Homecoming queen
Homecoming Queen
In 1942, Joy Kogawa and her family were removed from their home in Vancouver’s Marpole neighbourhood and interned with other Japanese Canadians, a life-changing experience she evokes in her classic 1981 novel, Obasan. That childhood home was almost demolished in 2005, but the Land Conservancy of B.C. saved it from the wrecking ball and preserved it as a cultural centre. Historic Joy Kogawa House hosted its first writer-in-residence in 2009, while its 74-year-old former resident continued her memoir-in-progress, Gently to Nagasaki.
Folk hero
Since Joni Mitchell left Saskatoon with her guitar in the mid-1960s, she's done everything her way. She's maintained tight control over her 40-year recording career, which appeared to have ended in 2002, when she announced her retirement. Mitchell resurfaced in 2007 with a new CD (Shine) and a ballet (The Fiddle and the Drum), and is planning to release a retrospective collection. Her continued success at age 66 has come despite coping with Morgellons, a debilitating skin disease. Photo by Capannelle
Activist actor
Her dad, Tommy Douglas, was the CBC's Greatest Canadian and her son Kiefer Sutherland is TV's toughest counterterrorist. But Shirley Douglas, 75, is hardly one to ride on their coattails. She's renowned not just for her intensity as an actor, but also for her outspoken defence of the public healthcare system founded by her father.
First stringer
Some classical musicians haul out the same standards for decades, which is why Liona Boyd is so refreshing. The First Lady of the Guitar celebrated her 60th birthday with last fall's release of Liona Boyd Sings Songs of Love, the first CD to feature her on vocals. "After 50 years of searching, I finally found my voice," says Boyd, still stunning more than three decades after dating Pierre Trudeau. Photo by Brian King
