Novelist Ethel Wilson never forgot her meeting with Pauline Johnson, acknowledging she "pursued a path of her own making, and did this with integrity until the last day of her life."; Johnson advocated outdoor exercise for women and stressed the legal importance of being born in Canada and forging a separate Canadian identity. She remained financially independent, unmarried and dedicated to her artistry on stage and in print.

Paddling Her Own Canoe: The Times and Texts of E. Pauline Johnson (UTP $24.95) by Veronica Strong-Boag and Carole Gerson discusses the poet, feminist, nationalist and Indian advocate against the cultural backdrop of Canada at the turn of the 19th century. After Johnson moved to Vancouver in 1909, the Pacific Coast Women's Press Club welcomed her and proclaimed, "It is very true that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, but is it not also true that the hand which wields the pen directs the world.";

Before Johnson died of breast cancer at the age of 51, she specified she wanted only to be remembered in the hearts and minds of her readers. A monument was nonetheless erected in Stanley Park at Third Beach. 0-8020-8024-3

[BCBW SUMMER 2001]