Two features reveal Vancouver’s early history
I researched and wrote two historical articles for The Greater Vancouver Book edited by Chuck Davis and published in 1997:
Early Coastal Explorers to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest
Similar Posts
Life in a fishbowl: How has tourism affected Peggy’s Cove?
While in my twenties, I conducted an oral history study in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia on Canada’s east coast. With fewer than 100 residents, this archetypal fishing village receives tens of thousands of visitors each year. I loved meeting the lobster fishermen, shopkeepers, and community members in this tourist haven. Each views the impact of…
Cancel culture: Consider a case-by-case response
The following is my final post in a three-part series addressing the sexual assault of Alice Munro’s daughter by her stepfather. Alice Munro’s daughter Andrea Robin Skinner has said that she does not want her public revelations regarding sexual abuse by her stepfather Gerald Fremlin to destroy her mother’s legacy. Instead, she would like her…
Discover what Kashmir under curfew felt like in 1990
Rocket launchers blast through a night sky as clashing rebel groups exchange fire in India’s contentious Kashmir region. My then-partner and I huddle on the bow of a cozy houseboat on Dal Lake. Find out what it was like to be there under curfew in my travel essay Two Realities. It appears in the debut…
Watters’ culturally modified grad cap in permanent NYC museum display
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…
Havana weeks before Fidel died: Mafia history still looms
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…
Jessica Silvey weaves the legacy of ancestors in cedar
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…