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Luanne Armstrong
Author of The Colour of Water
In the small community of Boswell BC, Luanne Armstrong farms land shared
with her parents and siblings. She has worked as a feminist researcher,
a freelance journalist and a writing instructor. She teaches Creative
Writing at the College of the Rockies.
Peter Austen
Author of Everest Canada
Peter Austen, originally from England, has lived in Canada now for
more than twenty years. He has a Ph.d in Motivational / business management.
However, he lives and breathes mountain climbing, having climbed in
almost every country in the world from Austria to China where he led
a team to tackle the highest peak in the world-Everest. Everest Canada
is the story of that heart-breaking climb.
Jacqueline Baldwin
Author of Threadbare Like Lace and A Northern Woman
Born in New Zealand, Baldwin immigrated to Canada at the age of 22,
and travelled extensively until she began an organic farm in Steelhead,
near Vancouver. Years later, Jackie raised her three children on a farm
in Loos, in the Robson Valley. She can now be found enjoying her garden
'Studio Dacha' in Prince George, BC.
Kathy Bedard
Illustrator of Little Lake Saga
Kathy Bedard is originally from Vancouver Island. She now lives in
Burns Lake, but she has lived in Calgary and has been painting, mostly
water colours, since 1974. Her work has won many awards.
Ken Belford
Author of Pathways into the Mountains and contributor to Four
Realities
Ken Belford was born to a farming family in Debolt, Alberta and grew
up in East Vancouver. He was one of Talon book's first writers, publishing
Fire Weed in 1967. In the late sixties he moved to Smithers,
BC where he homesteaded with his wife Alice Williams. He now operates
a guiding/outfitting business that specializes in wilderness excursions
based at Blackwater Lake in the Nass watershed.
Jack Boudreau
Author of five best sellers—Sternwheelers and Canyon Cats,Crazy
Man's Creek, Grizzly Bear Mountain and Wilderness Dreams
Born in the small community of Penny, BC, Jack has devoted his professional
life to British Columbia's forest industry working as a licensed scaler,
industrial first-aid attendant and forest fire fighter mostly with the
ministry of forests.
From early childhood he has taken an interest in the outside world.
His personal life includes mountain-climbing, fishing and skiing. Jack
also enjoys reading scientific research, and his interest lies chiefly
in the study of grizzly bears and wild flowers.
Rob Budde
Author of Finding Ft. George
Rob Budde teaches Creative Writing and Critical Theory at the University of Northern BC in Prince George. He has previously published five books (two poetry collections—Catch as Catch and traffick, two novels—Misshapen and The Dying Poem, and most recently short fiction—Flicker). In 2002, Rob facilitated a collection of interviews, In Muddy Water: Conversations with 11 Poets.
Lily Chow
Author of Sojourners in the North and Chasing Their Dreams
Lily Chow was born in Malaysia, but has lived in Canada since the mid-sixties.
She has taught in the Prince George School District and at the University
of Northern British Columbia. She now devotes her time to researching
and writing. Her previous book, Sojourners in the North, won
the Jeanne Clarke history award and is used in many colleges and universities
as a reference text.
Ken Coates
Co-author of Traveller's Guide to Northern British Columbia
Ken Coates is a well known C canadian historian, specializing in the
history of the Yukon and Northern Canada in general. While he was Vice
President at the University of Northern British Columbia, he had the
opportunity to travel throughout northern BC. A Traveller's Guide
to Northern British Columbia is the result of these travels.It is
co-authored by his wife Carin Holroyd, a university Researcher.
Marita Dachsel
Author of All Things Said & Done
Marita Dachsel was born and raised in Williams Lake, BC, and has lived in Kamloops,
Dawson City, Auckland and Montpellier, France. She has an MFA
in creative writing from UBC and has been published widely in Canadian
literary journals. She currently lives in Vancouver.
