Inspirational Men & Woman

Denise Shervey is an Auto Body Mechanic - born in Calgary, Alberta and one who definitely not only knows about car but all about  cheap auto insurance .  Well, afterall, she was the first woman in Alberta to complete training as an autobody mechanic in 1974.  Born in 1953 and moved to Vancouver in 1993, she family moved to Edmonton from 1957 to 1962, then returned to Calgary.  Denise had interests in art, athletic and motorcycles and indentified herslef as a lesbian after completing high school - in those time - that was a more than brave move.  It was after high school that she complted her training as an autobody mechanic.

Robin Kay is no stranger to the people in the fashion world - in fact i just read about her recently in Torontolife, she looks as good as ever - i bet she takes a lot of  vitamin to look this good.  Robin is a designer and a innovator and born in Winnipeg.  With no traiing in fashion design, Robin began in 1976 by opening a high-end fashion retair chain called Robin Kay Clothing Company.

Today she has 18 retail stores, and wholesales her designs to over 600 accounts throughout the US.  She recognized that Canada was in need of an organization with the purpose of promoting and mobilizing Canadian fashion on an international stage.  In 1999, Kay divested her chain stores and joined the Fashion Design Council of Canada.  As an international ambassdor for Canada’s fashion industry, Kay leads the FDCC in the organization of L’Oreal Fashion Week in toronto and is guest judge for Project runway Canada.  Robin is credited for pulling together Canada’s’s most succesful fashion event.

Linda Manzer is not the first Manzer that I’ve come to know since arriving in Canada - but she is definitely one of the first Manzer that has made a huge contribution to society and to the music industry.  Why?  well, you see Linda Manzer is a musical instrument maker - born in Toronto, Ontario  - she became interested in making stringed instrucments during the early 70s while attending Nova Scotial College of Art and Design.  You can  learn more about here for her passion, design and craftsmanship in woodworking lead her to become one of the most sought after acoustic guitar makers in the world.

Linda studied the art of guitar making under Jean-Claude Larrivee for 4 yrs in Toronto.  Following her work with Larrivee, Linda created specially designed, made-to-order guitars for some of the best.   In 1984, she trained under James d’ Aquisto in New York to learn to make archtop guitars in the tradition of John d’ Angelico.  By the 90s, she had built some 120 guitars, including miniature instruments; for example, a charanga for Cockburn, the 42-string “Pikasso”, the six-string “Methenytone” and a 12 String tiple for Metheny and a 20 string gitaron for the Chilean guitarist - Angel Parra.  What a women eh..??   I saw some of her work online - and it was breathtaking - you can check it out yourself.

Silken Laumann is an athlete, author and speaker - born in Mississauga, Ontario and my age!  woohoo! i’ve never met one around my age - in Canada that I can identify with but when i was getting some ephedra diet pills for my neighbor - someone who was at the pharmacy was reading up on Silken Laumann.  What a name to start with eh.

She qualified for Canada’s National Rowing Team at 18 yrs of age.  One year later, she won a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in LA.  She went on to win a gold medal at Pan American Games in 1987, and in 1991 became the world champion.  While training for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, a rowing skull cut across her path shredding muscles and breaking bones in her leg.  After 5 operations and just 27 days after the accident, she competed in the Olympics, winning a bronze medal for Canada.

Among her many awards, in 1997 Silken Laumann was the first non-American to receive the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award.  She was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, retiring in 1999 having won three Olympic medals and four World Championships.  Her rowing career ended in 1999 but her ability to inspire continues through her charity work, as an author and an inspirational speaker.

Marvis Gallant is the other Gallant I’ve known since arriving in Canada - the other Gallant is the ex- boyfriend of my kid’s sitter - but he is in PEI and a very nice kid too.  But Marvis Gallant is a writer - while the other is still very young and have a  blackhead here and there of course, but  i’m sure has potential for great things.

But Marvis Gallant is another story - an orphan who attended 17 different school in the States, she returned to Canada, and became a feature reporter for the Montreal Standard in 1944.  Marvis began writing fiction in Canada, publishing stories in Preview, the Standard Magazine and the Northen Review.  In 1950, determined to write full time, she settled in Paris where she is still residing.

She has published 100s of stories, many of which appeared in the New Yorker magazine.  She published many novellas, such as The Other Pris, My Heart is Broken, as well as two novels, Green Water, Green Sky and A Fairly Good Time.  In 1981, Marvis received the Governor General’s Award for Literature.  For the 15th District and Home Truths, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.  In 1993, she was raised to Companion.  In 2001, Marvis became the first winner of the Matt Cohen Award.  Marvis was also honored with the 2006 Prix Athanase - David.

Lily Laverock is an immigrant to Canada from Scotland in the lat 1800s - she loves outdoor décor and was the first woman to graduate in moral philosophyfrom Montreal’s McGill University.  Lily was also a impresario/writer and was also the first woman newspaper reporter in Vancouver.

She was the founding member of the University Women’s Club in 1907and the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Women’s Press Club in 1909.  She became a reporter for the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Women’s Press Club in 1909.  She became a reporter for the Vancouver World in 1910 and later, women’s editor for the News Advertiser in 1918.  She launched her career as an impresario in 1921 with the International Celebrity Concerts, which continued until WWII.  She is credited with bringing important artists to Vancouver, such as Murice Ravel and Sergei Rachmaninoff.  In the 1930s, she presented the Jooss Ballet, Colonel de Basil’s Ballet Russe and American Ballet Caravan.  Lily retired in the 1950s.

Annie Rolins Gale does not have any jobs in administration but she was a very intelligent woman with academic ability, born in Englad, she is a political activist and an Alderman.    Annie passed the Oxford Entrance Examination in 1890.   We all know that women during those times ere not able to become students at Oxford, so she helped run the family business instead and got married - like what most people expects of women folks during those time.   In 1912, with their two young sons, they migrated to Canada.

Annie organized Canada’s first Women’s Ratepayers’ Association and after women in Alberta gained the right to vote in 1916, she accepted the group’s invitation to run in 1917 city council election in Calgary.  At a time when there were no women in government across Canada.  Annie managed to win a seat too - now that must have gone down in history eh.

Annie served for three terms as an alderman, though she was unable to win a seat in 1921 provincial election.  In 1923, Annie and her husband moved to Vancouver, where they lived out the rest of their lives.

Marie was a nun and at only the age of 14, she was admitted into the religious profession.  There was no allergy bedding at that time and I’m sure at 14 - it must not be an easy decision unless you were personally called by God (as it is well known).  In 1874, she was called upon by Father CAmille to direct the young Acadian women in New Brunswick in the service of the College of Memramcook.  It was here in 1880 that she founded her Institue of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, devoted to the service of priests.

Marie gradually came to serve more than 40 houses until her death in 1812.  On the day of her death, she finally received permission to print the Little Rule of the constitutions, which she had been patiently awaiting for 20 yrs.  She suddenly went to her final sleep after saying to a sick sister, “good bye, see you in heaven”.   Remembered for her generous heart, Mother Leonie left more than 600 sisters happy to walk in her footsetps.