Lois Simmie's Books

Finding My Way

A Memoir

By: Lois Simmie

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Lois Simmie was born in Edam, Saskatchewan in 1932. Filled with awe and wonder at the bountiful and remarkable world unfolding around her Simmie takes us on the journey of her life and the events that shaped her into a writer. She describes her whimsical youth in Saskatchewan in a bygone era of Frank Sinatra on the radio, Amos ‘n’ Andy, the jitterbug, jazz, square dances, and Hollywood movies every Friday night in the town hall. Simmie’s magical delight in all things transports us through the Depression and war years to childhood summer visits to Hopkinsville, Kentucky in her relatives’ Gone With the Wind-style southern mansion, an adventure in the lush beauty of Brazil, and to Scotland while writing her first non-fiction book, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson, about the murder of a young Scottish woman by her RCMP husband. Simmie fell in love with words at a young age but it isn’t until later in life that she takes up her calling as a writer while living in Saskatoon. She describes the burgeoning Saskatchewan writing scene as “electric” as she enters an exciting community of like-minded writers and poets, a hotbed of creativity and inspiration that is the impetus of her finest writing and the culmination of an astonishing life story.

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Page Count

313

Publisher

Coteau Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

155050794X

ISBN 13

9781550507942

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

A True Story of Love & Murder

By: Lois Simmie

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The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

A True Story of Love & Murder

By: Lois Simmie

John Wilson came to Canada from Scotland in 1912, leaving his wife and family with the promise to return in a year. In 1914 he joined the Mounties, and while stationed in Saskatchewan village, he caught TB and fell hopelessly in love with the young woman who took care of him. He would do anything for her, anything at all. Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Non-Fiction, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson is played out against a backdrop of catastrophic events—World War I, economic depression, the TB and Spanish Flu epidemics. It is a riveting story of passion, murder and retribution

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Page Count

239

Publisher

Greystone Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1771641843

ISBN 13

9781771641845

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

By: Lois Simmie

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They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

By: Lois Simmie

Eleanor Smith has it all - just ask the people around her. She's married to a successful and respected man; they live in a beautiful home with three healthy children, and enjoy a busy social life and a good reputation. So why is Eleanor so unhappy? Her husband thinks she's just going through a bad spell and can, if she wants to, snap out of it. Her psychiatrist thinks she just has to inject a little romance into her marriage and she'll be fine. Her mother thinks she should just shut up and count her blessings. Even an anonymous woman in a doctor's office has an opinion - it's "the change." But clearly, for Eleanor, these aren't the answers. The problem goes deeper than merely a faltering marriage, a temporary depression, or simple ingratitude. With insight, compassion and no small amount of wit, Lois Simmie chronicles Eleanor's harrowing journey toward an understanding of why she feels the way she feels, and what to do about it. They Shouldn't Make You Promise That is both a joy and a heartbreak to read. It's an engrossing and rewarding tale told by an adept storyteller, a modern-day fable about promises kept, broken and regretted, and promises that should not be made.

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Page Count

212

Publisher

Coteau Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1550502069

ISBN 13

9781550502060

Finding My Way

A Memoir

By: Lois Simmie

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Finding My Way

A Memoir

By: Lois Simmie

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313

Publisher

Coteau Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

155050794X

ISBN 13

9781550507942

What I'm Trying to Say is Goodbye

By: Lois Simmie

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What I'm Trying to Say is Goodbye

By: Lois Simmie

In Simmie's trademark style, this sweeping new novel is the funny, sad and engaging story of a shattered family's attempt to figure out where exactly each member fits. Matthew's a burned-out, recovering alcoholic ex-newspaperman who finds himself almost nightly roaming the halls of the Victoria apartment building he looks after while fighting to stay on the wagon. Delia's his estranged wife, who still likes him - she left him reluctantly when she didn't know what else to do - but doesn't really trust him. Kate's their daughter, trapped in a loveless marriage with Michael, her religious zealot husband who can't wait for the end of the world. Sam's the grandson, caught in the middle but looking hard for a way out. With this heartbreaking cast of characters, Lois Simmie assembles a true fictional tour de force, a roller coaster of a novel that just won't let up until the final page. As Matthew deals daily with the eccentric tenants of his building and struggles to resist the powerful temptation to hit the bottle again, he's not necessarily in a reflective mood. Lord knows he's got his own troubles. But as sobriety takes a bit more root in him and he begins to look outward, he sees that he's not the only one with problems. In fact, maybe others - people that he loves in his own way and still, in their own ways, love him - have problems bigger than his. But these are people he's let down in the past with his cowardly ways, with his weakness, with his self-absorption. It's going to take every ounce of courage that he's got, all the wisdom he can muster, all the wherewithal he's not sure he possesses, to try to make a difference. It was too late once. But if he fails this time, it really is goodbye.

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Page Count

329

Publisher

Coteau Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1550506331

ISBN 13

9781550506334

Pictures

By: Lois Simmie

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Pictures

By: Lois Simmie

Pictures is Lois Simmie's second short story collection. A longing for tranquillity and a compassion for human beings - the impatient little girl, the anxious secretary, the desolate alcoholic - suffuse these stories. With the same warmth and humour of her immensely popular novel, They Shouldn't Make You Promise That, Lois Simmie shows us Pictures that will make us laugh and make us cry, make us glad to be alive.

