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Just in time for the wet grey days of winter, the North Shore libraries have just released their annual list: the North Shore Writers Collection. With the help of the North Vancouver District Library, we have pulled out six Lynn Valley authors who are proudly on this year’s list.

A dark story for dark nights

With her first book on the list, Rhonda Mailey warns you might be left with more than a good story after reading her suspense horror novel Reginald. 

“Reginald seems to have a presence of his own. I hear from readers all the time and they tell me they sense him – like they are walking down the street and feel him hiding behind a bush. Even my writing coach: she was hearing noises in her bathroom and she thought that it could be Reginald in the walls,” laughs Mailey. “I thought: ‘For heaven’s sake it could be a mouse’.” 

The novel is set in a fictional BC coastal community called Einer’s Bay. When Leah, a busy career-driven Vancouverite, inherits a grand home she has experiences she can’t explain. With the help of local community protectors called the Guardians, they encounter Reginald – a demon born from despicable and tortured beginnings. 

“I’ve always had a little bit of a twisted mind. I am not a big fan of horror per se, I was more interested in mysteries. Reginald popped into my head one day and I thought I would see where it would go,” said Mailey. “I am not a writer who plans – it was really just the story that came to me. It’s about people. It’s about the characters and tension and the humanity of Reginald.” 

Mailey has some heavy hitters on her side. She worked with CKNW broadcaster John McComb to voice and produce the audiobook and artist Alejandro Colucci – known for The Witcher series –  for the cover and illustrations

Mailey has another book nearing publication and the sequel to Reginald is in the editing stage, plus she has two children’s books she hopes to make it to print in the near future. 

“I have always been a voracious reader. I remember being at Eastview Elementary and sitting under a tree to read Nancy Drew after Nancy Drew. I just loved to read,” she said. “I was quite touched to be a part [of the North Shore Writer’s List]. It was nice to have everyone together. It’s no surprise, there are a lot of talented and creative people on the North Shore.” 

More Lynn Valley authors on the list

My BIG Floofy Feet by Judy Bjornson

This is a sweet story told by a loveable cat whose extra toes and giant feet give him many abilities in life that he otherwise would not have had. Respecting both the similarities and the differences in each other, opens doors to making new friends, learning new things, and having more self-confidence. The storybook is intended to empower all children to accept and love each other unconditionally the way they are and to let their inner aspirations flourish.

Judy is a Master Trainer both for exercises in the water and on land. Due to her genuine compassion and extensive disease/disability knowledge as it relates to rehabilitation/movement, Judy was selected as a Program Co-ordinator by the Vancouver Brain Injury Association. In all aspects of her life Judy strives to positively affect the lives of those she encounters. She decided to write a book from a kitty’s point of view to communicate with young children because perhaps the most powerful path to healing for our children is through animals. A second book in the series of three introduces new characters with their own differences and teaches the value of how each of us contributes with our unique abilities to make the work a better place will soon be published. The illustrator, Sydney Kosnik was only 16 years old when she illustrated the book, winning an award for her illustrations and character design in New York.

On Foot in France by France Fehr

France and her husband Stephen had just turned 60 when they began their journey on the Camino de Santiago in France. On each of the 39 days, they knew they would always do three things: walk, eat, and sleep. The historic trail took them through breathtaking landscapes and picturesque villages, offering them magical moments and ample time to think. But, walking the 800 kilometres was also a challenge, especially when France injured her foot and quitting was not an option. On Foot in France is an inspiring story of courage, determination, and friendship on the path shared by countless pilgrims.

France Fehr was born in Quebec and has lived in North Vancouver for over three decades. She has travelled around North America, Europe, and Asia, taking many photographs to share on Flickr, Instagram, and her blogs. When she is not on a trail in Europe, she keeps fit while hiking or cycling in British Columbia. On Foot in France, a travel memoir of her adventure on the Camino de Santiago is her first book.

Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke

Jane Sinner, a 17-year-old dropout, sets out to redefine herself through a series of schemes and stunts, including participating in a low-budget reality TV show at her local community college.

Lianne Oelke has a degree in philosophy and works in the film industry – which may explain a lot about her debut novel, Nice Try, Jane Sinner. Or not. She lives, camps, and thinks about cats in North Vancouver.

Child Sex Trafficking in Canada and How To Stop It by Catherine Peters

Child Sex Trafficking in Canada is a primer or textbook and immersive study into the dark world of trafficking for prostitution in Canada. Its reach is universal as trafficking is a global problem. Research, resources, and solutions are provided throughout the book with the goal for the reader to learn how to stop sexual exploitation locally and nationally.

Cathy Peters is a former inner-city high school teacher from British Columbia. She is a wife, a mother of three remarkable children, a business partner, a public speaker and an author. Cathy lives with her husband Allan in North Vancouver, BC.

Philosophy’s Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy by Peter Raabe

The book’s purpose is to show how philosophy is a useful addition to the knowledge counsellors and psychotherapists already have. Clients often need a way to look at what is troubling them that peels back the layering put there by the way they are used to thinking about their problems. Philosophy gives them important tools to aid them in the process of discovering how to get to the heart of what they are seeking help for.

Peter B. Raabe received his P.H.D. in 1999 from U.B.C. He began his teaching career at the University of the Fraser Valley in 2003 teaching philosophy. He published a book in 2014 titled, Philosophy’s Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy, which became the textbook for a unique course he developed called Philosophy for Counsellors. Peter retired in 2021 and was awarded Professor Emeritus status. He lives in North Vancouver with his wife.

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

North Vancouver and Lynn Valley would not be the community it is today without the tenacious advocacy of our Good Neighbour 2023 – Maureen Bragg. From protecting Lynn Canyon to opening up access to North Van’s foreshore, much of the land we routinely use to recreate is accessible because of Bragg. A touch shy of 90 years old Bragg has a passion for civic engagement that is fiery enough to burn for years to come.

From introvert to activist

Always keenly aware of news and politics, in the early 1980s Bragg was a mom and businesswoman who had a habit of enjoying her neighbourhood park. 

“I wasn’t a tree hugger – when I saved the canyon everyone put that title on me but I just loved it – loved the beauty of it. I felt that it was something that should be kept sacred and enjoyed by all people,” said Bragg. “It’s a magic spot. The beauty of the water rushing after the rain, the sun coming through and shining on the moss and the ferns.” 

One day a simple postal delivery changed everything.

“I hiked the canyon every morning before going to work,” said Bragg. “Then one day in the mail I received a colourful brochure from the district saying there would be 2000 houses built in the park including a highway going through the top of LV road going through to Hyannis. 

“I was appalled because it was at the third reading and I had never heard of it. Us locals always called it Lynn Canyon Park and the references to development were calling it Inter River. At that time Seymour wasn’t developed and we thought it was kind of out there.”

This put Bragg in a difficult position. As a realtor and director of the Real Estate Board, she was well aware she was about to fight against 2000 home sales.  

“I had never been involved in anything life,” said Bragg. “My husband thought I had gone stark steering mad because I was the type of person to sit in the back of a room so no one would ask me any questions and I would never put my hand up.”

Bragg was quick to leverage the community. Hand delivering hundreds of flyers sharing a news article and compelling residents to show up at the third reading of the development permit. 

“And to my surprise when I got to the district hall for the meeting there were crowds there. It was so big that the mayor moved it over to the school gymnasium down the street. Over a thousand people turned up. 

“We had no computer, no cell phone, no fax in those days. It had to be done by gumption, as they say, and word-of-mouth.” 

As Bragg distributed flyers she connected with another passionate family and together they spread the word. 

“At a public meeting, everyone has to be able to speak and over 300 signed up stopping the vote from being taken.”

