Whether he’s rocking out on stage, hidden away in his study pouring over his latest writing project, or talking tech with some of the biggest names in the industry, there’s rarely a dull moment in the life of County resident Jim Love.
Following a lengthy corporate career that saw him consulting for, and managing, half a dozen business and IT firms, as well as teach at the University of Waterloo and York University, Love retreated permanently to his home base in the Highlands a few years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was the best decision he ever made.
Though, like most who settle in the County for their golden years, Love found his life got busier the more he tried to scale back. Such is the natural beauty of the region, it’s easy – or easier – for those with a creative spirit to tap into their innermost thoughts and feelings to develop something beautiful.
For a lot of years, Love’s outlet was music. He’s spent his entire life songwriting, estimating he’s penned upwards of 1,000 tunes since finishing his first piece Box Nothing, Trans Canada Highway when he was 14.
Influenced by the likes of James Taylor, Bob Dylan, and John Prine, Love’s unique sound and style has earned him accolades from all corners. He’s most proud of the JUNO Award nomination for his work with Sphere Clown Band in the 1970s, while also plugging his work in musicals – with one watched by Queen Elizabeth during the Royals’ visit to Canada for the sesquicentennial celebrations in 2017.
His writing has taken on a new form recently. After decades of penning bland business books he admits people either never read, or wished they hadn’t, Love dabbled with fiction for the first time over the holidays.
A gift for his wife, Linda, the 228-page novel Elisa: A Tale of Quantum Kisses is riddled with themes and callbacks from Love’s career. Set in an ever-evolving world, the book explores artificial intelligence and quantum computing, with a sprinkling of love.
“It’s very much rooted in technology… I started to imagine what would happen if you created a quantum person, an entity with all the benefits of AI beset with human emotion,” Love said. “In the book, it’s just too much. The AIs go crazy because they can’t tolerate or comprehend what’s happening, until Elisa comes along and then the story really begins.”
With public interest in quantum theory spiking after the Marvel Cinematic Universe used the topic as a basis for a series of films from 2015 on, Love is hoping to tap into that. A Marvel fan himself, he insists Elisa is a much more realistic take, more science-based than fantasy.
“Everything I’ve got in there could be ripped from headlines two years from now,” he said. “I’ve been doing tech for about 40 years. I wanted it to be plausible, something people with a mind for the business and knowledge about it could look at and appreciate. Think more Neil deGrasse than Stan Lee.”
The book was released on Amazon in December, selling approximately one copy per day – putting Love in the top 10 per cent of self-published authors. He’s hoping to have paperback copies available locally soon.
On the air
A long-time volunteer with CanoeFM, assisting on various projects over the years, including writing and directing the on-air feature Iron River in 2015, Love has leaned into his passion for radio over the past 12 months.
He now produces two daily podcasts – Hashtag Trending and Cyber Security Today. He averages around 10,000 listeners across the two.
“I started them with IT World Canada, and when they went under, I kept them. So, I’ve been doing them myself for about a year,” Love said.
“The audience has grown a lot. We pre-record them and they usually go live each morning around 2 a.m. They’re picked up by Apple podcasts and go out on YouTube as well.
“The one on securities is more specialized and technical, it’s one of the top security podcasts available. The other is more general, I can have some fun with it, talk about things that are trending, technological breakthroughs, things people would like to see,” he added.
Some of his most prominent guests include Jim Balsillie, former chair and co-CEO of Blackberry, and Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, chief information officer of NATO.
Love said he hopes to continue growing the podcasts, which are both recorded in Haliburton County.
“We’re gaining traction, getting really cool names, good guests… the podcasts are really becoming wellknown around Canada, I’d like to expand that to the rest of North America and maybe try to break into other areas too,” Love said. “And I do it all from my home office in Haliburton. It’s amazing what you can do with technology these days.”
To learn more, visit podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ hashtag-trending, or listennotes.com/podcasts/ cybersecurity-today-jim-love.
