Born in Vancouver in March of 1925, Dawe is a retired Langara English teacher who has written guides to golf courses of B.C. and similar golfing guides for Ontario and Alberta. Dawe's grandfather came to B.C. in the 19th century. His father was an early president of the Alma Mater Society of UBC for the Class of 1915. His mother graduated from St. Paul's Hospital nursing in 1917. He attended Lord Byng High School, briefly served in the RCAF, attended UBC and the University of Washington and taught for 30 years in high schools and college. He was Chairman of the English and Modern Languages Division on the Langara campus of Vancouver Community College. In 1986 he wrote Pocket Guide to the Wineries of British Columbia. Dawe has ghostwritten numerous books, self-published a slim collection of fictional narratives called Urban Archetypes and previously authored Profile of a Nation, Four Approaches to Prose and Copyright Canada.
Books
Profile of a Nation (Macmillan, 1969)
Four Approaches to Prose (Macmillan, 1971)
Copyright Canada (Macmillan, 1978)
Pocket Guide to the Wineries of British Columbia (1986)
Urban Archetypes (A&J Publishing, 1987)
The Golf Courses of British Columbia (A&J Publishing / Sandhill, 1988)
A Guide to the Golf Courses of British Columbia (Whitecap, 1989)
A Guide to the Golf Courses of Ontaria (Whitecap, 1991)
A Guide to the Golf Courses of Alberta (Whitecap, 1992)
Your Average Canadian's Guide to Insects, Spiders, Worms and Other Improbabilities (A&J Publishing, 1994)
Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives, 1997)
[BCBW 2003]
Books
Profile of a Nation (Macmillan, 1969)
Four Approaches to Prose (Macmillan, 1971)
Copyright Canada (Macmillan, 1978)
Pocket Guide to the Wineries of British Columbia (1986)
Urban Archetypes (A&J Publishing, 1987)
The Golf Courses of British Columbia (A&J Publishing / Sandhill, 1988)
A Guide to the Golf Courses of British Columbia (Whitecap, 1989)
A Guide to the Golf Courses of Ontaria (Whitecap, 1991)
A Guide to the Golf Courses of Alberta (Whitecap, 1992)
Your Average Canadian's Guide to Insects, Spiders, Worms and Other Improbabilities (A&J Publishing, 1994)
Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives, 1997)
[BCBW 2003]
Articles: 1 Article for this author
Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives $14.95)
Article
Although the first major bridge to cross the Fraser River is considered to be the Alexandra Bridge built near Spuzzum in 1863, the Hug Gil Get (aka Hag Wil Get) Bridge made of abandoned telegraph wire was built three years prior, in 1860.
In the late 1850s, a man named Colonel Bulkley was commissioned to build a telegraph line from North America to Europe by way of B.C., Alaska and Siberia.
In 1958 he received the bad news that a telegraph cable had successfully been laid across the Atlantic, the Colonel abandoned his project and dumped a large quantity of telegraph wire in the Hazelton area.
The aboriginal people in the community used some of the wire to tie wooden poles together to create the unusual looking Hug Gil Get Bridge, which served residents and travellers in the area for 50 years.
"Hug Gil Get was the first bridge in the province that made use of material other than wood or stone,"; says Alan Dawe in Richmond and its Bridges: Fifteen Crossings of the Fraser River (City of Richmond Archives $14.95).
[BCBW 1997]