A journalist for seven years with large daily newspapers, I've always had an inquiring mind. My reporter skills have never left me and I always ask who, what, where, when, why and how, and include that information in every article I write. The reader wants to be informed.

My other careers included raising Registered Herefords on a 600-acre spread on the East coast; doing everything from scratch from milking the cow and churning the butter to tapping the maple trees and making maple syrup to halter breaking the calves and showing them at cattle fairs;
- raising Arabian and American Saddlebred horses on the West coast;
- living in the Northwest Territories and going down into the Giant Gold Mine;
- being a town manager in Nova Scotia and Alberta for 14 years during which time I made a point of informing the public how they could get things down at city hall - my goal being to be the best civil servant ever;
- designing historic and beautification projects to spruce up whole towns, formulating economic development projects and prospectuses to attract new business and industry to towns.
- taking on every municipal job from dog catcher to by-law enforcement officer to economic development officer to writing by-laws and acting as the prosecution in court;
- getting sick with an incurable illness and finding my way back to health the natural way - without the help of the medical profession who said there was no cure - and because of my studies, becoming a natural health mentor;
- editor of Canada's largest natural health magazine,
300,000 monthly circulation. Proactive in lining up writers, major articles and photo shoots a year in advance, resulting in 100% on-time freelance submissions and increased overall efficiency.
- working as a speech writer for the politician in charge of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, and writing all his speeches to get agriculture laws passed in the Alberta Legislature;
- purchasing and renovating old houses;
- landscaping urban lots and pasture management on the farm;
- studying veterinary books and doing my own veterinary work on cattle, horses, dogs, cats, pigs, rabbits and chickens;
- achieving gourmet cooking status with fresh homegrown food;
- a lifelong voracious reader, with the thesaurus and the encyclopedia being essential in my search for knowledge.

Other interests and achievements include:
- being a volunteer leader for Nicotine Anonymous World Services, an organization that provides a spiritual 12-step program and support to nicotine addicts who want to quit using tobacco and stay quit.
- I was an active member of Toastmasters International for ten years; in my first year I was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award, presented to one newcomer out of 4,000 members for all of Saskatchewan and Alberta for editing and writing award winning newsletters and for writing and designing a 50-page public speaking manual for Toastmasters; this award is given annually to one new Toastmaster for competitiveness, enthusiasm, dedication, mentoring others, personal improvement, service to the organization and to one's community.
- in three years completed the four-year course in Municipal Administration from Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, specifically Accounting, Municipal Law, Administration and Economics. Only student since its inception in 1935 to complete the four-year Municipal Administration Program.
- political activist, especially in the areas of environmental concerns, responsibility for actions and freedom of speech.

My passion is ...

being passionate about everything that interests me

I know too much about ...

government

My childhood ambition ...

to be a writer

My favorite memory ...

the magic of living on a farm and caring for animals

Why I write ...

Knowledge is everything, moreso if movingly written

My first job ...

A news reporter at the age of 17

My best moment ...

Having my great loves - my soul mate and a farm

Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Ghosts

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Unfinished Business

"Can the dead come back to this world to take care of unfinished business?" asked Robert Stack, host of Unsolved Mysteries.

Perhaps this tale will provide an answer.

At the turn of the century, Samuel Bancroft, who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Nova Scotia, farmed and operated a store in the hamlet of Round Hill in the Annapolis Valley. He lived in a stately white house with his four grown children from his first marriage, and his second wife.

Samuel was considered to be very wealthy. After all, he had purchased a $100,000 life insurance polic...

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