than 1,000 lots — is so big it defies easy description. There are vehicles: a 1961 Triumph TR3, a 2009 Audi TT and a couple of tractors. There are antiques: dozens of 19th century Quebec crocks, a 19th century horse-drawn cutter, century-old duck decoys, old lanterns, butter churns, a custom-made 12-foot cherry table, paintings, figurines, pre-electric clothes irons — for every knick, a knack.
For four days, four employees from MacLean have been sorting through the items preparing for the July 10 bidding close.
“Oh, we found a firearm,” said owner Diana Fuller, as she pulled out a rusty shotgun tucked behind some stuff in the massive workshop. And, indeed, there was an old single-barrel apparently handed down through Dora’s family. Not far away is his Formula Ford racer, which has won him trophies galore.
In the basement, MacKenzie takes us to his “I love me” room, which old generals tend to have. He is keeping much of the personal stuff: signed photos with world leaders, the Order of Ontario, the Order of Canada photo with Michaëlle Jean, the last days photo with François Mitterrand, the shoulder-to-shoulder with Colin Powell.
He is selling a couple of dress uniforms he wore as a general, a “greens dress” uniform from the Queen’s Own Rifles, flags that flew in Sarajevo, a Nobel-prize connected leather jacket, a tangle of deer antlers. It pretty much never ends. (http://macleanandassociates.hibid.com for details.)
MacKenzie is genuine car-racing nut and has loads of memorabilia and trinkets from his track time. He has four racing cars, including three stored at Calabogie, and odds and ends such as a framed photo of him with noted racer Paul Newman.
The one military item he will not part with is the green flak jacket he wore in Sarajevo, at the height of his international fame. (Notably, it says MACK on the front, with his blood type, “RhO (-),” written in marker, as though a transfusion could be imminent.)
Fuller said it’s quite “a privilege” to sort through rooms of belongings. These are the traces of a lifetime.
“There are times when we find things and we just burst out in tears.” The staff particularly came to know Dora — MacKenzie met her at a roller rink in Toronto — through her taste in antiques, she added.
“We’re really getting a sense of the kind of person Dora was.”
She said MacKenzie has provided handwritten notes on each of the uniforms, which will be invaluable for collectors to prove provenance.
MacKenzie had nine peacekeeping tours with the United Nations, in Gaza Strip, Cyprus, Vietnam, Egypt, Central America and the former Yugoslavia. Since retiring in 1993, he has been a sought-after public speaker, media commentator and corporate board member.
His next move? To a condo in Almonte, where all he has to do is turn a key, not run a farm. “For 24 years, Dora and I never took a holiday. Flexibility, that’s the word people keep using with me now.”
(There is one viewing day, July 7. Check the MacLean website for details.)
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
Retired Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, now 78, was once the most famous soldier in Canada — maybe he still is. But life went on from his glory days in Sarajevo in 1992, when he commanded a UN peacekeeping force that managed to open the airport for the delivery of humanitarian aid, not to mention polish the country’s reputation as a fair broker in wartime.
Today he is a widower, standing in the living room of his farmhouse outside Almonte, preparing to let much of his surroundings go.
“Big, massive downsizing,” he says. “I want to simplify things.”
MacKenzie has hired MacLean & Associates to hold an online auction of the bulk of his possessions accumulated during a 35-year military career and a 51-year marriage.
His wife, Dora, died Feb. 21 at the Ottawa Heart Institute, in her early 70s. The 78-acre farm, the marvellous collection of Canadiana, the antiques — much of it was her doing, he said. Now she’s gone, leaving him alone with the memories.
“She did just about everything here that justified the farm, like gardening. She did everything.”
Nights in bed can be tough, he said, long drives a killer. “I didn’t think it would be that way, but I’m surrounded by reminders, too.”
So MacKenzie has put both the property ($1.2 million) and much of its contents up for sale, including some military memorabilia and a pair of high-end sports cars.
(There is an awesome horse-riding arena, which cost $177,000, a stable for half a dozen horses, and a huge workspace for cars and tractors.)
Lewis MacKenzie is selling more than a few memories.
Among items to be sold are military uniforms, but also a couple of vintage sports cars, tractors, furniture and pottery. Tony Caldwell
The catalogue — at more than 1,000 lots — is so big it defies easy description. There are vehicles: a 1961 Triumph TR3, a 2009 Audi TT and a couple of tractors. There are antiques: dozens of 19th century Quebec crocks, a 19th century horse-drawn cutter, century-old duck decoys, old lanterns, butter churns, a custom-made 12-foot cherry table, paintings, figurines, pre-electric clothes irons — for every knick, a knack.
For four days, four employees from MacLean have been sorting through the items preparing for the July 10 bidding close.
“Oh, we found a firearm,” said owner Diana Fuller, as she pulled out a rusty shotgun tucked behind some stuff in the massive workshop. And, indeed, there was an old single-barrel apparently handed down through Dora’s family. Not far away is his Formula Ford racer, which has won him trophies galore.
In the basement, MacKenzie takes us to his “I love me” room, which old generals tend to have. He is keeping much of the personal stuff: signed photos with world leaders, the Order of Ontario, the Order of Canada photo with Michaëlle Jean, the last days photo with François Mitterrand, the shoulder-to-shoulder with Colin Powell.
He is selling a couple of dress uniforms he wore as a general, a “greens dress” uniform from the Queen’s Own Rifles, flags that flew in Sarajevo, a Nobel-prize connected leather jacket, a tangle of deer antlers. It pretty much never ends. (http://macleanandassociates.hibid.com for details.)
MacKenzie is genuine car-racing nut and has loads of memorabilia and trinkets from his track time. He has four racing cars, including three stored at Calabogie, and odds and ends such as a framed photo of him with noted racer Paul Newman.
The one military item he will not part with is the green flak jacket he wore in Sarajevo, at the height of his international fame. (Notably, it says MACK on the front, with his blood type, “RhO (-),” written in marker, as though a transfusion could be imminent.)
Fuller said it’s quite “a privilege” to sort through rooms of belongings. These are the traces of a lifetime.
“There are times when we find things and we just burst out in tears.” The staff particularly came to know Dora — MacKenzie met her at a roller rink in Toronto — through her taste in antiques, she added.
“We’re really getting a sense of the kind of person Dora was.”
She said MacKenzie has provided handwritten notes on each of the uniforms, which will be invaluable for collectors to prove provenance.
MacKenzie had nine peacekeeping tours with the United Nations, in Gaza Strip, Cyprus, Vietnam, Egypt, Central America and the former Yugoslavia. Since retiring in 1993, he has been a sought-after public speaker, media commentator and corporate board member.
His next move? To a condo in Almonte, where all he has to do is turn a key, not run a farm. “For 24 years, Dora and I never took a holiday. Flexibility, that’s the word people keep using with me now.”
(There is one viewing day, July 7. Check the MacLean website for details.)
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