Twila Deinard
Illustrator of A Horse of His Own and Friends From
the Sea
Twila ranches near Williams Lake, BC with husband Steve and their three
children. Born at Big Lake, she returned to the ranch in 1982. She is
often found operating a haybaler and other heavy equipment, but finds
time between ranching chores to work with pen and brush. More recently,
she broadened the scope of her art work to design and market children's
greeting cards.
Ben Dlin
Author of Country Doctor - A Memoir
Ben Dlin, author of Country Doctor - A Memoir, born of European
Jewish refugees, has led an unusual life. His was the only Jewish family
in the town of Bruderheim in northern Alberta. An indifferent student
with an attitude problem in high school, he became a leading psychiatrist
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He now splits his time between Pender
Harbour BC and Philadelphia.
Effie Fahey
Author of Patience of Dearing Bay
Effie Fahey was raised by her grandparents in Wing's Point, one of
Newfoundlands outports. She now lives with her family - on Canada's
opposite coast - in Victoria, British Columbia.
Cynthia J. Faryon
Author of Sisters Torn
After the death of her father, Cynthia J. Faryon found relief and
comfort in her personal writings. Wishing to document the interesting
lives of her parents, she started to consider writing as a career after
the publishing of her first article "Silent Hero," in November
of 1999.
She presently writes travel reviews for a tourist website and is active
in both The Federation of Foster Parents and The BC Writers Federation.
Earle Frood
Author of The Wabasca Adventure
Earle Frood , now in his nineties and living in Nanaimo BC, grew up
in Northern Alberta. His book, Wabasca Adventure, is a fictionalized
account of one of his more dangerous adventures as a young adult.
John Grain
Author of Flylines & Fishtales
John Grain has been an avid outdoorsman since growing up on Saltspring
Island in the 1960s. He has been a BC public school teacher since 1976
and is active with the BC Teachers Federation and the BC College of
Teachers. He was also a fishing guide and taught the C.O.R.E hunting
program. A few times each year John and his wife Kirsti still make the
trek to Glimpse Lake to enjoy the fishing and to chuckle or shed a tear
over those magical memories from so long ago.
The Ghostwriter
Author of The Adventures of Grey-Dawn
"The Ghostwriter," born in the Haida Gwaii realm, was
raised by his grandparents—on Haida Gwaii, not far from the Golden
Spruce—until he was six years old. His dad was a Native American,
born in Ohio, and died when the author was just two years old. His mom
was a Métis who was born in Cowley, Alberta and died when he
was forty-six.
A few words from the author: "I walked the path of a renegade for
many years, until 1980 when I met my wife in, of all places, the Yukon.
I had a Harley and two suitcases, heading nowhere. For the last twenty-one
years we have both lived, laughed, cried, loved and learned together.
I tell the stories and she is my trusty scribe. Together, The Adventures
of Grey-Dawn was born."
Heather Harris
Author of Rainbow Dancer
Heather Harris is a professor in Native Studies at the University of
Northern British Columbia. Never one to be idle, she creates clothing
and jewelry in the Northwest coast style. As well she and her daughters
dance with the Rainbow Dancers. She says, " I'm not happy unless
I'm busy...if I don't create something every day, it is not a happy
day."
Rose Hertel-Falkenhagen
Author of Wilderness Beginnings
Born and raised in Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island, Rose has lived
in Canada, Germany and is now a resident of California. Her sense of
adventure and travel reflect the spirit of her pioneering parents, Paul
and Grete Hertel.
Sterling Haynes
Author of Bloody Practice
Raised in Alberta, Sterling Haynes received his medical degree from
the University of Alberta. He served as a Colonial Officer in Nigeria,
practised medicine in the Cariboo, Alberta and Alabama. Now retired,
he lives in Westbank and travels extensively in Central America. His
articles and poetry have been published in journals including The Canadian
Journal of Rural Medicone and the Harvard Alumini Review.
Rex Holmes
Author of The Spruces
Rex Holmes and his wife live in Osoyoos British Columbia. He is retired
but has homesteaded, worked in the Army Signal Corps and then with BC
Telephone. He says, "If I had it all to do over again, I would
go with joy back to the homestead and stay there forever." He is
author of one other book, The Last Summer, now out of print.
