Last year Haley Healey told the stories of 17 notable Island women in On Their Own Terms: True Stories of Trailblazing Women of Vancouver Island, but there were many more that didnB次元官网网址檛 make the cut.

This past weekend the Nanaimo-based writer launched her follow-up volume, Flourishing and Free: More Stories of Trailblazing Women of Vancouver Island, which includes another 16 women from across the Island.

B次元官网网址淭here were too many in On Their Own Terms so [publisher] Heritage House approached me and asked if IB次元官网网址檇 be willing to do a sequel,B次元官网网址� Healey said. B次元官网网址淎nd there were a few that I had actually missed that I had discovered and found out about after On Their Own Terms had been published, so it was perfect.B次元官网网址�

Among the new subjects are a few with Nanaimo connections, including Sylvia Stark, a homesteader born into slavery in the United States; Edith Berkeley, a marine biologist with shrimp species named after her; Mary Ellen Smith, the first woman elected MLA in B.C. and the first female cabinet minister and speaker in the British Empire; and Veronica Milner, a British aristocrat who helped build Milner Gardens.

Healey said she learned about her subjects in books, archives and Nanaimo Heritage Society meetings, and in some cases the women she covered in the first book gave clues to who to include in the second. She said she sought out B次元官网网址渢railblazersB次元官网网址� doing B次元官网网址渦nusual or extraordinary things for their time.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 also tried to include women with diverse backgroundsB次元官网网址�B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 think especially women of colour have been really underrepresented in history, so that was another really important piece for me.B次元官网网址�

She said two of her favourites are Barbara Touchie, who worked to preserve the Barkley dialect of the Nuu-chah-nulth language, and Minnie Paterson, who was married to the keeper of the Cape Beale Lighthouse near Bamfield and made headlines rescuing shipwrecked sailors.

Healey said researching these women has been inspiring and left her feeling more connected to Vancouver Island.

B次元官网网址淭hat was an interesting result of all this research,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e just found that IB次元官网网址檝e been much more connected to places knowing some of the people who had spent so much time in these places on Vancouver Island.B次元官网网址�

Flourishing and Free: More Stories of Trailblazing Women of Vancouver Island is available in Nanaimo at Windowseat Books, 309C Wesley St., and .

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