club no. 101 chartered with probus canada

   Probus Club of Ottawa Alta Vista

   sponsored by the rotary club of ottawa

SPEAKER PROGRAM

April 23rd, Peggy Blair
Getting Published

Peggy J. Blair is a Canadian lawyer and author. She has been a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1990 and is a past member of the Law Society of Alberta (1982 - 1999). Peggy is considered an expert in Indigenous legal issues. After leaving active law practice, she became a mystery writer.
Peggy will talk about her "reverse trajectory" from being published by the Big Five (and being an internationally-acclaimed bestselling author) to being self-published and her future plans for ReBound Press.

Peggy Blair's first mystery novel, THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, was turned down 156 times before it was shortlisted for the U.K. Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award. She didn't win the prestigious award, but after a brief encounter with writer Ian Rankin (now Sir Ian) in a hotel bar in Harrogate the night before she headed home, he told her 156 rejections "wasn't too bad" and that she should contact his Canadian publisher and use his name.

As a result, she ended up represented by Rankin's U.K. agent, hit the Frankfurt Book Fair hotlist, and was published internationally to critical acclaim. The story of how Ian Rankin helped her was retold as far afield as the Sydney Herald in Australia, where the newspaper suggested that next time she should buy Rankin a beer.

THE BEGGAR'S OPERA (since renamed MIDNIGHT IN HAVANA after its U.K. title) won the Giller Prize Reader's Choice Award and was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best Novel Award, among others. Peggy has since created her own imprint, Rebound Press, and her books can be purchased through reboundpress.com.

May 28th, Johanna Lemke
A Wartime Childhood - Netherlands

Johanna Lemke lived through the horrors of WWII as a child in war-torn Hengelo, The Netherlands. She lived through nights of terror spent in the cellar during air raids and the dreaded raids, when friends and neighbors were taken away to the camps. Perhaps the most stressful time was when a Nazi officer forcefully billeted himself in her family home.

After the liberation of The Netherlands, three Canadian soldiers were billeted with her family. One of the soldiers, William B. McKeever, from Brockville, encouraged the family to emigrate to Canada and offered to be their sponsor. In 1953 the family arrived in Brockville and connected with 'Uncle Bill'.

Johanna graduated from Ottawa Teachers' College. After eleven years of teaching she took writing courses at Algonquin College and the University of Ottawa. At Carleton University, she studied Children's Literature as part of her combined English/German major and won a Senate Medal for her efforts.

Johanna took her wartime experiences and wrote about them in Enemy Under Our Roof: A Childhood Memoir from the Nazi-occupied Netherlands 1940 - 1945 which was published in 2020.

Stay Safe

Johnson Insurance

We have added a link to the Johnson Insurance web site (see "Links" page).
Johnson provides competitive rates for Probus members for all kinds of insurance, particularly travel insurance.
They are in the process of joining with Belair Direct, but this link will still give you access.

Guests and Visitors from other Clubs are welcome.

Meetings are at:

Gloucester Presbyterian Church
91 Pike Street
Ottawa K1T 3J6

Pike Street runs north from Hunt Club just west of Conroy. The church is at the corner of Lorry Greenberg and Pike. The parking lot entrance is off Pike.

... to stimulate thought, interest and participation in activities at a time in life when it is easy to become complacent and self-centred.