Matt Hughes
Co-author of Breaking Trail
Matt Hughes was Len Marchand's speechwriter and co communications aide
during his term as Minister of State for Small Business and Minister
of the Environment. Hughes is the author of two published novels and
a number of short stories, but his main occupation for the past twenty
years has been as a writer for hire, specializing in freelance corporate
and political speechwriting, annual reports and ghostwritten newspaper
articles for a wide range of clients in business and politics.
Paul Jones
Author of Pembina Country
Paul Jones lives in Vernon, BC and is active in the arts and sports
scene there. He has produced several award-winning paintings as well
as writing poetry and short stories. Pembina Country is his first
full-length book.
Betty Keller
Author of Better the Devil You Know and co-author
of Forests, Power & Policy: The Legacy of Ray Williston
Betty Keller, author, playwright, and editor, lives on the beautiful
Sunshine Coast in BC. An instrumental figure in the organization of
the Festival of the Written Arts in Sechelt, BC, she also found the
time to collaborate on and edit Eileen Williston's biography of her
husband Ray Williston, Forest, Power, & Policy, one of the
most influential politicians in BC during the 1950s and 60s.
Dan Kishkan
Author of Porcupines, Politicians and Plato
Dan is a popular columnist with the Cariboo Observer. He lives
with his wife Linda in Nazko, a small community 75 miles west of Quesnel
and 75 miles south of Prince George, on the northern fringe of the historic
BC Cariboo.
Judith Lapadat
Author of Mixed Messages
Raised in Smithers, Judith Lapadat has lived in Saskatoon and in Vancouver.
She now lives with her two children in Prince George where she teaches
at the University of Northern Britihs Columbia. As well as a scholar
and a poet, she is an accomplished painter.
Suzanne LeBlanc
Author of Cassiar, A Jewel in the Wilderness
Suzanne was born in the Gaspe[accent over Gaspe] region of Quebec and
was raised in Montreal. She has also lived in Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Having lived in Prince George since 1995, she is an instructor at the
University of Northern British Columbia.
Mary Lawrence
Author of My People, Myself
Born on the sprawling Vernon Indian Reserve at the head of Okanagan
Lake, Mary is plucked from her friendly carefree environment and placed
in a cold, regimented residential school. Later she and her siblings
are taken from her dysfuntional but loving family and placed in a series
of dysfuntional and not-so-loving foster homes. It is a recipie for
disaster, affecting her life for the next twenty-odd years.
Eldon Lee
Co-author of From California to North 52°
Eldon has been a rancher, fighter pilot, and doctor. Now retired, he
is delighted to study classical Latin and Greek, as well as to pilot
ultralight planes.
Todd Lee
Author of A Horse of His Own, Friends From the Sea, He Saw With Other
Eyes and co-author of From California to North 52°
Todd Lee grew up on a Cariboo cattle ranch from which comes the inspiration
for many of his children's stories. In his life, he was a minister,
probation officer and human rights advocate.
Vivien Lougheed
Author of Forbidden Mountains
Vivien Lougheed is a travel writer and author of several other books,
including Central America by Chicken Bus. She is a passionate
traveller and loves nothing better than adversities which would make
you and I vow never to leave the comfort of our living rooms again--where,
of course, we'd read of her daring adventures.
June Lunny
Author of Spirit of the Yukon
June Cruickshank Lunny was born in Edmonton. She is a graduate of the
University of British Columbia, and an honours graduate from the British
Columbia Provincial Normal School. She is married, and is the mother
of four sons.
Ian MacDonald
Co-Author of Disaster on Mount Slesse
Ian MacDonald is a journalist in Vancouver. He has collaborated on
ten popular history books with Betty O'Keefe including The Mulligan
Affair: Top Cop on the Take and The Final Voyage of the Princess
Sophia.
