BC author, 94, publishes 2nd novel based on memoirs

Announcement by Arleigh Fanning

Kory Shillam

Kory Shillam has always been a writer. Daughter of William Albert Tutte, the front page editor of the Vancouver Sun during the Second World War, she came by her love of the written word honestly. As one of her six daughters, I have many memories of my mum taking courses and sitting at her desk writing stories.

In addition to crafting wonderful tales for children, and poetry and articles for magazines, she wrote two books on our family history based on twenty years of research. People Like Us Are We, a history of my father’s family, goes all the way back to the 1600s. I remember searching for her one day while she was at work on one of these histories, calling to her and hearing  from the depths of the basement,  “I’m down here with the dead!” — followed by laughter.  Our family has been blessed with the legacy of these two books. I hug myself every time I pick one of them up to read a date, a name or an event about which I wouldn’t otherwise have known.

With urging from writing course instructors and family, Kory wrote Under the Lilacs, an autobiographical novel, and self-published it in 2007.  Many of  her readers commented that they wanted to find out what happened to the characters beyond the end of that book. So, with not very much coaxing, Kory wrote the sequel, Milly and Freddie, which was published in December 2011. Also based on memoir, it takes the characters in Under the Lilacs to the next stage in their lives. Milly finds love against the backdrop of Vancouver during the Second World War.

Truly, all Kory’s writing takes on the voice of love.  You really do get to know her characters and care for them dearly. Though I read Milly and Freddie many times during the editing/publishing process and could probably recite it verbatim, I cry at the ending every time. Her novels appeal to readers of all ages, from your twelve-year-old children or grandchildren to your Great-Aunt Susie.

Birthing Milly and Freddie has been a family affair, with Kory doing the writing, and my sister Lorill, a legal secretary for forty years, taking care of word processing and formatting. She and I spent many hours immersed in the novel. I am the editor and marketer of Milly and Freddie. Sisters Marnie, Diane and Elizabeth each took a turn reading it, to help with the editing, before we sent the manuscript to print.

I decided on the printer, found a store to sell the books, delivered them, contacted the local newspaper and arranged a book signing.  There will be a picture of Kory and signed copies of the book at the book signing, but I will man the table. At 94 and being hard of hearing, she would find attending such an event difficult. Yet even now, her days are spent in her office writing stories of days gone by with her family.

Kory Shillam lives with her husband Bob on the shores of Swan Lake in British Columbia.  The lake and mountain views foster lots of ideas for stories, as do the creatures that live around her beloved Wyldewood Cottage.

To order a copy of Milly and Freddie, please email  utlbooks@shaw.ca. Cheques are payable to Kory Shillam: $23 ($20 book + $3 shipping).

Click here to read my 2007 interview with Kory.