Find out more about my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket
Did you know that some residents of Churchill, Manitoba consider Thanadelthur, an early 1700s Chipewyan guide and peace negotiator, the founder of their town? That is one of the many fascinating historical facts I learned while writing profiles of accomplished Métis, Indigenous, and Inuit people for Canadian Encyclopedia. I discovered the many achievements of politicians…
Want to know what hospice has done on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast for the past 30 years? Come to an Oct. 5 event in Sechelt and see the video that I wrote, produced, and directed called “Legacy of Love: 30 Years of Compassionate Care on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, 1987 – 2017.” The seven-minute documentary…
Few people realize how much the Mafia shaped the economy of Havana for more than 30 years. While visiting Cuba’s capital in October-November 2016, I relished the chance to learn more about the country’s illegal past. My December 9, 2016 travel feature Havana Travel article 2016 (Coast Reporter) reveals some tidbits of…
Have you always wanted to write a family history but felt overwhelmed? Thought of writing a memoir but didn’t know how to start? Would you like to document the highlights of your organization’s past? I’ll be sharing both practical and inspirational tips — and how to avoid research pitfalls — in my new Vancouver School…
Most Canadians consider Sir John A. Macdonald, the nation’s first prime minister, as “the Father of Confederation.” But this crusty politician, an ancestor of mine on my mother’s side, might well be called “father of residential schools.” Want to learn how his policies launched aboriginal children into decades of forced assimilation and abuse? Read my opinion piece “Macdonald’s legacy not…
“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…
Escaping the 1942 detainment of Japanese in Vancouver, BC, Thomas Hara, QC and his family fled to Kamloops, where they lived in an abandoned log cabin without water. After enduring decades of discrimination, Hara graduated from law at the University of B.C. in the early 1960s and was the first Japanese-Canadian to open his own law practice…
Kwawkgewlth Chief Bill Wilson (UBC Law ’73) helped draft the first and only amendment to Canada’s Constitution and has fought for Aboriginal rights for decades. But he’s probably better known on the University of B.C.’s campus as co-founder of the law students’ annual tricycle race in the early 1970s. Since then, he’s inspired two daughters…
Before she became B.C.’s attorney general, Vancouver city councillor Suzanne Anton fondly recalls her father’s passion for law, which helped set a career choice for both her and her brother Jonathon. Suzanne’s son Robert, meanwhile, is enrolled in law at the University of B.C., calling the profession “a noble calling.” Click on this Suzanne Anton story link to…
I have written two history books Vancouver’s Glory Years (Whitecap Books 2003), co-written with Henry Ewert, and Vancouver’s Trolley Buses 1948-1998. Both feature never-before-published photographs and examine the sociocultural impact that public transit had in shaping Vancouver and the lives of its residents. Click here to read reviews and more info about Vancouver’s Glory Years….