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Page Count

169

Publisher

Saskatoon : Fifth House

Published Date

ISBN 10

0920079067

ISBN 13

9780920079065

No Cats Allowed

By: Lois Simmie

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No Cats Allowed

By: Lois Simmie

When a stray cat gets caught in the rain and wanders into a plush hotel, the manager insists that the cat may stay only until the rain stops.

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Chronicle Books (CA)

Published Date

ISBN 10

0811814572

ISBN 13

9780811814577

Canada-Australia

Towards a Second Century of Partnership

By: Kate Burridge,Lois Foster,Gerry Turcotte

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Canada-Australia

Towards a Second Century of Partnership

By: Kate Burridge,Lois Foster,Gerry Turcotte

This volume is the result of the Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand (ACSANZ) 1995 conference held at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. A special feature of the conference, though not its exclusive focus, was trade relations. But as with all ACSANZ conferences, the papers were wide-ranging and contributors were not limited to a single theme. This publication is a refereed collection from more than sixty papers that were presented and range from discussions of immigration policy in Canada and Australia to architectural practices in British Columbia; from Canadian influences on Australia's economic development to issues of identity politics in each nation's literature. In addition, the collection represents major research in the areas of globalization, migration, pluralism, and ethnic relations, with a strongly, though not exclusively, comparative orientation. This work is a co-publication with the International Council for Canadian Studies.

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Page Count

503

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773591419

ISBN 13

9780773591417

Oliver's Chickens

By: Lois Simmie

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Oliver's Chickens

By: Lois Simmie

Oliver had a flock of chickens. Nobody else could see them, but they were real to Oliver. Grades K-3.

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Published Date

ISBN 10

0888991398

ISBN 13

9780888991393

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

A True Story of Love & Murder

By: Lois Simmie

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The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

A True Story of Love & Murder

By: Lois Simmie

John Wilson came to Canada from Scotland in 1912, leaving his wife and family with the promise to return in a year. In 1914 he joined the Mounties, and while stationed in Saskatchewan village, he caught TB and fell hopelessly in love with the young woman who took care of him. He would do anything for her, anything at all. Winner of the 1995 Arthur Ellis Award for Non-Fiction, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson is played out against a backdrop of catastrophic events—World War I, economic depression, the TB and Spanish Flu epidemics. It is the riveting account of a mounted policeman and the women who loved him.

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Page Count

224

Publisher

Greystone Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1550545108

ISBN 13

9781550545104

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

By: Lois Simmie

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They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

By: Lois Simmie

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212

Publisher

Coteau Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1550502069

ISBN 13

9781550502060

Mister Got to Go and Arnie

By: Lois Simmie

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Mister Got to Go and Arnie

By: Lois Simmie

Mister Got To Go and Arnie is an exciting and amusing sequel to the much-loved bestseller Mister Got To Go: The Cat That Wouldn't Leave. Got To Go is a large grey cat who lives in an old vine-covered hotel across from the beach in downtown Vancouver. One day, Got To Go's pleasant life at the Sylvia Hotel is turned upside down when Arnie-a very small, very noisy dog-arrives. No more afternoon naps on the warm, wide windowsill in the office of the manager, Mr. Foster; no more brushing his whiskers against Mr. Foster's toothbrush; and no way of escaping the constant barking of Arnie. Fortunately, after a series of misadventures, Mr. Foster comes up with a crafty plan to find a new home for Arnie. Cynthia Nugent's illustrations capture the warmth of this charming story and the splendour of the Sylvia hotel.Mister Got To Go has won several awards, including a Canadian Children's Book Centre Outstanding Book Award

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ISBN 10

1551924943

ISBN 13

9781551924946

No Cats Allowed

By: Lois Simmie

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No Cats Allowed

By: Lois Simmie

When a stray cat gets caught in the rain and wanders into a plush hotel, the manager insists that the cat may stay only until the rain stops.

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Chronicle Books (CA)

Published Date

ISBN 10

0811814572

ISBN 13

9780811814577

Auntie's Knitting a Baby

By: Lois Simmie,Anne Simmie

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Auntie's Knitting a Baby

By: Lois Simmie,Anne Simmie

A collection of humorous poems covering such subjects as an attic fanatic, a brother who is afraid of germs, and a woman who knits strangely shaped baby clothes.

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Saskatoon, Sask. : Western Producer Prairie Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0888331606

ISBN 13

9780888331601

An Armadillo is Not a Pillow

By: Lois Simmie,Anne Simmie

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An Armadillo is Not a Pillow

By: Lois Simmie,Anne Simmie

Grade level: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, e, p, i.

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Publisher

Douglas & McIntyre Limited

Published Date

ISBN 10

0888331851

ISBN 13

9780888331854

Oliver's Chickens

By: Lois Simmie

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Oliver's Chickens

By: Lois Simmie

Oliver had a flock of chickens. Nobody else could see them, but they were real to Oliver. Grades K-3.

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ISBN 10

0888991398

ISBN 13

9780888991393

Book's by Lois Simmie

Finding My Way

Finding My Way

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

Finding My Way

Finding My Way

What I'm Trying to Say is Goodbye

What I'm Trying to Say is Goodbye

Pictures

Pictures

No Cats Allowed

No Cats Allowed

Canada-Australia

Canada-Australia

Oliver's Chickens

Oliver's Chickens

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

Mister Got to Go and Arnie

Mister Got to Go and Arnie

No Cats Allowed

No Cats Allowed

Auntie's Knitting a Baby

Auntie's Knitting a Baby

An Armadillo is Not a Pillow

An Armadillo is Not a Pillow

Oliver's Chickens

Oliver's Chickens

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