Ian Macdonald

Betty O'Keefe

This lively biography of Bishop Edward Cridge and his wife Mary paints a vivid picture of early Victoria as it developed from an isolated Hudson's Bay Company post into the bustling capital of British Columbia. Recruited from England by Governor James Douglas in 1854 to be the Church of England chaplain of Fort Victoria, Edward Cridge became an important figure in the spiritual life of the city as the rector of Christ Church.The Cridges also became two of Victoria's foremost social reformers, leaving an indelible mark on British Columbia's social institutions. Living through the terrible smallpox and black measles epidemics, the latter taking four of their own children, the inseparable pair worked to create the first hospital, beginning with a few beds in a rented cottage and living to see it transformed into the Royal Jubilee. As the first superintendent of education, Cridge played an essential role in B.C.'s early school system. When abandoned children were left at the parsonage door, Mary created Victoria's first orphanage.The biography also tells of Cridge's very public argument with Bishop Hills, a dispute that caused him to break with the Church of England to found and build the Church of Our Lord, a Reformed Episcopal church, which is today an historic Victoria landmark. Included also are cameos by many of the notable people of the day, such as Emily Carr, who as a young girl lived opposite the Cridge family.

The Legacy of Early Victoria's Bishop Edward and Mary Cridge

Quiet Reformers

"We taught our children to be delinquents." So wrote lifelong criminal Joe Gordon before he was hanged at British Columbia's Oakalla Prison Farm in 1957 for shooting a policeman during a failed robbery. In a letter he scrawled in his jail cell, Gordon described his downfall and made a plea to parents to love and care for their children so they wouldn't end up like him. Born to Die is the story of Gordon's sensational trial, set against the backdrop of Vancouver's seedy underworld amid a time of widespread police corruption. His final words are as relevant today as they were then, for although he lived and died in 1950s Vancouver, his tragic life and path to oblivion can be walked at any time and in any community in North America.

A Cop Killer's Final Message

Born to Die

October 25, 1918, is the day that goes down in history as the Inside Passage's worst maritime disaster. More than 350 people lost their lives and the CPR's British Columbia Coast Service was forever tarnished when the Princess Sophia went down off Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal between Skagway and Juneau, Alaska. In this book, the authors relive the tragedy of the Princess Sophia and her last voyage and tackle questions that still linger. Was the sinking really just a "peril of the sea," as the inquiry concluded? This story explores the heroic efforts of those who answered the SOS and tried to save the passengers and crew but were later the ones to recover bodies instead.

Did They All Have to Die?

The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia

In the wake of SARS and H1N1, this story of medical health officer Dr. Fred Underhill and his battle against the 1918 Spanish influenza that killed 25 to 50 million people worldwide is particularly relevant. Underhill is symbolic of the senior public health officers in cities across Canada and the U.S. who mounted the best defence they could against the killer flu. His vision, his tireless efforts, and his dialogue with colleagues in Seattle and elsewhere saved many lives. And his patient advice and findings are still relevant today as we await the new viral epidemics that undoubtedly lie ahead. In their enlightening account of the events of that era, authors O'Keefe and Macdonald have crafted a compelling story of people coming together in a time of crisis.

Betty O'Keefe

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