Eva Maclean
Author of The Far Land
Eva MacLean left her settled, Presbyterian Ontario life behind in 1911to
follow her young minister/veterinarian husband to the 'wilds' of northwestern
British Columbia (Hazelton). It was during the days of the mining rush
and railroad building boom in the early years of this country. Her book
The Far Land, originally written as a family history, is now part of
BC history.
Len Marchand
Author of Breaking Trail
Born during the depths of the Great Depression to illiterate parents
on a reserve in the then remote Okanagan Valley of BC, Len pursued education
with single-minded determination. His love of learning earned him a
Masters Degree in Forestry and he was on his way to a Ph.D and a satisfying
career as a teacher and a research scientist. But a growing involvement
in the North American Indian Brotherhood's fight for full citizenship
for his people led into what should have been merely a two-year side-trip
into politics. The NAIB prevailed on him to go to Ottawa as the first
status Indian special assistant to federal minister responsible for
Indian Affairsa temporary job that segued into more than three decades
in public life.
Barry McKinnon
Author of The Centre, Pulp Log
and contributor to Four Realities
Barry McKinnon was born in Calgary, Alberta. He received his BA from
Sir George Williams University, where he studied with Irving Layton,
and his MA from the University of British Columbia. He currently is
an English instructor at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George,
BC. He has been widely published. The Centre. was short-listed
for the Governor Generals Award for poetry and Pulp Log won the
Dorothy Livesay Prize (BC Book Awards) for 1991.
Margaret McKirdy
Author of The Colour of Gold
Active in Valemount, Margaret McKirdy has written for the local newspaper
and has played an active part in writers groups. Out of personal interest,
she researched the local history and discovered letters regardin
Eleanor Millard
Author of River Child
Rasied in Quesnel, BC, Elanor Millard moved to the Yukon where she
has worked extensively with First Nations people, first as a social
worker, a teacher and then as a member of the Legislative Assembly.
She now works as a consultant based in Carcross, Yukon.
g the death of Alex MacCauly. She was intrigued and began research,
and subsequently completed The Colour of Gold.
Nelson Miller
Author of Little Lake Saga
Nelson Miller was born in Quebec but has lived in many places in Canada,
as well as overseas. Life, he says, is the best education. His interest
in the natural world comes from living in Ft. St. James, a small town
in Central British Columbia.
Barbara Munk
Author of Your Good Hat and contributor to Four
Realities
Barbara Munk was born in Prince George, BC and raised in Quesnel, BC.
Her maternal grandparents were the Hubles, a pioneering family in the
Prince George area. Munk grew up with the CBC and read everything she
could get her hand s on. She wrote secretly, hiding what she wrote.
She credits Barry McKinnon and George Stanley for encouraging her to
get her work into print.
G. Stewart Nash
Author of The Last Three Hundred Miles
Schooled in Preston, Idaho then Twin Bridges, Montana, G. Stewart Nash
started surveying at age 17; he then became a licensed surveyor at the
age of 30. After trying his hand at sales, services for realtors and
micro computers, he kept coming back to what he knew best—surveying.
He is still in the profession today.
Stewart now resides in Montana with his wife Sandy. He enjoys fishing,
hunting, archery, gold panning and travelling.
Tim O'Byrne
Author of Cowboys and Dog Tales
Raised as an "army brat", Tim finished high school in Alberta.
He then spent 16 years as a cowboy working on the big ranches in Alberta,
British Columbia and the western United States. He now lives in Las
Vegas, Nevada with his wife Chris and their son Mark.
Betty O'Keefe
Co-Author of Disaster on Mount Slesse
Betty O'Keefe is a journalist in Vancouver. She has collaborated on
ten popular history books with Ian MacDonald including The Mulligan
Affair: Top Cop on the Take and The Final Voyage of the Princess
Sophia.
