[BCMA] Writers on the East Line

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Public Service Announcement


 


For Immediate Release

Enjoy and Afternoon . . . 

With Writers on the East Line

 

PRINCE GEORGE. October 5, 2009 - Join us Saturday, October 17th, 2009 from
1:00 to 3:00 p.m. to introduce and appreciate the railway and sawmill
communities along the Canadian National Railway line east of Prince George.
The line closely follows the upper Fraser River for some 275 kilometers from
Prince George to Tete Jaune Cache, British Columbia.

Through the eyes and words of those who have written about this fascinating
area, attendees will appreciate the varied views of the physical, historical
and cultural landscape. Featured speakers include:

 

Cecil Giscombe lives in Berkeley and teaches at the University of
California.  His poetry books include Two Sections from Practical Geography,
Prairie Style, and Giscome Road, among other titles.  His memoir, Into and
Out of Dislocation, is an account of his search-through central British
Columbia-for traces of his "old arrivant" John Robert Giscome, for whom the
Giscome Portage was named.  His book-in-progress, Railroad Sense, is a
poetry and prose work about train metaphors and references.

 

Kyle Kusch, through his graduate thesis research and his employment with
UNBC's Rural and Small Town Research Programme, has participated in numerous
projects regarding the social health and well-being of the East Line
communities.  He has also conducted numerous oral history interviews for
UNBC's Upper Fraser Historical Geography Project.  His particular interest
is in migration patterns in central British Columbia.  An avid map collector
and long-distance walker, he continues to reside in his hometown of Nakusp,
British Columbia.

 

The poet Barry McKinnon lives in Prince George and Tumbler Ridge.  He taught
for over thirty years at CNC and is publisher of Gorse Press.  His many
books include I Wanted to Say Something, Sex at Thirty-One, The the, The
Centre, and Pulp Log, among others.  The the was short-listed for the
Governor General's Award; Pulp Log won the Dorothy Livesay Prize.  His
writing is included in many anthologies, among which is The New Oxford Book
of Canadian Verse.  He is a life-long jazz fan.

 

Trelle A. Morrow contributed postmarks to Postscript '90: commemorating 75
years of postal history in the Fraser-Fort George Region (published by the
Fraser-Fort George Museum Society in 1990).  His new book, Sternwheelers on
the Upper Fraser (published by CNC Press) documents the era during which
sternwheelers operated on the Fraser.  The book is especially concerned with
the social contexts of this time (1863-1921) and includes examinations of
"resource exploitation, railway development and settlement."  Trelle Morrow
is a retired architect; he lives in Prince George.

 

J. Kent Sedgwick has researched, written, and published extensively on
central British Columbia history and geography.  He came to CNC in 1970 to
teach geography and then worked, for many years, as a city planner for
Prince George, where he continues to live.  He is now an Adjunct Professor
of Geography at UNBC.  His new book, Giscome Chronicle, documents "the rise
and demise" of the village of Giscome, one of the key East Line towns.  He
is one of the founders of the Upper Fraser Historical Geography Project.   

 

Marilyn Wheeler was born in Britain but came to Canada fifty years ago and
now lives in McBride.  Her book, The Robson Valley Story: A Century of
Dreams, came out in 1979.  The book, extensively revised and updated to
include new oral histories, was re-published in 2008 and had its launch at
the Beanery restaurant in McBride's still-active railway station.  She
operates a sheep farm at McBride and has been a justice of the peace and a
marriage commissioner and has been active in the field of public health.
Marilyn Wheeler's particular interest is the history of railroads.

 

Admission: $10 plus tax .Please call (250) 563-7351 to reserve a seat
(seating is limited) and/or for more information.

 

- 30 -

 

Contact:                 (Ms.) Ranjit Gill

                                General Manager

                                (250) 563-7351

                                Central British Columbia Railway and
Forestry Museum

                                850 River Road, Prince George, BC V2L 5S8

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