Photo: Bertrand Lemeunier
Who was your childhood hero?
Davy Crockett, king of the wild-gone deer (a mondegreen: it was actually “King of the Wild Frontier”).
What was the last thing you read?
Kathy Fagan’s Sycamore, and Michelle Gallen’s Factory Girls.
What or who makes you laugh out loud?
My husband, Stephen Reid, always made me laugh. Now that he is dead, I have to make myself laugh.
What is the most important lesson you ever learned?
To be kind, no matter what.
What was your nickname at school?
Pigeon-Toed Pete. (I always thought it was a result of having polio when I was a baby, but I have learned that it is due to the foot being positioned in a certain way inside the uterus before one is born.)
What is your most prized possession?
My memories of Stephen and Sophie.
Describe the place you most like to spend time.
The west coast of Ireland, specifically the west of Galway, and Donegal. Oh, and the Beara Peninsula in west Cork.
What’s the strangest fan encounter you’ve ever had?
A man in New York brought me pages of my first book to autograph. They were covered in blood.
If you ruled the world, what’s the first thing you’d change?
There would be no more religion.
Apart from the essentials for life, what can’t you do without?
The wind.
If a genie granted you one wish, what would it be?
To have my daughter back.
In which era would you most like to have lived, and why?
More than 100 years ago. Before the internet, cell phones, before AI, etc.
What item have you owned for the longest time?
My silver bracelet, carved by Gordon Cross of Skidegate, Haida Gwaii, in 1972.
If you could invent something, what would it be?
A water tablet hikers could carry with them that would turn into water if you added an ingredient yet to be determined.
What are you afraid of?
The unknown.
Whom do you most admire (living or dead) and why?
My neighbour, Tim Toman. He fixes everything that is broken, and then thanks me for letting him do the job.
What would be the title of your autobiography?
Memoir of an Amnesiac
What is your latest purchase?
A dram of Smoked Sacra Oud.
Do you have a personal motto?
Fear ringed by doubt is my eternal moon. (Malcolm Lowry)
What is your idea of the perfect day?
It would be unrealistic to think of a whole day as being capable of being perfect. If I am lucky, I might get a few hours. And a trip to Rose Spit, on Haida Gwaii, where the Haida say the world began.
What would you like your epitaph to say?
What I Learned from my Time on Earth.
Name the skill or talent you would most like to have.
I would like to play the fiddle.
What is your pet peeve?
My latest one? Besides the misuse of the verb “to lie,” what is happening in films these days: when anyone cries their nose runs. Once you notice this you see it all the time. I cry a lot, and my nose never runs – unless I have a cold at the same time.
What is the secret to a good life?
No comment.
If you could only ever listen to three pieces of music, what would they be?
“Desolation Row” (Bob Dylan); “Rainy Night in Soho” (The Pogues); “Dido’s Lament” (Henry Purcell).
Which famous person (living or dead) do you think (or have you been told) you most resemble?
Maude Gonne.
What are your UBC highlights?
Going with my grandfather, when I was a smallie, to find the oak trees he had planted, from acorns he’d brought from England after the First World War, all over the UBC endowment lands.
