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Canadian poet, community activist, performance artist and editor Murdoch Maclean Burnett was born in Calgary, Alberta, in 1953, the seventh of eleven children. Began writing poetry in 1971 and first performed publically in 1975 at the Alberta College of Art. Has lectured and instructed at local high schools, Alberta College of Art and Design, Mount Royal College and the University of Calgary. An active member of the alternative or counter culture, he has been involved in writing and editing a number of papers, magazines and literary collectives, producing performances of others such as William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, drumming in two rock bands, acting in local films, as well as publishing several novels and poetry collections. Additional information available in A literary history of Alberta, v. 2, p. 86, 180.

Edward Dickenson (E.D.) Blodgett is a professor of comparative literature, poet, literary critic and translator. He was born in Philadelphia on February 26, 1935. He earned a BA in English from Amhurst College (1956), an MA in French from University of Minnesota (1961), and a PhD in Comparative Literature from Rutgers University (1969). He was an instructor at the Institute of American Universities, Aix-en-Provence, France from 1962-1963. From 1963 to 1966, he was an instructor at Rutgers. He was a professor at the University of Alberta from 1966 until his retirement in 2000. Blodgett is a founder of the University’s of Alberta’s Department of Comparative Literature (later integrated into the Department of Comparative Literature, Religion and Film/Media Studies). He is currently professor emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Blodgett has published numerous books including Apostrophes: Woman at a Piano, which earned him the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry in 1996. He is also the recipient of the Henry Kreisel Award for Excellence in Teaching (1997) and the J. Gordin (sic) Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research (1998). In 1999, Blodgett’s work Transfiguration which was translated by Jacques Brault, won the Governor General’s Literary Award. Blodgett was the Writer in Residence at Grant MacEwan College from February to May 2004. In 2007, Blodgett was appointed Poet Laureate for the City of Edmonton and his work, “Poems for a Small Park” was mounted on panels at Riverfront Park. Blodgett’s poetry has been performed to music such as “An Ark of Koans” (2003) and “The Only Face I Want is Yours” (2009).

Canadian author and poet Robert Kroetsch was born in Heisler, Alberta, on June 26, 1927 and died near Drumheller, Alberta, June 21, 2011. Biographical information available in The Oxford companion to Canadian literature, 2nd ed., p. 608-610.

Joseph Henry Newman was believed to be born March 5, 1886. His parents died approximately 10 years later and he supported himself after that time.

Merron Chorny was born in Ranfurly, Alberta on August 31st, 1922. He graduated from the Edmonton Normal School in 1942 but interrupted his undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, serving as a Flying Officer from 1943-1945. He later returned and received his Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta in 1947 and his Master of Education in 1949. Chorny was the principal of Grimshaw School from 1949-1958. He was accepted as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Alberta in 1958 on a program leading to his doctorate. In 1960 Chorny accepted a position at the University of Alberta, Calgary as an assistant professor in English Education.

Chorny played a leadership role in a number of teaching and education organizations and was responsible for several pioneering initiatives in improving instruction and the delivery of English programs. Chorny served on the Alberta Department of Education Junior High School Curriculum Committee and on the sub-committee for the marking of Grade 9 exams. He was publications editor of the English Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and was on the committee to study teaching loads. In 1964 he organized and was chair of the English Commandos, a group that worked within the structure of the English Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association. The Commandos were teams of knowledgeable resource persons who offered one-day workshops in some area of teaching English, such as reading, composition, or poetry. The workshops provided an in-service approach to assisting teachers, and could take on the role of consultants for projects and other activities. As Vice-President of the English Council, Chorny was also invited to attend the International Conference on the Teaching of English held at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire in 1966. Chorny became President of the English Council in 1967.

In 1966, Chorny chaired a conference that discussed the formation of a Canadian Council of Teachers of English (CCTE). Chorny was active in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), which had a North American agenda but was focussed primarily on education in the United States. Chorny believed that an organization focussed on Canadian English concerns and issues would be advantageous. The CCTE became a reality in 1967 with Chorny as the President of the Council.

Chorny wrote the Just English series of English textbooks; he also wrote Teacher as Learner, and Teacher as Researcher to encourage the further education of teachers of English. Chorny was also a firm believer in writing as an expression of self. He wrote many creative and fictional articles, several of which were later published, including the short story Obitiuary. He also wrote several pieces and had drafted the outlines of chapters for a larger work on the history and people of the Ranfurly area where he grew up.

Chorny retired from the University of Calgary in 1985 and was granted Professor Emeritus status.

Frederick G. Heymann was born in Berlin on December 24, 1900. He studied history, philosophy, economics and sociology at the Universities of Berlin, Göttingen, Heidelberg and Frankfurt. He received his PhD from the University of Frankfurt in 1922 and spent two years on postgraduate work with Werner Sombart, an historian of modern capitalism.

Heymann started his journalism career in 1925 as the assistant economic policy editor for Frankfurter Zeitung, a highly regarded newspaper in pre-Hitler Germany. In 1932 he moved to Czechoslovakia as head of the Prague editorial office. Heymann’s writing came under increasing criticism from the German legation as being too friendly to the Czech people and to Czechoslovak policy. In 1935 the office was taken over by the Nazis and Heymann moved on to the Bohemia, a local daily paper of which he was editor, chief editorial writer and diplomatic correspondent. Both of these positions involved intensive diplomatic travel and study of the politics, economies and history of Eastern European countries.

