As It Happens, a long running CBC Radio series, used to feature the occasional short story reading by host Alan Maitland. In fact we reviewed one of the collections, Scary Stories with Alan Maitland |READ OUR REVIEW| back in 2005. Using the pseudonyms “Front Porch Al”, “Fireside Al” and “Graveside Al” Maitland would read classic stories of humor and drama. A recent CBC podcast episode of Rewind, hosted by Michael Enright, features three “Front Porch Al” readings. First up is The Great Election in Missinaba County a “tale of an election in the imaginary county of Missinaba, in the Dominion of Canada, as viewed by the twinkling eye of Stephen Leacock.” Following that Maitland reads a fantastically humorous story, Tobermory by Saki, which is about a talking cat with some very unpopular opinions. Lastly, there’s A Service Of Love by O. Henry, which of course features a surprise ending.

The Great Election in Missinaba County, Tobermory, and A Service Of Love
By Stephen Leacock, Saki and O. Henry; Read by Alan Maitland
1 |MP3| – Approx. 53 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Podcaster: Rewind
Podcast: July 28, 2011
“It’s summer and the days are lazy and long, perfect for sitting on the front porch, sipping some lemonade and listening to a story. And if you don’t have the front porch and the lemonade, well at least we have the story for you. A couple, actually. They’re from my old friend Al Maitland, also known as Front Porch Al.”

Podcast feed: http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/rewind.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. Speaking of Als. I guess Apocalypse Al will never be featured on Rewind, at least not until he is actually freed from CBC prison.