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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
Liona's Life
Liona Boyd - Autobiography
In My Own Key - My Life in Love and Music
Hard Cover, 360 pages, 24 pages of color and b&w photos.
To read more information or to purchase please follow this link to Liona's on-line store.
Liona has recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto. For her convocation speech follow this link.
Click here for the story of Liona Boyd's first guitar.
POETRY OH GUITAR! Oh guitar!
female form that seized my senses
silver strings that claim my soul,
sing to the night of a thousand moons
and hold for ransom the gypsies muse. bathed in the perfumes of Granada,
brushed by the desert's dusty kiss,
with music whispered to the wind
seduce the new world's virgin heart. so like a lover take these hands
held hostage to the end of time,
pay homage to the poet's words
"La vida es sueno, pero suenos
suenos son." Liona Boyd | ¡OH GUITARRA! forma femenina que cautivó mis sentidos
cuerdas de plata que dominan mi alma
cántale a la noche de las mil lunas
y guarda como rehén a la musa gitana. bañada en los perfumes de Granada,
acariciada por el beso polvoriento del desierto,
con música susurrada al viento
seduce el corazón virginal del Nuevo Mundo. y como un amante toma estas manos
raptadas hasta el fin de los tiempos,
y rinde homenaje a las palabras del poeta
"La vida es sueño, y los sueños sueños son." Liona Boyd |
Along The Highway I see them by the roadside
as I travel along the highway
and I watch the cars whizz by
not looking nor even caring
about the wild creatures lying dead
at the edge of the road
the rabbit sprawled on the soft, hot tar
his fur drying clotted with blood
and the blue-jay his wings broken
his soft blue plumage stirring
as the trucks roar past
the butterflies smashed on hard car windows
and hurled broken and crumpled
into the ditch full of broken beer bottles
paper-cups and cigarette stumps
the highway so cruel
to the things of the forests
the small furry creatures
who live in the meadows
the wild things that don’t know the purpose or reason
for the highways and cars
that kill then forget them Liona Boyd
Aug 2, 1966 Death on a Morning Walk He was still breathing when I found him
in the middle of the road
cars swerved around me
two Mexican gardeners laughed
I gathered him into my mail-order straw hat
his small velvet body plump and pliable
his soft auburn tail flecked with amber
he was still warm when I ran through our garden
to set the hat on a concrete step
my teardrop made a dark stain
on his perfect little paw
I almost believed he was only dazed
any moment he would start with fright
and scamper down our ivy embankment
away from the road of cruel tires and careless drivers
but from his mouth seeped a thin line of blood
a berry red stain on pale straw
and suddenly his body felt cold
his pupils glazed like the scratched glass eyes
of my stuffed bears
I dug a hole and buried him
In the soft earth beneath our bottle brush tree. Liona Boyd
Oct 12, 1998
WRITINGS The Story of Moses
By: Liona Boyd
Until I wrote my autobiography, few people knew that my record company, Moston Records, was named after two teddy bears, Moses and Tonka, constant companions since childhood.
In the fifties in England on Christmas morning when I was four, a beautiful honey colored bear was sitting in a pale blue stroller next to my bed. Besides a sweet but wise-looking face Moses (or Mosey for short) had a feature that delighted me. When tipped backwards he would let out an affectionate “grrrr.” I adored this lovable stuffed animal and he became my best friend as my parents nomadic lifestyle took us three times by ocean liner between England and Canada. Mosey slept in the bed beside me, was privy to my make-believe stories and proved a willing listener to my childish poems. Whenever my mother cut my sister’s hair I trimmed Mosey’s fur, convinced that it would grow back just as my sister’s hair always did. Alas, my poor bear became pre-maturely bald, but I loved him just the same. Once, while camping with my parents by the seaside, a brush fire threatened our campsite and I was panicked at the thought of Mosey alone in the tent, but just as many years later in the Malibu fire, he was lucky, and both times I rescued him from the approaching flames. When we moved to Canada he rattled around our neighborhood in my bicycle basket and back again in England I sewed him a homemade school uniform like mine to “play school.” Unfortunately, his ability to “growl” had gone, and although I tried in vain to make him speak, he had lost his voice. Throughout my high school and university days Mosey received less and less of my attention but he sat on his own little chair guarding my bedroom and every Christmas was brought into the family living room to watch us open our presents. Then one day I took off to pursue my classical guitar studies in Paris, and for two years Mosey was left alone with nothing to do but meditate in silence. There were no more hugs, pats on the head or shared confidences. When I finally returned to Toronto in 1975, one of the first things I did was to give Moses a kiss. My mother had even placed a small French flag between his paws. To my utter astonishment he let out the “grrrr” that I hadn’t heard since childhood! I could scarcely believe it and hopefully tipped him backwards again. But it was not to be; that was the last time Mosey ever spoke. In my heart I knew that my faithful companion had performed a miracle. It was his way of thanking me for all the love he had received and his way of welcoming me back home.
