Find out more about my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket
Both Jordan and I started photography with the same camera: an all-manual Pentax K1000. Both of us received this camera as a gift. Many decades later, he’s now shooting thousands of images for the shishalh Nation and has had multiple exhibits on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, including at the Museum and Archives. Want to find out…
As two-foot waves roll onto the sandy shoreline on quiet Landang Luar Beach in Lombok, Indonesia, I’m one of a dozen westerners huddling close to the water’s edge. It’s just before dusk. We’re not watching a floating clump of tourist surfers or wondering if nearby local fishermen, standing calf-deep in the shallows, will make a…
Find out how Tahltan artist and carver Levi (Mala) Purjue is reviving his Indigenous culture, using traditional Northwest Coast forms. Read my profile of this artist-in-residence at the Silver Moon Gallery in Gibsons, BC. My feature and photos appeared in the winter 2024 issue of Sunshine Coast Life magazine.
It was a pleasure to profile activist filmmaker Liz Marshall for the spring 2024 issue of Sunshine Coast Life magazine. As a director, she collaborated with three Indigenous multimedia creators — Kawaya7 Ecko Aleck of the Nlaka’pamux Nation (Lytton, BC), Kwamanchi Alfonso Salinas of the shíshálh Nation and Charlene SanJenko of Splatsin of the Secwépemc…
It was a delight to interview shíshálh cedar weaver Shyanne (“Shy”) Watters for Sunshine Coast Life magazine. Shy’s unique cedar hats range from a sasquatch version with long black hair to a red-dress-themed one honouring Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. Shy is perhaps best known for her culturally modified graduation cap whose pattern reflects ocean…
It was a treat to interview Andreas and Kendra Tize, owners of Secret Cove Marina in Halfmoon Bay, BC. I got to luxuriate, albeit briefly, in their 5,000-square-foot float home and discover the cozy seafood restaurant The Upper Deck. (I knew Andreas as the Roberts Creek rep for the Sunshine Coast Regional District.) Their marina…
Before xwu’p’a’lich Barbara Higgins was born in 1933, members of the shíshálh Nation were waiting for her to take on the role of Rememberer or Knowledge-keeper (her ancestral name means “she weaves”). Since then, she has voiced the importance of preserving Nature, her people’s land, language, and culture through her stories, poems, and activism….
I profiled and photographed Candace Campo, co-founder of Talaysay Tours and a shishalh Nation member, for the winter 2022 issue of Sunshine Coast Life Magazine. Each year, her First Nations ecotour company hosts visitors from around the globe, introducing them to Pacific Northwest Indigenous culture, history, ancestors, local flora and fauna, and the spiritual significance…
It was a delight to profile Jessica Silvey, who’s shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) with the ancestral name Kwahama Kwatleematt, and has been weaving cedar baskets, hats, and décor for more than 30 years. I profiled her, the owner of Red Cedar Woman studio, as the cover story for the winter 2021 issue of…
I am delighted to have worked as an editor on a new series of interpretive signs for the Community Health Trail on Mt. Elphinstone on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. As part of an initiative by Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF), the signs highlight the importance of old-growth forests and their flora and fauna. With himus (Calvin…
As my late husband Frank McElroy was dying at home through 2018-19, it was tough to write about my challenges as a caregiver. Although I couldn’t distance myself from the ongoing experience, I wanted to describe both my conflicting emotions and the overwhelming support and generosity of my local community. The result became the essay…
“The Making of Tetrahedron Park” (my 3,000-word feature, with photos): A group of dedicated volunteers lobbied hard to save 6,000 hectares on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, protecting old-growth forest and habitat for diverse species. This helped launch the conservation movement on the Sunshine Coast. In the summer and fall of 1987, 240 volunteers built four wilderness…
DOCUMENTARY (21.5 min.) A New Way: An Organic Garden Saves Lives written, directed, and produced by Heather Conn cinematographer and editor: Ivy Miller Story summary: A farmer, miner, and First Nations CEO create an organic demonstration garden using mined land, a “secret” ingredient, and a business/education model unique in Canada. 2013 RELEASE: A New Way:…
Dozens of concerned residents on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast have rallied to help save species-diverse forest in Wilson Creek. My news feature “Forest giants worth saving,” which outlined related community activities, appeared in The Local, a Sunshine Coast weekly, on Nov. 15, 2012. Click this Saving forest giants link to read the published article. * * * *…
While a contract writer for the Town of Gibsons, I worked with chief administrative officer Emmanuel Machado in 2012/13 to produce news and press releases in local media. Conservation issues were a key theme. My article “Gibsons moves to protect ‘world’s greatest water,’” which appeared in the Nov. 9, 2012 issue of the Coast Reporter,…
In the late 1980s, I served as publicist for an eco-tour hosted by the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment, based in Ipswich, MA. The Center retraced the steps of naturalist John James Audubon on the Quebec North Shore. I also took photographs and wrote about community-based educational projects to introduce children to Atlantic puffins….
