Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie

Anybody who has watched television or listened to the news has heard of Major-General Lewis W. MacKenzie. He is for example a regular contributor to the Remembrance Day ceremonies and just about anything else military which surfaces from time to time on the international scene. He has endeared himself to the media and the public by being not only the consummate soldier but also a well-respected race car driver. He has even been featured on the Rick Mercer show (which means of course he isn’t afraid to engage in humorous antics, sometimes at his own expense).

I was particularly privileged to have Gen. MacKenzie visit me fairly regularly in a professional capacity, at first regarding relatively mundane matters but latterly regarding his more important personal affairs (even though I may have referred him to more competent counsel to deal with his sometimes complicated affairs).

Gen. MacKenzie is from Nova Scotia, and like so many people from the East he hasn’t lost his ability to deal with commoners such as myself in spite of his renown. Indeed I venture to say that like so many country people at heart he prefers to deal with the likes of me. After all he needn’t cultivate the good press of famous people when he is already there!

After I took up arms with Edith Cody-Rice as a columnist with the Millstone News (our local electronic newspaper) it wasn’t long before we determined to ask the General for an interview to include in our published biographies of local worthies. Gen. MacKenzie readily agreed and Edith, I and the General spent a pleasant evening at his lovely home on Upper Dwyer Hill Road learning about him and his family. We naturally got a peak at the race cars which he keeps housed in a substantial garage at the back of his country estate.