That pause in the process led a small group of advocates to form the Save Lynn Canyon Association and fight a two-year battle. 

“We used to stand in the park and sell memberships  – a lifetime membership was about $1. We raised funds to get the word out and managed to put out four newsletters regarding saving the canyon,” said Bragg.

“We eventually made it a political thing and two and half years later we pushed it to a referendum,” she said. “Then we crossed our fingers that people would turn out and pleaded with people to vote – whichever way they wanted. We were successful. Six thousand people voted to keep it a park and 500 against.”

When the dust settled North Vancouver had the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve and Lynn Canyon Park as we know them today. Bragg credits many others who joined her in the fight for Lynn Canyon Park for the campaign’s success, including many passionate youth from Argyle.  

“There is a cairn in Lynn Canyon Park that shows the district council at the time that officially formed the park – including all members who first voted against it,” said Bragg. “None of us who actually fought to save the park are mentioned – we weren’t exactly popular.”

Tenacious advocate

From the outside, it looks like the fight for Lynn Canyon lit a spark in Bragg that brought her fiery advocacy to so many areas of Lynn Valley and North Vancouver. There is a common thread about all the causes she fights for: To make North Vancouver as livable as possible for all its community members. 

“Maureen has always struck me as the epitome of constructive activism,” said Dan Ellis. “While she’s not slow to gripe about politicians when they don’t measure up, her activism has always been about accomplishing something positive. And she’s been tenacious in her efforts, whether they be: to help citizens be heard in municipal politics, to create a community space at Mollie Nye House, to support community diversity through the District’s Official Community Plan, or to preserve public waterfront access through Save Our Shores.”   

As part of Save Our Shores Bragg helped fight waterfront homeowners who block access to beaches (all oceanfrontage below the high tide line is public in Canada). Their work removed more than 20 blockages to provide almost complete access from Whay-Ah-Wichen/Cates Park to Deep Cove – although a couple of, according to Bragg, politically well-connected homeowners remain in violation. The group hosted an annual beach clean up that on the first year filled four dumpsters and on their last (just prior to Covid) partially filled a single garbage bag. 

“We have made a difference. There used to be tires, and old mattresses. The beaches were a dumping ground. Today we have beautiful beaches,” said Bragg. 

If you spend any time in Lynn Valley Bragg has impacted your life. As a member of the Lynn Valley Community Association for more than 20 years, with five as president, she has helped with Lynn Valley Days, the Lynn Valley Link and the Lynn Valley Services Society at Mollie Nye. Her legacies extend far beyond the list. 

What now

Bragg has a healthy sense of skepticism for all forms of government and she urges residents to be engaged.  

“People live in a bubble and they are not concerned until it pricks their bubble,” she said. “People are not concerned until they are affected. There is not enough human contact. There is too much living online. We need human connection.

“We need people to pay attention to what is going on or we will lose. I live in beautiful Lynn Valley – I still walk the trails. It’s lovely and we must keep it so. We must pay attention. Although I saved Lynn Canyon Park, they can take a slice off for a road or something the district ‘needs.’ It will be a death of a thousand cuts.”

As Bragg talks about her community work, it is clear her mind is on the future and she is deeply concerned about making Lynn Valley more inclusive and livable for all people.  

“I have been a strong advocate for a number of years – and it has fallen on deaf ears. We are now in crisis: We have not supplied housing for the people of the community – only for one section.

“The average family and low-income people that the community depends on to clean the hospitals, serve our early morning coffees, pick up our garbage – the people that make a community work – and they have to do a brutal commute to wherever they were banished. As far out as Abbotsford and they have to commute hours to come here to make this community function. How long will they keep it up? Why would they? We are losing the community engine.”

Businesses are suffering and the quality of our neighbourhoods is declining. 

“They can’t pay staff enough. When you think of young people, the 20 odds, the young couples just meeting each other. Where are they going to rent? There is nothing. There is a housing cruising in every community – Coquitlam, Maple Ridge. We have done nothing for the average bunny. It’s ridiculous. It’s unacceptable.”