FORTY QUESTIONS
Based on a televison interview and reprinted with kind permission from RedHead Productions 1- What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Playing the classical guitar. 2- What is your greatest fear?
Not to be able to play the classical guitar. 3- What living or dead person do you most admire?
Ludwig Von Beethoven for his genius at having composed the most inspiring music the world has known in spite of his crippling ailments, particularly his deafness. 4- What is the characteristic you most dislike in yourself?
That I’m not always very tidy and have been known to mess up a room so fast that you’d think a tornado had hit it. 5- What is the characteristic you most dislike in others?
Deceitfulness. 6- What are you excessive about in your life?
Travel and chocolate 7- What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Modesty. 8- When do you lie?
Not often but occasionally to protect my privacy. 9- Where would you like to live?
On an island beside an tropical ocean. 10- Which talent would you like most to have?
Well, I’d love to have a good voice and be a great tango dancer. 11- What is your favorite distraction? (how do you relax?)
Walking, bicycling and Yoga. 12- What challenges you the most?
Finding time each day to do all the things I want to do. 13- What gives you the most satisfaction?
Being creative. 14- What do you regard as the lowest depth of despair?
Losing someone you love. 15- What is your most obvious characteristic?
I’m a dreamer and a romantic. 16- When and where were you happiest?
When I first moved to California and fell in love. 17- What is your most treasured possession?
The teddy bear my parents gave me when I was 3.
Mosey still sits in my room and I named my record company after him. 18- What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Introducing classical guitar to millions of people around the world. 19- If you had to come back as a person or animal what would it be?
A beautiful white bird. 20- If the Gods decided for you, based on your karma, what do you think they’d have you come back as?
A Spanish gypsy or a wandering minstrel . 21- Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Isadora Duncan. 22- What is the top thing on your lifetime to do list?
Find my soul mate. 23- What makes you feel safe and secure?
My parents. 24- What award would you most like to receive and why?
Perhaps a Grammy Award 25- If you could have another career what would it be?
A great tenor or a flamenco player. 26- What profession would you hate to be in?
A vivisectionist torturing animals in laboratories. 27- What is your favorite word?
Amor, amore, l’amor, love 28- What are your favorite sounds?
classical guitar, a cat’s purr,
birdsong, a mountain stream, crickets, a symphony orchestra. 29- What is your favorite food?
Tropical fruits, every type known to man 30- What words do you live by? What is your motto?
The words of my English grammar school.
“Aim high” 31- What is it that you most dislike?
Cruelty 32- What is it that you most like?
Personal freedom. 33- What was your ambition?
To make beautiful music and see the world. 34- What do you look forward to when you go to work?
The intense concentration of a performance, then meeting my audience afterwards 35- What do you look forward to when you go home?
A nice cup of English tea. 36- Who or what influenced you to choose your profession?
My mother took me to a concert by a famous classical guitarist Julian Bream and at that moment I decided I wanted to make it my life. 37- Who is your hero living or dead and why?
How about a heroine? Frida Kalho for pursuing her passion for art and living a rich and fulfilling life in spite of terrible pain and a philandering husband. 38- What is your present state of mind?
A roller coaster of emotions but I do try to meditate! 39. What would you never do?
Cut my hair 40. What there a fork in road experience that changed your life direction? – explain.
My decision to study music instead of English literature at the university.
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