Gary Pearson
Author of The Creative Voice
Born in Saskatchewan, Gary Pearson has earned a Masters Degree from
the University of Saskatchewan and is currently a professor with the
Fine Arts Department of Okanagan University College. He is an artist
in his own right and he has received many grants and awards. He has
had solo and group exhibitions throughout Canada, Europe, USA and Australia.
Don Precosky
Editor of Four Realities
Don Precosky is presently the Dean of Arts and Social Services at the
College of New Caledonia in Prince George. He is a nationally recognized
literary critic and has written many articles for such journals as
Canadian Literature in Review, Canadian Poetry, and the Web
Journal of Contemporary Canadian Poetry and Poetics. He edited and
wrote the introduction to Four Realities, an anthology of four
northern writers-Barry McKinnion, Barbara Munk, Ken Belford, and George
Stanley.
Doris Ray
Author
of The Ghosts Behind Him
Doris Ray, a mother of four and a grandmother of five, lives in Fraser
Lake in west-central British Columbia where she writes a column for
the local newspaper. She is an active member in the Historical Society,
the Writing Group and Library Board. She has published articles on mental
health, travel and local history. She has published two chapbooks of
poetry.
Murdoch Robertson
Author of A Touch of Murder Now & Then
Murdoch Robertson practised law in rural BC for almost 50 years. In
his spare time, he can be found fly-fishing and perfecting the skill
of making wine using birch sap base. Murdoch is the father of two and
lives with his wife of fifty years in Terrace BC.
Bal Sethi
Author of Curtained Windows Lighted Rooms
Bal Sethi was born, raised and educated in India. He lived most of
his life in the hills of the Himalayan mountain range. Love of nature
became ingrained ingrained in him starting in his childhood.
After finishing post-secondary school in India and receiving his MA
in English, Bal became the vice-principal (and later on acting principal)
as well as head of the English department in a community college in
India. He then worked as a real estate agent. He is now retired and
focuses his time on his family and writing.
Roy Sinclair
Author of Paper Trees
Roy Sinclair now lives in Grasmere in the Kootenay region of British
Columbia but grew up in the small but amazing community of Penny, BC.
He has been, in his words, "bossing a logging crew for most of
45 years."
Gord Smedley
Author of Orcas Calling
A former newspaper editor and publisher, Gord Smedley earned a Journalistic
Principles scholarship to Vancouver College (Langara), an Excellence
in Outdoor Writing award from the BC & Yukon Community Newspaper Association,
and an Honourable Mention at the BC Law Society awards in 1989. He now
makes his living as a freelance writer and has written many newspaper
articles including a feature interview with Noam Chomsky and a five-part
series on spousal assault. Smedley also enjoys reading, fishing, cooking
and politics.
Dave Speck
Editor of North Coast Collected
Dave Speck lives in Sidney BC. A retired English teacher, he was one
of the three major participants in the reformation of Caitlin Press
after it moved to Prince George in 1991. As well as serving as chief
editor and reader, he compiled and edited North Coast Collected,
an anthology of the best writing from the NorthWest of BC.
Peter Steele
Author of Atlin's Gold
The author of several other books, Steele has received several international
awards for his book on Arctic explorations. Peter Steele and his family
have lived in Whitehorse since 1975. A British-born and trained plastic
surgeon and opthamologist, Steele has lived, travelled and worked throughout
the world, including such places as Bhutan, the Sahara and Katmandu.
He was chief medical officer of the Grenfell Medical Service in Labrador.
He served as team doctor to the international 1971 Everest expedition.
Bruce Strachan
Author of Hazardous Pursuit
Bruce is well-known on the northern BC scene. He has been, in his own
words, "a bar-room piano player, a tire salesman, an education
administrator and a provincial politician." In his monst recent
reincarnation, he writes two columns, one on the political scene and
one on cars for The Prince George Citizen. He also hosts a weekly
radio show.
Wim Tewinkel
Author of Salish Elders
Born in the Netherlands, Wim Tewinkel studied forestry in Holland,
spent three years in Kenya and then immigrated to Canada. As well as
a forester, he is a notable photographer. He has spent the last twenty
years working with the First Nations people of the Lilleoot-Pemberton
area of British Columbia. From his friendships with the native elders
and his interest in photpgraphy came the book, Salish Elders.