She hopes for more affordable duplexes and fourplexes designed to fit with the community streetscape much like parts of England where Bragg spent her youth. 

“I support gentle densification,” she said. “There is a lot to do. We need rentals, we need co-ops, we need diversified housing. Unless the government offers incentives they won’t. Developers aren’t building for charity. They are businessmen building for profit. We haven’t had proper rental developments for 30 years. I feel sick every time a building goes up showing what it offers below market. Ten percent is nothing.” 

Bragg hopes more members of the public simply care a little bit and get involved in what they are passionate about. Perhaps you too will end up with a legacy that has shaped a community as much as Bragg. Her efforts have made Lynn Valley what it is today and will be in the future. But like Maureen Bragg, you can start small. 

“I am a political junky and tend to get carried away. I wasn’t talented or famous. I paid attention.”

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

When Kelsey Toevs was walking the halls of Argyle Secondary, snowboarding down Grouse or pointing her handycam up to Fromme she never imagined she would level up her passion to travel the world filming for action sports icons Red Bull.

The big screen

This summer in the late evening light Toevs watched in awe as her short film “Ready or Not” hit the big screen at Whistler’s epic mountain bike festival Crankworx. A short time later family and friends were screaming and a dumbstruck Toevs was making her way to the stage as the evening’s big winner. 

“It’s surreal,” she said from her Lynn Valley home. “I have never won anything. I was not even thinking it was possible. The goal was to watch something I made on the big screen – so I could say I got to show something at Crankworx.”

The festival knew Toevs was ready for the big stage even if she did not. Originally asked to participate in its photography competition, Toevs couldn’t make it work with her schedule so she took a chance and asked if there was a spot in the video competition. Not only was there space, but the festival had already planned on asking her. 

“It’s a huge platform for videographers. In just a few months it has brought so many opportunities,” she said.

During the festival she was asked to be a second shooter for the women’s Red Bull Joyride – she said yes. After her big win, she got a text message from action filmmakers Anthill Films and asked to join them earlier this fall in Switzerland working on a Red Bull production – Toevs screamed. “It’s insane.”

Finding a passion

The first camera that mattered to Toevs came into her hands for a high school photography class. A family connection helped her get a decent camera to start off on the right foot and Toevs did what most teenagers do: give it a go but she didn’t think about it too much. 

“When I think back, I definitely thought it would have been cool to film snowboard videos,” she said. “But I also thought that wasn’t a job.”

The camera became a bit of a constant companion as she explored jobs, possible careers and tried to figure out how to pay some bills. 

“I ended up going to Cap U for tourism and recreation,” said Toevs. “I did everything from lifeguarding to day camps to construction.”

In 2014 she was bringing the camera along on adventures she and, her now husband, Steve Vanderhoek were tackling in their free time. Often, that was Toevs tagging along as Vanderhoek hit local mountain bike trails. 

“I wasn’t into dirt jumping but I would tag along with my camera,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Toevs began to think there might be a future in photography. That passion had remained steady but not focused until she connected it to her interest in architecture and real estate. 

“Once I realized that architectural photography could be a career, I knew I wanted that to be my business,” she said. 

Her skills grew and, more importantly, her gear list grew. At the same time, Vanderhoek was hitting the trails, building connections and making a name for himself in mountain biking. 

“When the pandemic hit there was a lot of demand in real estate for video so I got quite a bit of equipment,” she said. 

Vanderhoek and Toevs were still spending their free time in the forests of the North Shore.

“I started playing around with Steve on Instagram and it began to be noticed because it was such high quality. I didn’t know anyone in mountain biking but people began to ask Steve who was shooting his stuff and asking for his recommendations.”

It’s a partnership that has allowed both Toevs and Vanderhoek to excel – he now has professional riding contracts and she is an award-winning filmmaker. 

