Modern-day Gulliver presents video of travels

“It was quite an interesting voyage,” Baker said this week. “Lilliput was absolutely delightful. The people are so tiny — no more than six inches tall — but they are gracious and welcoming. You can be sure we got a much warmer welcome than Lemuel Gulliver did!”

Baker will be presenting an illustrated account of his Swiftian adventure later this month at the Westmount Public Library. His presentation will include video footage he shot of the Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians. “It was a bit intimidating when we first arrived in Brobdingnag, as the people are so tall,” Baker recalled. “But I must admit that I was also a bit disappointed — I was expecting them to be quite a bit taller. When I mentioned this, one of them reminded me that people on the island had indeed shrunk a bit since Swift’s day.”

Both islands are currently promoting their respective tourist industries, and luxury hotels are popping up everywhere, Baker noted. “The beach at Lilliput where Gulliver was staked to the ground is a major tourist attraction, and although Brobdingnag is no longer a monarchy, the royal palace at Lorbrulgrud, where Gulliver was presented to the King and Queen, is preserved as a national historic site.”

But Baker also worries that increased tourism could lead to an inflated market, where crowds of impoverished natives would be elbowing each other to sell cheaply made trinkets to unsuspecting tourists — a very dangerous situation for all concerned. “And I shudder to think of how prostitution with tourists might work in either place,” he added. • Stanley Baker presents ‘Retracing Gulliver’s Travels’ on April 31 at 7 p.m. in the Westmount Public Library, 4574 Sherbrooke St. W. Admission is $75 at the door.