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Tributes

Dr. Ignatius Fay (1950 - 2022)

It is with great sadness that we must report on the death, on Saturday November 5th, 2022, of paleontologist, friend, mentor, and haiku poet Ignatius Fay.
Some of you in Haiku Canada will remember him as the Ontario Regional Coordinator for Haiku Canada and his tireless work in promoting the work of the Ontario Region and across Canada. Also, we will always remember him for the on-line workshops during our last few Online Haiku Canada weeks.
Ignatius was born in Levack, a small mining town just northwest of Sudbury in northern Ontario. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Invertebrate Paleontology in 1983, at the age of 33. He became the first Invertebrate Paleontologist of the Royal Tyrrell Museum ofPaleontology in Drumheller, Alberta during its design and building stage. By 1986, his health had deteriorated; he had a lung removed and was told he'd never see the age of forty. On twenty-four-hour oxygen therapy, he taught himself computer graphics, and became a well-published and award-winning haiku/tanka poet.


Sharing the sad news that Margaret Rutley, who has been a member of Haiku Canada and of Haiku Arbutus in Victoria, BC, has passed away.


On behalf of the Haiku Canada community
we extend prayers and condolences
to the family and friends of Margaret Rutley
Angela Leuck
President

Margaret Rutley passed away peacefully, surrounded by family in August 2022.
For over 20 years, she published lyric and haiku poetry in journals and anthologies in Canada, the US, England, India, Africa, and New Zealand. In 2022, she co-created a book of haiku and related poems, with Sidney Bending, called Whether Forecast. Margaret collaborated with Sidney and Nika (Jim Force) for seven years, publishing rengay and sequences under the group name, The Heron's Quill. She typed and proofread braille, served in the air force, rode horses, played guitar and sang in a nightclub, taught piano to her husband, and has two grown children and three grandchildren.
-- adapted from the Haiku Society of America email newsletter: Volume 37, Number 09 | Sept 05, 2022

Here is a poem of Margaret's, published in The Wanderer Brush by Ion Codrescu:
covered bridge ...
at the end
greeting my shadow


Muriel Ford (1926 – 2021)

It is with sadness that I share the news with the Haiku Canada community of the passing of Muriel Ford on June 10. Her nephew, Bill Anderson, kindly notified us.
Her first haiku was published in Modern Haiku, and the editor wrote to her that it was the first time the magazine had published a “first” haiku.
• Read more …
Muriel Ford Obituary - Toronto Star
~ Philomene Kocher


Winona Baker (1924 – 2020)

We are saddened to report that pioneering Canadian haiku poet Winona Baker died on 23 October 2020. She was 96 years old.
The following essay on Winona Baker, was written by Terry Ann Carter, and published in her book “Moonflowers: Pioneering Women Haiku Poets in Canada”, Catkin Press, 2020. The essay is reprinted courtesy of Terry Ann and Catkin Press.
• Read essay …


• Past the Stars: Remembering Marianne Bluger PDF … by Terry Ann Carter – French translation by Jessica Tremblay.

• Essay on Winona Baker by Terry Ann Carter – excerpt from “Moonflowers: Pioneering Women Haiku Poets in Canada”, Catkin Press, 2020. The essay is reprinted courtesy of Terry Ann and Catkin Press.