Riding high

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.

Building on work in professional sports, Olympic games and academic circles, Lynn Valley’s Ben Sporer is launching a book this month to take lessons he has learned as an elite sports physiologist to help others maximize their Output. 

Embracing opportunity

With more than 25 years working in the field of elite sport and human performance, Sporer’s new book is his version of a pandemic pivot. Embracing the calls to stay close to home led to reflection. The immediate changes to life and work were viewed as an opportunity. 

“My wife and I went for hikes in the trails around Lynn Valley regularly and recorded our discussions around performance and reflected on the things I’ve learned throughout my career,” he said. “We transcribed the stories, drafted a manuscript, and found a local publisher.  Fast forward 18 months and here we are. We’re really pleased to be at this stage and see it in print.”

The idea of writing a book had been percolating for a while. Sporer is frequently approached for his expertise. From parents of young athletes, athletes themselves, or executives who were striving to perform at high levels in work and sport, Sporer noticed common themes in their personal circumstances. Simply put Sporer wants individuals to focus on Output – not so coincidentally his book title – over the outcome. 

“Your outcome is the way things turn out, based on factors within and outside of your control. It is the result, so in sport this might be the score and whether one team won or lost. Output is an expression of your efforts based on things you can control. It’s what you deliver in your performance,” said Sporer. “To be a high performer, it is hard work, and you need to be prepared well. But there are times when you don’t get the outcome you prepared for, or that you deserved.”

Working with purpose

Barriers could be bad calls, incredible opponents, terrible weather or equipment failures. 

“This has really taught me to focus on output rather than outcome and on making sure you have a very clear idea of what defines a good performance relative to your objective. It is very easy to get caught in the emotion of a bad loss or a lucky win, yet neither of those are productive in producing sustainable performance.”

Whether on the snow – Sproer is a former director of sport science and medicine for Snowboard Canada, on the pitch – he is currently a vice president in the Whitecaps FC – or in the boardroom, he sees common challenges facing people who want to perform at a high level. 

“Time and time again I’ve seen reactive behaviours if the outcome wasn’t as expected, distracting people from their ongoing plan and preparation strategy, and often emphasizing things that don’t really matter,” said Sporer. “By clearly defining the output required to deliver on your objective, and then evaluating your performance against it, you can identify gaps and modify your preparation to get closer to sustainable high performance and achieving your objective.”

Returning the subject’s objectives is key said Sporer. Work backwards to determine the best path to success. 

“I’ve worked with many athletes and non-athletes and while each one of them is unique, the process is the same,” said Sporer. “When I work with individuals or teams, we always start with clear objectives. We put the work in to clearly and honestly define what their true objective is, understand what is required to achieve it and develop and execute plans to get there. High performers, whether they’re an athlete or not, don’t just work randomly on different things, they work with purpose.”  

Hitting shelves Oct. 24

He says the concepts in the book have been key to his own success. 

“It gave me a different perspective on my own objectives and helped me be really clear and honest about what they were. And the objectives weren’t just career-related… [they] included the family and all the things that we want to do together. By having clear objectives, always allows me to focus on being able to deliver the output that’s required to achieve them, and also helps me from getting sidetracked. It’s a constant process that I revisit regularly.”

This is a busy month for Sporer. His new books will be available online and locally through 32 Books and Kidsbooks in Edgemont. 

“Hopefully [there is] a deep run in the playoffs with the Caps,” he said. “It’s been great to be part of building this team to where it is today and I’m excited about the club’s future.” 

As nice as those wins would be, Sporer returns to his objectives and his principal to focus on output. 

“Honestly, the thing I am most proud of is the life we’ve created for our family here in Lynn Valley. I have a great partner, two amazing kids and we live in an incredible community with access to the outdoors. And to do so while achieving success in my career is a great feeling. I feel very fortunate when I think about it.”    

Looking for more?

There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.