speculating.diaryland.com
A tribute to one of Canada's finest
2003-07-17 :: 11:43 a.m.

One of my most favourite authors died last night. I was in shock and disbelief when I found out this morning. Shields is one of Canada's top literary authors and she will be greatly missed by me and countless other individuals. I wanted to dedicate the entry to her because she is so amazing. I hope she is no longer suffering and is in a better place now.


Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Shields dies
http://www.cbc.ca/storyview/MSN/2003/07/17/shields_obit_030717

VICTORIA - Carol Shields, one of Canada's most celebrated authors, died Wednesday night after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 68.

"It is going to take all of our courage, resolve and grace to even try to go on without her," said her daughter Anne Giardini. "She had many books left to write. We are bereft."

Shields was born in Illinois in 1935, but moved to Canada in 1957 after meeting her future husband on a college exchange program in England. He became an engineering professor in his homeland. She became a Canadian citizen.

Despite the challenge of raising five children, Shields pursued a graduate degree in English literature. She then took up writing largely out of frustration as a reader. She said she couldn't find enough interesting books about women's lives.

Turning 40 ended up being a big deal. Her first novel, Small Ceremonies and her thesis on Susanna Moodie were both accepted for publication. She never looked back.

Shields published more than half a dozen other books in the 1970s and 1980s, including Happenstance and The Orange Fish.

In 1995, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Governor General's Award for The Stone Diaries. Other honours included the Orange Prize for Larry's Party and the Order of Canada.

In addition to writing acclaimed poetry, novels and short stories, Shields became a teacher. She was a professor at the University of Ottawa, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Manitoba.

When profiled by CBC's Life & Times in 2001, it was obvious that her family, not her fame, was central to her life. She was fighting the cancer that was spreading inside her, but continued to write and relish time with her children and husband � her loving partner for almost half a century.

"I don't think literary reputations live on," Shields said in 2002.

"Books fall out of the public eye. So I don't have a sense of leaving anything permanent. � Naturally I like to write books that people enjoy reading, but the literary legacy, no, it's very unimportant to me."

Shields is survived by her husband Don and five children.

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me
1984. female. sometimes happy. sometimes sad. sometimes mad. always tired. no clue what she is doing with her life. currently working to save money. hates herself.

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