I’m saddened to hear of the passing of Alma Lee who founded the Vancouver Writer’s Festival after helping to create both the Writer’s Union of Canada and the Writer’s Trust of Canada.

I knew her briefly in the late 1980s when I was interim executive director of the Federation of BC Writers. She was a force of nature and was ultimately recognized for her efforts by being appointed to the Order of BC and the Order of Canada, and receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Simon Fraser University, and the Commemorative Medal for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee.

Read more about Alma Lee in this obituary published in BC Bookworld.