About

In between pretending to be retired and being stunned by family life, Mr. Darwin writes a blog and meddles in community planning initiatives. In fact, he is so busy he gave up shaving twenty years ago, and sports a gray beard, mercifully cut rather short.

Eric Darwin is the founder of Cielo Print Inc. He was in the printing business in Ottawa for twenty-one years. Eric is a Maritimer who, after four years incarceration, graduated from Carleton University with a B.A.Honours Degree. Being a slow learner, it took him another two years before he left school, by which time he accumulated an M.A.as well. In Geography. This was followed by a brief stint in language school at the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières where he successfully demonstrated how difficult it is for some people to learn Canada’s other official language.

Undeterred by not having any economics courses beyond Eco 101, the civil service hired him as an economist. He was employed for nearly ten years at Transport Canada, mostly doing strategic planning and writing policy advice.

He married Frances Dubois, a mathematician, perhaps in compensation for his own innumeracy. In ‘86, overcome by entrepreneurial spirit, he opened his own business, a print and copy shop in Ottawa. Eric’s little centre grew and grew until it had 25 employees and millions of dollars of annual revenue (and expenses to match).

The family likes to travel, and the list of places explored includes South America (Peru, paddling in the Amazon); Mexico; numerous lengthy road & rail trips through Europe (see 2001 Travelogue PDF); exploring the western half of North America; and ocean kayaking from inn to inn down the south coast of Crete (see 2004 Travelogue PDF). In ‘06, he and his family spent three weeks touring the Normandy battlefields then biked and barged along the Loire River (see 2006 Travelogue PDF). More recent trips include Montana, California, and Hawaii.

Eric and his family live in downtown Ottawa, where he walks everywhere and fills up his time biking, walking (always in circles, ending up where he started), renovating and restoring his century home, and gardening.

Should you wish to contact him, you can email him at EricDarwin1@gmail.com.

You can follow his rantings and ravings at www.WestSideAction.wordpress.com.