We are communication advisors, instructors, speaker series producers, travel hosts - and writers.

We do these things under four names. All of them will help you think differently – about the stories you want to tell, the ideas you need to hear, and the places you long to explore.

“No country for old men.”

Yeats was referring to Ireland when he began Sailing to Byzantium with that line in 1933, and the Coen Brothers used it as the title for their 2007 Western about an old sheriff trying to make sense of a brutal and ambiguous world. Last week, of course, its meaning had changed again, to “Joe Biden.” This week it means something else entirely, “Donald Trump.” We blame old men with money and power for not handing them back when asked nicely. As a result, many don’t. Most don’t. So when an old man with more power than anyone else on earth decides his time has come, the speed and scope of change can be head-spinning. In the space of two days, Donald Trump is now the halting old man. A convicted felon also found guilty of sexual assault in a separate case, he will now face an opponent who has put dozens of men like him in jail. A …younger…. Black…woman. Can there be a worse nightmare? Read on...

“Adventure is not in the guidebook.”

Jean and I went on an adventure this week, kayaking off the coast of Maine, which meant my Saturday blog didn’t get done, but my brain got restored. I’ll be back in the satellite again next week, so you can expect your Omnium-Gatherum on Saturday as always, or nearly so.

“I’m thankful to the people who made my life miserable”

Katalin Karikó said that when she won a Gairdner Award in 2022 for co-discovering the foundations of mRNA vaccines, which have saved millions and maybe even billions of us from dying of COVID. On the bell curve of grit and redemption, it’s hard to find a more exemplary case than the Hungarian immigrant woman who was treated shabbily for years by her employer, the University of Pennsylvania, and last year ended up winning The Nobel Prize. The search for new truths in science is possibly the hardest search of all, because the bar of evidence is so high. Read on...

Death-Defying Denial

I had a bad stammer as a teen. And to this day, whenever I’m around a person who has a stammer, I start to stammer a little myself. So when I saw Joe Biden acting his age in the debate last week, I started to feel very old. My mouth wasn’t agape, but I’m almost sure my voice grew hoarse the next day, my gait slowed, and my memory skipped a beat, as did my heart. Maybe I was just depressed for the future and angry at how Biden’s staff and family had hidden his condition so well. Watching how Trump and Biden left their podiums after the debate told the whole sorry tale. Most of us believed that White House aides are constantly assessing the President’s fitness to serve and preparing multiple scenarios for his running in November depending on his strength or frailty. In fact, this assumption is so universal that, like breathing, no one would even think to raise their hand and ask if it was true. But after the debate, The New York Times did ask just that. Then Dan Gardner compared the stupidity of pitting Biden against Trump in an open debate to that of the planners of the Bay of Pigs invasion back in 1961. It called for CIA-trained soldiers to land on the Cuban coastline, make their way inland and overwhelm Fidel Castro’s regime. Read on...

RamsayTalks

Tanya Talaga

Date: Monday, September 23, 2024 The Knowing stands Canada’s past on its head and reshapes it in a way only Tanya Talaga can. The famed Anishinaabe journalist and Massey Lecturer reveals how all-embracing our mistreatment of our founding people was, and offers a way forward to real reconciliation. Big new ideas are rarely comfortable, and The Knowing is the big new book of the year. So it deserves a big hall to hear what’s vital to us all.

RamsayWrites

Love or Die Trying

“People who read my memoir tend to stay up all night. Who knew it was a page-turner?”

The four things we do for you

RamsayWrites

Bob Ramsay is first and foremost a writer.

For years he has written CEO speeches, annual reports, marketing materials and ad campaigns for some of Canada’s most consequential organizations.

He is also an opinion writer — with strong views on everything from the arts, to diversity on boards, to the meaning of exploration.

And yes, he’s an author of the memoir, Love or Die Trying.

Here is his portfolio.

RamsayTalks

In a world awash in pundits, RamsayTalks presents global experts who are articulate and ground-breaking, often controversial and new to town.

RamsayTalks have been held in Toronto for 37 years, first as luncheons at the Four Seasons and expanding into bigger venues like Roy Thomson Hall and now online.

We also help organizations produce their own speaker events and series, under their own name, on themes of their choice.

Upcoming RamsayTalks, click here.

If you’d like to sponsor a RamsayTalk, email alex@ramsayinc.com.

If you’d like to talk about your own speaker series, just email bob@ramsayinc.com

To view past RamsayTalks, click here.

RamsayTrains

We train you and your people how to write and speak with more bite and oomph.

If your words can’t persuade someone to do something or think something, they’re not working for you.

So we offer a range of online courses, from Better Business Writing and Presenting Well to Pitching to Win, for groups ranging from 2 to 12 participants. We also do one-on-one training to address your specific writing and presentation needs.

Click here for more information.

RamsayTravels

RamsayTravels organizes group trips for people who don’t do group travel.

Like heli-hiking in the Rockies, city-snooping in America, gorilla-tracking in Rwanda, or opera-loving in Russia and Finland.

All RamsayTrips have high energy, insider access, great guides, expert speakers, fine food and wine—and engaging fellow travelers.

Click here to learn more about our upcoming trips in 2024 to sailing the Italian coast and voyaging the Great Bear Rainforest.

“People who read my memoir tend to stay up all night. Who knew it was a page-turner?”

Bob Ramsay

Love or Die Trying

How I Lost It All, Died, and Came Back for Love
By Bob Ramsay

A ruthlessly honest memoir of love, loss, and redemption

Wade Davis

Love or Die Trying

How I Lost It All, Died, and Came Back for Love
By Bob Ramsay

A ruthlessly honest memoir of love, loss, and redemption

Wade Davis

We are communication advisors, instructors, speaker series producers, travel hosts - and writers.

“No country for old men.”

“Adventure is not in the guidebook.”

“I’m thankful to the people who made my life miserable”

Death-Defying Denial

Tanya Talaga

Love or Die Trying

The four things we do for you

RamsayWrites

RamsayTalks

RamsayTrains

RamsayTravels

Love or Die Trying

A ruthlessly honest memoir of love, loss, and redemption

Love or Die Trying

A ruthlessly honest memoir of love, loss, and redemption

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RamsayWrites

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