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Nancy Ruth Steps Forward
April 25, 2008:
VANCOUVER, BC - Senator Nancy Ruth has moved into the limelight as the anonymous donor who helped saved the childhood home of friend and Canadian author, Joy Kogawa. Given her strong advocacy work for women's rights in Canada and abroad, it was a natural fit for her to support a place that represents hope, healing, and reconciliation.
"This house reminds me of Joy Kogawa's creativity, her passion, her reconciliation with foes, and her hope for the world. I wanted to help save Joy's family home to preserve Joy's spirit and the spirituality that I experience in association with her and the communities she nurtures,"; says Hon. Nancy Ruth.
In May 2006, TLC The Land Conservancy of British Columbia became the proud owner of the Historic Joy Kogawa House in the Marpole community of Vancouver. The purchase was made possible because of a $500,000 donation from Hon. Nancy Ruth. After a hard-fought effort by TLC and the Save Kogawa House Committee to save the house from demolition, it is being restored, and plans are in the works to host a writer-in-residence program in Spring 2009.
"Hon. Nancy Ruth's gift to the Historic Joy Kogawa House made our vision for the house come true. The purchase could have not happened without her generosity. Future children will now have a place to visit to learn about the Japanese Canadian internment, and Joy Kogawa's literary works. The house has a second life, and we are happy to be part of it,"; says TLC Executive Director, Bill Turner.
A native of Toronto, Hon. Nancy Ruth has won a series of prestigious awards such as the South African Women for Women Friendship Award in 2004; the Government of Ontario's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Human Rights in 1998; and Membership in the Order of Canada in 1994. Recently she received the 2007 Charles Sauriol Greenspace Award from the Conservation Fund of Greater Toronto.
Throughout her working life, she has played an active role in various religious, professional, political, educational and non-profit organizations in Canada, Britain and the United States. She has also been instrumental in co-founding organizations that work for women's social change like LEAF (The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund), the Canadian Women's Foundation, www.section15.ca, Toronto's The Linden School, The Women's Future Fund and the Charter of Rights Coalition.
"I believe Senator Nancy Ruth's action was more than one of generosity or friendship. It was an act of faith - a faith that all who laboured to save this house have shared. The world can be a kinder place. What winds blew us all together - The Land Conservancy, Nancy Ruth, Save Kogawa House Committee, school children and people great and small - I do not know. But it is more astonishing to me than words can say. I dream that the ways of reconciliation can radiate forth from this little house that survives,"; says award-winning Canadian author, Joy Kogawa.
As a celebration to one woman's commitment to woman and culture, TLC is hosting a private recognition ceremony for Senator Nancy Ruth this evening. Guest speakers will include: Bill Turner, TLC Executive Director, Ujjal Dosanjh, MP for Vancouver South, Joy Kogawa, award-winning Canadian author and Hon. Iona Campagnolo, former Lieutenant Governor of B.C. and TLC Honorary President. Following the ceremony, the general public are welcome to attend a national poetry month event entitled: The Language of Music, The Music of Words - A Musical Evening with Joy Kogawa and Friends at the Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue from 8 to 9:30 p.m. To secure a seat, please email: kogawahouse@yahoo.ca. Admission by donation.
The Historic Joy Kogawa House is a place that commemorates both the brightest hopes and the darkest hours of Canadian history. The house, representative of many properties owned by Canadians of Japanese descent, was confiscated during the Second World War when its occupants and 20,000 other Japanese-Canadians were interned.
TLC is a registered charity and land trust protecting wilderness areas, cultural landmarks, and agricultural lands in B.C. Since 1997, TLC has protected over 120,000 acres of sensitive and threatened lands around B.C., involving more than 300 projects. TLC has grown to include over 7,000 members, and is now part of an international network of National Trusts with over 7 million members.
VANCOUVER, BC - Senator Nancy Ruth has moved into the limelight as the anonymous donor who helped saved the childhood home of friend and Canadian author, Joy Kogawa. Given her strong advocacy work for women's rights in Canada and abroad, it was a natural fit for her to support a place that represents hope, healing, and reconciliation.
"This house reminds me of Joy Kogawa's creativity, her passion, her reconciliation with foes, and her hope for the world. I wanted to help save Joy's family home to preserve Joy's spirit and the spirituality that I experience in association with her and the communities she nurtures,"; says Hon. Nancy Ruth.
In May 2006, TLC The Land Conservancy of British Columbia became the proud owner of the Historic Joy Kogawa House in the Marpole community of Vancouver. The purchase was made possible because of a $500,000 donation from Hon. Nancy Ruth. After a hard-fought effort by TLC and the Save Kogawa House Committee to save the house from demolition, it is being restored, and plans are in the works to host a writer-in-residence program in Spring 2009.
"Hon. Nancy Ruth's gift to the Historic Joy Kogawa House made our vision for the house come true. The purchase could have not happened without her generosity. Future children will now have a place to visit to learn about the Japanese Canadian internment, and Joy Kogawa's literary works. The house has a second life, and we are happy to be part of it,"; says TLC Executive Director, Bill Turner.
A native of Toronto, Hon. Nancy Ruth has won a series of prestigious awards such as the South African Women for Women Friendship Award in 2004; the Government of Ontario's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Human Rights in 1998; and Membership in the Order of Canada in 1994. Recently she received the 2007 Charles Sauriol Greenspace Award from the Conservation Fund of Greater Toronto.
Throughout her working life, she has played an active role in various religious, professional, political, educational and non-profit organizations in Canada, Britain and the United States. She has also been instrumental in co-founding organizations that work for women's social change like LEAF (The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund), the Canadian Women's Foundation, www.section15.ca, Toronto's The Linden School, The Women's Future Fund and the Charter of Rights Coalition.
"I believe Senator Nancy Ruth's action was more than one of generosity or friendship. It was an act of faith - a faith that all who laboured to save this house have shared. The world can be a kinder place. What winds blew us all together - The Land Conservancy, Nancy Ruth, Save Kogawa House Committee, school children and people great and small - I do not know. But it is more astonishing to me than words can say. I dream that the ways of reconciliation can radiate forth from this little house that survives,"; says award-winning Canadian author, Joy Kogawa.
As a celebration to one woman's commitment to woman and culture, TLC is hosting a private recognition ceremony for Senator Nancy Ruth this evening. Guest speakers will include: Bill Turner, TLC Executive Director, Ujjal Dosanjh, MP for Vancouver South, Joy Kogawa, award-winning Canadian author and Hon. Iona Campagnolo, former Lieutenant Governor of B.C. and TLC Honorary President. Following the ceremony, the general public are welcome to attend a national poetry month event entitled: The Language of Music, The Music of Words - A Musical Evening with Joy Kogawa and Friends at the Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue from 8 to 9:30 p.m. To secure a seat, please email: kogawahouse@yahoo.ca. Admission by donation.
The Historic Joy Kogawa House is a place that commemorates both the brightest hopes and the darkest hours of Canadian history. The house, representative of many properties owned by Canadians of Japanese descent, was confiscated during the Second World War when its occupants and 20,000 other Japanese-Canadians were interned.
TLC is a registered charity and land trust protecting wilderness areas, cultural landmarks, and agricultural lands in B.C. Since 1997, TLC has protected over 120,000 acres of sensitive and threatened lands around B.C., involving more than 300 projects. TLC has grown to include over 7,000 members, and is now part of an international network of National Trusts with over 7 million members.
Submitted on April 25, 2008 in By David.
