Earlier this week the 2009 inductees to the Canadian Walk of Fame were announced. This year's inductees are Blue Rodeo, Raymond Burr, Kim Cattrall, Tom Cochrane, Dsquared2 (Dean & Dan Caten), Howie Mandel, Robert Munsch and Chantal Petitclerc.

Every time one of these "famous Canadians" type of announcements comes along there's generally one name on the list that surprises me because I didn't know that they were Canadian. For this years Walk of Fame announcement it was Raymond Burr. Perry Mason was Canadian??? (Yes, Burr passed away in 1993. His star is being awarded posthumously.) Then there's the inductees I've never heard of, this year being Dsquared2 (maybe if I watched more Canada's Next Top Model I'd know who they are?).

Then there are others that are so Canadian that I don't know if they could possibly be any more Canadian if they tried. That award in this group goes to, of course, Blue Rodeo. When AmyMahon was compiling her list of her favourite Canadian music this is what she had to say about Blue Rodeo.

They’re a perfect blend of country and rock and have proven themselves by standing the test of time (albeit with several member changes). The song that roped me in was Lost Together, but I stuck around because of Till I Am Myself Again.

Here's a performance of Blue Rodeo's "Til I Am Myself Again" from Ottawa Bluesfest 2007.

My favourite name on this years list has to be Robert Munsch. I love Robert Munsch. I love Munsch so much that I stayed in a bookstore full of very young children and their parents for four hours one Saturday in order to get a book signed. Honestly, I didn't know it would take that long. I seriously underestimated the power of Munsch that day - Mommy C has a similar experience with a Munsch appearance only she also got to interview him. What I just found out thank to the Quill and Quire blog is that Munsch is only the third author to get a star, the other two being Margaret Atwood and Pierre Burton. Robert Munsch suffered a stroke in 2008 and his current writing is on hold, though his publisher keeps assuring us that he has many stories already written. It doesn't appear that his stroke has changed his policy to read and respond the letters he receives. Sue's daughter recently got a response from a letter she sent him.

Today when I went to the mailbox, it was empty, however there was a parcel in between the front door and the screen door. It was addressed to Darcy with a return address of "Bob Munsch Enterprises". She ripped it open (ripping his response letter in the process, but we managed to salvage it). He sent her a very nice letter which was clearly personal to her. It talked about the article she sent and how he enjoyed it and was glad to have received it.

I've walked along Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. When I lived in Toronto I saw the pomp and circumstance first that happens around the inductees first hand when I lived there - the red carpets and television cameras on Toronto streets, being closer to Ben Mulroney than you ever wanted to be.... It seems like a whole lot of bruhaha for something that people are just going to walk on. Yet there's something about it. One on our last visits to Toronto we walked along the Walk of Fame every time we went from our hotel to the subway. When you are walking along it at night and your heels click the metal of the stars, it feels like maybe, just maybe, some of their shininess is rubbing off on you.

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.