Several members of the Bohemia’s editorial staff were arrested in March 1939; although Heymann was questioned, he was subsequently let go. With the help of Dr. Zdenek Schmoranz from the Press Department in the office of the Prime Minister, Heymann was able to leave the country with his family, arriving in England in July 1939. He expected to travel on to Australia but the outbreak of the war prevented him from doing so, and also contributed to his 10-week stay in an internment camp on the Isle of Man.

Heymann took classes to become proficient in English and was eventually employed in 1941 by the British Ministry of Information. He wrote and edited articles and became the military correspondent for Die Zeitung, a German language paper sponsored by the Ministry. In 1944 he was hired by the United States Office of War Information, a position that enabled him to travel to Germany as a civilian editor for the illustrated weekly Heute. At the end of the war, Heymann and his family emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York in July 1946.

Once in America, Heymann taught history at high schools and pursued his life-long passion of research and writing. His first book was published in 1955, a major work on John Žižka and the Hussite Revolution. Between 1956-1958 he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and then was Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa 1958-1959. He joined the University of Calgary in 1959 as an associate professor of history, later serving as Head of the Department. Heymann was widely acknowledged as an authority on Czech history and would publish numerous articles, chapters and books, including George of Bohemia, King of Heretics (1965) and Poland and Czechoslovakia (1966). He retired from the University of Calgary in 1973 and was granted Professor Emeritus status for his outstanding scholarship and service.

Heymann and his first wife Edith had two children, Ruth Bean and Frank. Edith died in 1966. Heymann married his second wife Dr. Lili Rabel from the Department of Linguistics, University of Calgary, in 1969. He died in 1983.

James Kennedy Cornwall was born on Oct. 30, 1869 to parents, Thomas Cornwall and Hannah Kennedy in Brant County, Ontario. At the age of 14, he was in Buffalo, New York on his own selling newspapers to help support his family after his father’s death. He soon shipped out and by 1896 he had circled the globe on various ships and trekked across various countries, including Russia. In 1896, he tried to make his fortune in the grain market in Chicago and failed. He came north into Alberta and got a job on the railway in the Crowsnest Pass area. He did some guiding and transportation work during the gold rush. By 1898, he was in north and established a partnership with Fletcher Bredin trapping and trading in the Peace River Country. They sold out to Revilllon Frères fur trade company and Jim Cornwall began to focus more on transportation in the North. He also gained a mail contract and delivered mail from Edmonton to Peace River Crossing. On Dec. 30, 1908, he married Evelyn Beatrice Tierney and that same year he was elected by acclamation as MLA/MPP (interchangeable terms) for the Peace River constituency until 1912. This began some of his most vociferous promotion of the Peace River area to settlers and investors. In 1910, after failing to receive support from the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, he financed a trip of reporters, adventure writers, agriculturalists, and geologists to see the potential of the Peace Country. In 1911, his daughter Catherine Peace (later Hudson) was born and again in 1915, another daughter, Norah (later Pollard). In World War 1, Jim helped to recruit and led the 218th Battalion Edmonton Irish Guards who sailed out February 1917. They eventually became part of the 8th Battalion Canadian Railway Troops. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and received the Distinguished Service Order and the Croix de Guerre from the French Government. He was discharged in 1918. In 1922, his son James was born. Around the years 1925-1928, he initiated the Wood Buffalo National Park project and moved many of the bison to the park. He continued to promote the north for many years, though he was living in Edmonton

Greg Hollinsgshead was born in Toronot, Ontario and is a Canadian novelist. He was educated in Canada and England and earned a PhD from the University College, University of London (1974). In his academic career at the University of Alberta, he rose to the rank of Professor, teaching in rthe English Department from 1975-2005. His professeional career as writer included terms as chair and first vice-cahir of teh Writers' Union of Canada from 2010-2012, as well as

Greg Hollinsgshead was born in Toronot, Ontario and is a Canadian novelist. He was educated in Canada and England and earned a PhD from the University College, University of London (1974). In his academic career at the University of Alberta, he rose to the rank of Professor, teaching in rthe English Department from 1975-2005. His professeional career as writer included terms as chair and first vice-cahir of teh Writers' Union of Canada from 2010-2012, as well as

Bill Onions grew up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and gained his first experience with photography in high school working on the school yearbook. He then worked for Excello Photo for 18 months prior to attending a 3 month residency course in portraiture at the New York Institute of Photography. Bill continued to work for Excello Photo for 6 years during which time he met his wife and future business partner Hilda. The couple moved to Calgary in 1962 where Bill worked for CFCN-TV, at first doing promotional still photography and then later in film. Leaving CFCN in 1968 Bill freelanced in commercial photography for 2 years prior to opening Onions' Photography at 620-8th Avenue SW in 1970. Hilda acted as receptionist and generally handled the portraiture side of the business while Bill gained a reputation for commercial photography. He is probably best known for his ability to photograph oil field operations in the high arctic during adverse weather conditions. The Onions opened a new studio in 1978 at 5609 Bow Trail NW and then later moved to 156 Strathcona Road SW.