Black History Month February is Black History month when numerous events are held across Canada to honour and celebrate the contributions made by black people to this country. This year the theme is “Thirty Years of Black History: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations – From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries.” In 1926, historian Carter G. […]
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The Charismatic Hannah Maynard One of the most fascinating women in the history of British Columbia’s capital city was the matriarch of the Maynard family, Hannah Maynard. The Maynard family purchased a Cadboro Bay beach cabin from the Todd family in the 1880’s, where they were well known. Hannah, the matriarch of the family, an
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Val’s Book Reviews They Never Left Me: A Holocaust Memoir of Maternal Courage and Triumph by Evelyn Kahn with Hodie Kahn Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2025$22.95 / 9781553807322 There have been many books written about the Holocaust, but the memoir They Never Left Me, written by a Holocaust survivor, Evelyn Kahn, assisted by her daughter Hodie
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The Historical Importance of January! Even though January is usually a somewhat gloomy month, history shows us that it has been packed with some pivotal moments throughout time. Here are just a few. Queen Elizabeth 1 of England was crowned in January of 1859 and the first African American man, Barack Obama, became President of
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Val’s Book Reviews Broadway Corridor: The Great Social Divide by John D’Eathe Vancouver: Adagio Media, 2025 $21.99 / 9780991993079 In the “prophetic novel,” Broadway Corridor: The Great Social Divide, D’Eathe introduces his readers to a world set in the near future of Vancouver. The Broadway Corridor today is a major urban hub with many key areas—Vancouver General Hospital,
Val’s Book Reviews The Italian Secret by Tara Moss Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2025$25.99 / 9781443461290 The Italian Secret is a lighthearted, rollicking novel set in three time periods–1907, 1943, 1948–and travels from the Indian Ocean to Italy and Australia. The author’s protagonist, Billie Walker, is a wartime investigative journalist who by 1948 has taken over
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Christmas Day! I have frequently written about the significance of a special date in history and readers seem to enjoy hearing about the events that took place on a specific date. As we approach the Holiest of days, I thought it would be interesting to report some of the facts I have uncovered concerning Christmas
A Little History About November 14th Welcome to November, the month of dreary rain, gunpowder plots, beheadings, doom, and gloom! Or so it would seem, according to history. However, I also recently discovered that one date in November—the 14th—also has an accumulation of interesting births, deaths and events connected to it and many of these
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Val’s Book Reviews The Rebel’s Wife by Gerald Richardson Brown Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2025 $24.95 / 9781989467794 Based on a true story, Gerald Richardson Brown’s book The Rebel’s Wife is set in the young colony of Upper Canada during the Rebellions of 1837-38. This was a turbulent period in Canadian history. The protagonist, Maria
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The Power of Friendship I wanted to share a personal story with my readers today about an authors’ group I belong to that started many decades ago. Originally there were about ten people in the group. I won’t mention names, but they will know who they are. Then life happened. One in the group moved
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