Want to read a range of my articles that cover eco-related topics? Click on the magazine cover of your choice to read the enclosed feature. ENVIRONMENT Click here to access a comprehensive archive of decades of my magazine writing in a variety of topics (under construction)
From a proposed car co-op to protecting a watershed, the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s Draft Sustainability Plan provides an inclusive view of how to maintain the area’s tremendous quality of life. As part of a community-wide team of consultants, I worked as writer and editor on this valuable report, released in the spring of 2011….
I have written, edited, and consulted for Sustainability Television, an exciting environmental web portal in Vancouver, BC that creates and streams videos that promote sustainability. This Internet-based company strives to build online commmunities where like-minded people can connect to address issues from pesticide use to racism. I have also done web editing and communications consulting for the…
GREEN AT HEART I’m passionate about wildlife conservation, sustainability, and combating global warming. I support lifestyles and businesses that promote simplicity, natural and organic foods, and produce a small carbon footprint. I’m based in Vancouver, BC and the Sunshine Coast on Canada’s west coast. CHECK OUT MY BLOG Click here to read more environmental features,…
What does the new face of corporate social responsibility look like with green-minded organizations in British Columbia? Find out about the organic products, visionary leadership, and sustainability education of Vancouver’s Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company. Learn about the certified organic wines and conservation strategies of Kelowna’s Summerhill Pyramid Winery. Read about the B.C. Institute of Technology’s dedication to…
I wrote an eco-tour story for the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Sierra magazine on the bald eagles of Brackendale, B.C. (Sierra, the national publication of the Sierra Club in the U.S., has more than a million readers.) Click here to read my article. Brackendale has set the world record for the most bald eagles counted in a single…
Sierra Magazine, San Francisco, CA 2008 I spent four months working in the editorial department of Sierra magazine where I wrote news stories, web copy, and reviews as part of a requirement for my master’s degree in creative nonfiction writing. Sierra is the national publication of the Sierra Club and has more than one million readers….
ENVIRONMENTAL BOOKS Do you want to save the planet with small, daily steps? Try reading the books I reviewed for the HR Voice website: http://hrvoice.org/story.aspx?&storyid=4248&issueid=825 RECOMMENDED BOOKS Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken Fight Global Warming Now by Bill McKibben RECOMMENDED GREEN PUBLISHER New Society Publishers, carbon-neutral and…
Roberts Creek on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast is home to Canada’s first co-housing community. Based on a Danish model, this form of sustainable living offers detached homes in a wooded setting, a communal garden, kitchen/recreational space, and protected forest. Find out more in my feature, with photos: Roberts Creek: Canada’s first rural co-housing community (Western…
This article appeared in the May 2005 issue of Balanced Life magazine: BIRD-WATCHING: Find the essence BY HEATHER CONN If a stranger walked through your yard, peered at you through a window and made funny sounds to attract your attention, you’d likely call the police. Yet birds endure such attention every day. They’re the focus…
Frances Moore Lappé I interviewed the author of Diet for a Small Planet at the Women of Wisdom conference in Seattle, WA in 2003. She had recently published Hope’s Edge, co-written with her daughter Anna. Lappé’s dedication to ending world hunger and promoting sustainable agriculture and democracy world-wide is impressive. My article “Reclaiming control of our…
Toxic nail polish Did you know that most nail polishes contain the same material found in dynamite? For more information, read my article “Spiked!” from Alive magazine (April 2003).
Canada’s rare Kermode bear After joining a small group of eco-tourists on British Columbia’s Princess Royal Island, I was lucky enough to see and photograph the white Kermode bear in remote wilderness. Canada is the only nation in the world that’s home to this rare form of black bear, whose fur is white due to…