Margaret Thompson
Author of Hide and Seek
Born in England, Margaret Thompson immigrated to Canada in the mid
'60s. Since then, she has lived in various parts of BC and is now settled
into the tiny historic village of Fort St. James, BC. She has three
grown children and has spent most of her working life teaching English.
Her first book, Squaring the Circle was published in 1992.
Richard Thompson
Author of The Gas Tank of My Heart and The
Ice Cream Bucket Effect
On October 8, 1977, Richard Thompson and Margaret Spicer were married
in the small town of New Totem on the western edge of the Vast Northern
Prairie. The next day they hitched a ride to Prince George on Cindy-Lou
Pratt's tour bus. They've been there ever since. Richard now earns his
living creating and telling talesshort ones and tall ones.
Tommy Walker
Author of Spatsizi
Born in 1904 at Gravesend, Kent in England T. A. (Tommy) Walker emigrated
to the Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia in 1929. He was instrumental
in establishing Tweedsmuir Park in 1937. In 1948 Mr. Walker and his
wife Marion established a big game hunting outfit at Cold Fish Lake.
The Walkers sold their outfit and property at Cold Fish Lake in 1968,
but retained their trading post and sawmill at Tatogga Lake on the Stewart-Cassiar
Highway. Now retired, they live in Smithers, British Columbia.
Sue Ward
Author of One Gal's Army
Born in Montreal, brought up in Vancouver Sue Ward has enjoyed a varied
career—a singer with her own radio show by the time she was twenty-one,
sales clerk, newspaper reporter and editoryou name it, she's done it.
She now lives in Granisle.
Ferdi Wenger
Author of Wild Liard Waters
Swiss-born, Ferdi Wenger is a best-selling author/researcher of several
travel guides written in French, German and English. He has also written
articles about his expeditions along some of the world's most impressive
rivers for prominent publications such as BC Outdoors, The
Canadian Geographic and The Globe and Mail.
Jan-Udo Wenzel
Author of Ginter
The late Jan-Udo Wenzel was born in Berlin, Germany and grew up on
the North Sea island of Amrum. He came to Canada as a young man where
he worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Vancouver, Edmonton
and Kamloops. He also worked in Oregon and Washington, in Europe and
the Far East before settling in Prince George, BC. For more than a decade
he worked for the Prince George Citizen, before publishing his
own newspaper. He wrote for various European publications on Canadian
subjects.
Gillian Wigmore
Author of Soft Geography
Gillian Wigmore grew up in Vanderhoof, BC, graduated from the University
of Victoria in 1999, and currently lives in Prince George. She has been
published in Geist , CV2, filling station, and the Inner Harbour Review,among
others. Her first chapbook, home when it moves you, was published by
Creekstone Press in 2005.
Eileen Williston
Author of Forests, Power & Policy: The Legacy of Ray
Williston and Rainbows at Noon
Eileen Williston, the late wife of Ray Williston, was the main author
and power behind Forest, Power, and Policy, the biography of
her husband, who himself was responsible for changing the lives of the
people in BC during his tenure as the Minister of Education, Lands and
Forests. He oversaw the building of the Peace River Dam as well as negotiating
the Columbia River Treaty.
Alice Wolczuk
Author of Discovering Sauerkraut
Alice Wolczuk, a long time resident of Prince George, had several careers
including running a sawmill, and building and running Prince George's
first greenhouse operation, Wolczuk's Nursery. Her first love was always
been gardening and through her weekly column for the Prince George
Citizen, was considered the foremost authority on gardening in the
Central Interior of BC. Her book, Discovering Sauerkraut, is
a result of both her Ukrainian background and her frustration about
not being able to find any recipes for cooking with sauerkraut. It has
become almost a cult book for people of Eastern European backgrounds
and other sauerkraut devotees.
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