Author Archives: william

About william

Author (fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction, children's literature), editor, professor of creative writing. Adult novels: Gentle Sinners, The Girl With The Botticelli Face; Short story collections: Bloodflowers, Red Dust, What Can't Be Changed Shouldn't Be Mourned, God Is Not A Fish Inspector: Children's books: Thor, Winter Rescue, Frances, The Divorced Kid's Club, Garbage Creek. Taught at Cottey College, Nevada, Missouri; University of Victoria, British Columbia. Retired editor of Logberg-Heimskringla, Canada's oldest ethnic newspaper (Icelandic). Interests: all things Icelandic, Icelandic emigration in the 19th Century, New Iceland, Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, other Icelandic settlements. Fiction, poetry, radio drama, stage drama, film, culture, history, education.

The Cost of War In the time leading up to Remembrance Day, I think often of my grandfather, William John Smith. He left Ireland for Canada. He went to Winnipeg because he had three sisters there. He joined the militia. After WWI began, he joined the regular army and went to France to fight for Britain. He was a crack shot. The army made him a sniper and a machine gunner. He was so accurate that on a number of occasions, he was asked if he

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Gimli Halloween

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There was a lot of excitement at Halloween. It started with our mother asking us what sort of costume we wanted and then she improvised one for each of us. I remember nothing of the many costumes I wore except for the year I went Halloweening as a pirate.