The great thing about writing for Chemainus resident Craig Spence is he can let his imagination run wild.
He’s done that to great acclaim with his recent books and there’s plenty more ideas where that came from.
But Spence is also creating magic for bringing families together that will only be accentuated with the pending release of a literary classic, Flibber T. Gibbet, An Adventure on the Hermit’s Trail. It’s a collaboration of Spence’s writing with an emphasis on local significance, and wife Diana Durrand’s brilliant illustrations.
The title character is an elf and refers to his flitty talk.
“He likes playing tricks on people,” said Spence. “I read Wind In The Willows as part of my work-up to this.
“I hope I see adults reading it to their kids as an excuse for reading it themselves,” he laughed.
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Recently, Spence and Durrand received some great news when Chris Clement of Chris Clement Construction offered to sponsor the book. “Chris’ contribution will help us get the book off the press and into the hands of readers more quickly,” Spence said.
Spence is a busy guy working on his masterpieces and also doing volunteer work for the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society and Rainforest Arts. He’s embraced the multi-media lifestyle to get all the necessary messages across for the organization and to promote his works.
Spence was born in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, but grew up in Montreal and left there at 19 years of age to come to B.C.
“I hitchhiked out when I graduated from high school,” he recalled.
Ah, those were the days.
Spence stayed at Vancouver’s Wreck Beach for a couple of months – again, those were the days. “I slept under the logs and in sleeping bags when you could do that,” he chuckled.
Spence always loved the ocean that lured him to this region to stay. He worked as a reporter in Vancouver and Sechelt before moving to Langley where he became communications manager for the Langley School District.
Spence arrived on the island in 2013 in Victoria and moved to Chemainus seven years ago, prompting a brief return to journalism as editor of the Ladysmith Chronicle.
“I hadn’t been in a newsroom for about 15 years,” Spence quipped. “The transformation really knocked my socks off.”
He spent a year and a half at the Chronicle and 15 years overall as a reporter.
“I really enjoyed my work, but now I can do things I want to do in terms of my writing,” said Spence, who turns 70 in October. “I’ve always chosen careers that were affiliated with writing.”
Having the freedom to choose how to spend his time is just too appealing at this stage of Spence’s life.
“I like the volunteering. It’s wonderful. You can contribute in ways you simply want to.”
He had technically retired after the school district job, but that’s only fully been realized since he left the Ladysmith editor’s post. Spence has a studio in his Chemainus home to conduct writings and video work while Durrand has her own space for art.
They meet in the middle around the house and it all works out fine, including collaborating on projects like the Flibber T. Gibbet book.
Durrand also joined the Chemainus Residents Association since they moved to Chemainus and Spence took over after she had to resign. Spence has also been connected with the CVCAS now for more than five years.
“It’s a good organization and it’s really amazing what they’ve managed to achieve,” he said, particularly since COVID.
“They did run the Music In The Park series. It was amazing how much they were able to do considering the situation. I think a lot of these organizations helped weather the COVID isolations.”
Craig began his writing connections of local significance with the Mural Gazer that he started in 2018 and calls a direct web novel.
“I’ve just finished the second revision to that,” he added.
The entire novel is online. “As a method of writing and as a future mode of writing, I think it’s one that has to be explored,” reasoned Spence.
One of the fictional characters in the story, Harry Sanderson, goes into the murals and lives the stories based on his personal memoirs.
“It’s intended to be humorous and to challenge our notions. The stories touch on the changing of social values.
“It’s all fiction, for sure, but I hope it resonates as serious fiction. It does raise lots of seniors issues. The central theme is how people of European ancestry have to re-evaluate their lives.
“It’s almost like a series of short stories tied together,” added Spence. “Where the murals come in, they’re stories within the story.”
Flibber T. Gibbet has been a great project for Durrand and Spence. It’s intended primarily for the 8-12-year-old age group.
For them, “it gives the murals a bit of extra reach, extra dimension,” Spence indicated. “The imagery and context is all based on the hermit’s trail.”
Other books he’s done include: The Boy From Under; Josh & The Magic Vial in 2006; Einstein Dog in 2009; and Blowdown in 2013. Einstein Dog was nominated for the B.C. Teacher Librarian Association’s Chocolate Lily Book Award and Josh & The Magic Vial for the B.C. Book Prize.
Spence also has numerous ideas and works in progress that will keep readers of all ages anticipating the next release.
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don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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