A Nanaimo-born writer has based his latest work on the mysterious deaths surrounding two teenagers in the B次元官网网址�60s.

Author Kim Blank said the idea to write the WatchersB次元官网网址� Club was tucked away until he recently discovered a newspaper clipping in a box of childhood memories and trivia.

B次元官网网址淚 can vaguely remember some closeted talk around our house when the [Nanaimo] murder of Diane Phipps and her boyfriend Leslie Dixon took place,B次元官网网址� he said in an e-mail to the B次元官网网址 Bulletin. B次元官网网址淢y older sister was very close in age to Diane, whom she also knew a bit. It was, then, more than just a distant news event.B次元官网网址�

Blank said reading the news article dated more than 60 years ago brought the incident back to him, as did the elementary school photos in the same box.

B次元官网网址淎 bunch of other associations fell into place B次元官网网址� connections of time and place and persons B次元官网网址� all leading to the emerging story,B次元官网网址� the author said.

At the time, Blank recalled Nanaimo as a small but rapidly growing town where everyone seemed to know each other, especially in the outlying neighbourhoods.

B次元官网网址淧arents didnB次元官网网址檛 helicopter their kids B次元官网网址� they roamed freely and widely, often in back roads,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎t the same time, urban sprawl made its rapid way along the Island Highway B次元官网网址� literally paving the way with strip malls.B次元官网网址�

The parallels between the true crime and what happens in the WatchersB次元官网网址� Club are both close and distant, and the location of the murders B次元官网网址� PiperB次元官网网址檚 Lagoon B次元官网网址� was where Blank and his family would often go swimming. However, the perpetrator and resolution in his story differ from the actual crime.

The group of children around whom the WatchersB次元官网网址� Club revolves, as well as several B次元官网网址渙dd adult characters,B次元官网网址� are based on an amalgamation of neighbours he encountered as a child.

B次元官网网址淭here is much of Nanaimo in the story B次元官网网址� without ever saying so. It is barely disguised in the novel B次元官网网址� The atmosphere of a neighbourhood close to a growing town, the working-class backdrop B次元官网网址� settings that, at the time, defined that area of Nanaimo,B次元官网网址� he said.

While Blank notes that his book doesnB次元官网网址檛 offer any specific insights into the deaths of Phipps and Dixon, he said he wrote the book as a portrayal of how small, rural communities deal with such violent and mysterious acts. He was also interested in how a 12-year-old child and his family and friends might construe the event.

B次元官网网址淚 hope there might be some marginal insights how kids and adults interact, about the group psychology of small communities, and also about the treatment and perception of marginal families B次元官网网址� all against the backdrop of the early 1960s,B次元官网网址� he said.

Blank has also written a prequel to the story, called the FishermanB次元官网网址檚 Secret, which is planned to come out early next year.

The WatchersB次元官网网址� Club was published by Sunstone Press in early June and can be purchased online through several retailers, including www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, or ordered locally through Windowseat Books on Wesley Street.

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mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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