It was a cold wintery night when I met Colin Ford in front of his home in Hedley eight years ago. In the midst of steadily falling snow, this brief encounter would radically impact my life. I learned he was intimately familiar with computers and mentioned that I wanted to have a blogsite but didn’t know how to set it up. “I’ll come to your place tomorrow and do that,” he said. A few days later I was a citizen journalist, although Colin cautioned me with the words, “I just don’t know if anyone will see it.” Now, at the beginning of 2021, I decided to glance back over my shoulder at the challenges and joys that have come with writing for this space.
From the beginning I felt I had a responsibility to give something of value to readers. Having worked with adult prisoners and parolees, and also young offenders, I had some understanding that the lens through which we view our world to a great extent determines how we will respond to the circumstances that beset us. Believing this to be true, I began requesting interviews with individuals I felt had done something significant and interesting. Initially I hoped that of ten individuals, at least one would agree to talk. I was amazed to discover that people were extraordinarily gracious with their time and stories. Of some 300 requests over almost 8 years, I have been turned down no more than 12 times.
At the outset I occasionally sent my blog writings to the Similkameen Spotlight and Keremeos Review. Then Andrea DeMeer took over the helm at the Spotlight and I quickly learned she would be a take charge, sometimes unorthodox editor and publisher. Without consulting me, she immediately turned my next submission into a column. When I met her in what is now Save-on-Foods a few days later, she unabashedly said, “I don’t have your column for next week yet.”
I decided when requesting an interview with a politician, I needed to begin with a thought that intrigued them. At the start of John Horgan’s first election campaign as leader of the NDP, I challenged myself by calling his media agent, Sheena McConnell. I explained I was with Black Press and said, “A lot of people know Mr. Horgan as a politician, but most of us don’t know him as a person. I’d like to write about who he is away from microphones and politics.” She liked the idea and two months later I met John Horgan, Sheena and a photographer for 35 minutes in the Shades on Main Restaurant in Penticton. The next morning he called me from the airport to finish a fascinating conversation. I found him to be decent, warm and candid, a politician who might be trusted by voters.
When I heard about Nora Allison, the plucky inspirational indigenous first wife of John Fall Allison, I was immediately intrigued. According to Nancy Allison, a great granddaughter, Nora ran a pack train of approximately 40 horses from Hope to Greenwood, carrying groceries, mining supplies, and other necessities. I wrote about her and also several of her numerous descendants, including Carrie Allison, a highly respected elder still living not far from Hedley.
I very much enjoyed a conversation with Eric Goodfellow of Princeton. At age seven, he and a number of other boys walked with his father, Reverend John Goodfellow, from Princeton to Hope. “At night we cut boughs and placed our sleeping bags on them,” he said. “We built a large fire to keep away animals.” They stopped in at Camp Defiance for a visit with the enigmatic Bill Robinson, whose cabin along the Sumallo River has long been a source of curiosity.
Linda and I attended the Ashnola Pow Wow and interviewed Lauren Terbasket, a lead organizer. We also participated in a health and wellness event put on by the Upper Band. For a change of pace, I wrote about Ben Murbach, who entertained a neighbour’s chickens by playing his harmonica. They seemed to enjoy the music, but I don’t know if it inspired them to lay more eggs.
As a writer, I consider it a privilege to have an audience. I feel fortunate and honoured that so many quality individuals have trusted me with their stories. I hope at times the accounts have prompted readers to ponder, reflect, consider, and maybe even look at life through a more optimistic lens.