Federal and provincial governments, forced to spread the money wide among many projects and individuals of varied natures, have cut back in arts funding. Whether this is good or bad is hard to say. It may be a good thing in that it will weed out those artistic individuals or institutions that may perhaps be best devoted to changing course, or who might be better off to scale back ambitions that do not have anything to do with the daily interests of ordinary taxpayers. A hard prognosis, but a necessary one. But, most of all, we now require a good balancing act between technology and all of the arts.

The publishing industry has been hit particularly hard, whether it be books, periodicals or daily newspapers. It is not just that people buy fewer books, or read fewer papers. What the industry faces is a digital encroachment on the printed page. E-books, though  not yet a major player, nevertheless, are heading that way; almost every important periodical or newspaper now is forced to also publish on the internet to survive; arts magazines like Lancette, which only appear on the Internet, often have to fill in where regular papers no longer find it profitable to publish. Most newspapers, for instance, have cut back on book reviews, offer shorter theater, dance and music reviews, and very few detailed art reviews. The 'pop' world, instead, is given priority in the available space, leaving the 'serious' arts with little support.

A look at novelists reveals that now very few of them can command an advance for a new work. Publishers give priority to self-help books and new age philosophies. These are the very books we will not review in Lancette. Graphic novels are no longer a novelty, and while we do take a look at these, we find they can hardly take the place of a 'good' word novel, no matter what the genre. Our aim at Lancette is to give support to writers, who want to tell a story that entertains and indirectly gives us philosophical, emotional, and historic insight. That is what a good novel does, or a good biography. What publishers are now forced to churn out to make sales are books that will soon be forgotten after they have proved to be either ineffective or they are no longer part of the latest fad. Consequently, it can be said that this first decade of the 21^st century has not only been influenced by an economic downturn, but also—perhaps more importantly—by a generation that needs to be led by the hand because it has lost the ability to think for itself. The iPod changed the music industry and the Kindle will, no doubt, change the publishing industry. But, how far do we go with this technological advance before we lose all connection to the past?

Television, once an important medium for drama, now drifts along with offerings of reality shows, an excess of sports, and badly written, and badly acted series. Whom do we blame? Was it the writers' strikes that contributed to this disaster? Do we have too many cable and digital outlets now so that every minor talent is let loose on the public? Do we blame a generation that has lower expectations, less ability to concentrate, and is totally addicted to cell phones, tweeding, Face Book and Youtube? One suspects that all of these are contributors to the demise of good TV programming.

Radio now has a penchant for empty talk shows, and when music is offered, it is dedicated to a variety of pop genre music, each one presented on a specialty station. CBC Radio, still commercial free, has lost any credibility. CBC Radio1 is a talk medium aimed at special interests. For daytime listeners who need to be able to concentrate it has no relevancy because its programs interfere with our thought processes. CBC Radio2 used to be an excellent classical music station with regular newscasts. Alas, it is now devoted mostly to ethnic music and to a variety of popular genre music. The newscasts are totally absent during the daytime. The few hours of classical music from 9:00 a.m. to 12:59p.m. are hardly enough to warrant the claim that it serves classical needs. Oh, we still get Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, and on Sundays In Concert, but those often come at the wrong time when people are busy with other things. It seems, that the powers-that-be at the Ceeb have decided not to appeal to adults in a desperate attempt to compete with commercial radio.

Here at Lancette we now listen to foreign classical music stations while toiling at our computers. As far as CBC Radio is concerned, it is a total waste of Canadian taxpayers' money. This statement comes from a group of once staunchly supportive CBC Radio listeners. Let's just say that The Friends of CBC better not approach us for support. CBC TV's prime time programming never offered much to spark our interest. Now it offers more sports than anything else, cheap reality shows, cheap comedy (all prime time Tuesdays) shows, and cheap movies late at night with even cheaper—meaning questionable products—advertising. There is so far not a single drama show, either Canadian or foreign-produced, being offered on the network. PBS in Buffalo offers far more. Even TVO has better programming, albeit very limited and repetitive.

Museums also have their problems these days, or shall we say, they have even more than they used to have. One of our favorite small museums is the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Arts. We heard with great distress that one of its curators had to be let go as well as other staff. Besides, its fine restaurant space on the second floor had to be turned into a bistro-style eatery that offers simple fare rather than fine dining. Let us hope that in time this jewel of a museum will find donors to return it to the standards it used to offer. Happily we can say that its new exhibits, though, are still of the quality we have always expected to see there.

