Find out more about my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket
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,…