But enough of a look at the material decline over a decade. Let us take a look at the year that has just passed and commemorate those in the arts who left our midst in 2009. We haven't kept a record of who has died, but we do recall some of the people we knew and admired.

In theater, the two most prominent names in Canada that come to mind are actress Goldie (Marigold) Semple and actor/director Douglas Campbell. The latter died at age 87 in Montreal after a long career in theater, especially being connected with the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival in the capacity of actor and director. We knew him as a generous supporter of emerging talent and will always think of him with high regard. Semple, only 56, died from cancer after many years associated with both of the above festivals, although her career also took her to other venues. She put up a tough fight, performing while undergoing treatment. May we all be so brave should we be unfortunate to contract a similar illness.

One wonders how many people will remember Sylvia Lennick, the last surviving member of the Wayne and Shuster comedy troupe. Sylvia died last year in Toronto at age 93. Just how many people realized that character actor Lou Jacobi was born in Canada? He died in New York at age 95. James Bond fans may not have realized that the character actor often cast as a villain in a variety of movies, Joseph Wiseman, and who played Dr. No in the Bond film of that name, was also Canadian-born. Like Jacobi, he died last year in New York at age 91.

In England, another Canadia-born singer and performer, Edmund Hockridge, died at age 89. His career in Britain started with the RCAF in WWII where he was assigned to a unit at the BBC to entertain armed forces. He returned briefly to Canada after the war but finally settled in England.

While on the subject of Britain, two English actresses, whom we have come to love, left us last year. We first met them in the hilarious comedy series, Are you Being Served. Molly Sugden, 87, the famous Mrs. Slocombe, and her assistant, Miss Brahms (Wendy Richards, 65) died within months of each other. Of course, the most famous British actress, who died as the result of a skiing accident in Canada, was Natasha Richards, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave. An actor, who many will associate with WWII films, Richard Todd, died aged 90 in December. His performances in Dam Busters and The Longest Day stand out most among his many roles.

There are several writers that come to mind. British writer John Mortimer (85), who gave us the incomparably, curmudgeonly lawyer, Rumpole at the Bailey, died in early 2009. The Irish-American Frank McCourt of Angela's Ashes fame, and for which he received a Pulitzer, was 78 when he died. Novelist and essayist, and also a Pulitzer Prize winner, John Updike, died at 76. New Yorker Marilyn French, whose fame came late with The Women's Room, died in May. Also, the writer of The Blue Max, a book turned into a film, Jack D. Hunter, died at age 87. Keith Waterhouse, the British playwright and novelist (Billy Liar), was 80 when he died in late summer. And we must not forget William Safire, whose fierce attempt to protect the English language gave this New York Times columnist the nick name of 'Word Warrior'. He died at the end of September 2009. And one more writer that left a strange impression on our minds was J.G. Ballard (78), the British writer whose book Crash became one of David Cronenberg's most attended films.

There are three Canadian writers whom we must remember here. Edith McCook, who died in Toronto at age 106, was a journalist who fought for women's rights long before the 1960s made it fashionable. She is of special importance to journalists. Barbara Moon died in Belleville, ON, aged 82. She was a writer and editor who belonged to the same generation of journalists as Pierre Berton, June Callwood, and Peter Gzowski among others. And lastly, we must report the untimely death of Derek Weiler at age 40 in Toronto. He championed Canadian literature at the Quill & Quire.

Dancers of fame also left us in 2009. The influential Merce Cunningham died at the ripe old age of 90. This dancer kept dancing and choreographing or guiding young dancers almost right up to his death. Pina Bausch, the German choreographer, was only 68 when she died in June of last year. Modern dance is all the poorer for the loss of both these artists.

Avant-garde composer Lucas Foss died a year ago this February at age 86, and conductor Erich Kunzel, who for years led the Cincinnati Pops, died in September at age 74. He frequently appeared with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra during holiday performances. And those, who love Jazz will mourn the loss of drummer Louie Bellson at age 84 from Parkinson's Disease.

There are many more whom we, no doubt, should have memorialized here, but the list is already long. May they all rest in peace.