Editor's note: This is the third in a series of stories about people who were raised on the Sunshine Coast who are making a successful mark in the world of their chosen vocations. Some are residents of the Coast while others have left to pursue their dreams.
Proud papa, poetry publisher, community leader - at 33 Silas White does it all and does it well. In fact, the expression overachiever fits him like a glove.
White, the elder of two sons of Howard and Mary White of Harbour Publishing fame, got his start early in life when, at age 15, he co-authored a book on the Western Hockey League. (Brother Patrick White is a journalist with The Globe and Mail based out of Toronto.)
Silas' early start in the publishing business was encouraged and made possible through the support of his teachers at Pender Harbour Secondary School. And while earning a degree in English literature from the University of B.C., he took a year off to work on the Encyclopedia of B.C. as an assistant editor, an experience he relished.
"It was a way of just phoning people up, pioneers and others, and hearing their stories and getting them documented," White said.
During his last year at UBC, he did an exchange term at the University of Toronto. After that he stayed in the eastern city for five years. While in the area he terms the cultural centre of Canada, White had the opportunity to meet and develop contacts with both young and established authors. During that time, too, his relationship cemented with a fellow Pender Harbour transplant, Amanda Amaral, and the pair married in 2005.
"We bonded by wanting to get far away from here at the time. Now we both are back here," he chuckled.
A happy father of two little girls, Simone and Eloise, White is pleased to be raising his daughters on the Coast.
In 2000 he took over a moribund literary press, Nightwood Editions, that had begun in the 1960s.
At the time, White said, the company was being looked after by Harbour Publishing just to keep it alive. It's easier, he explained, to take over a press than to start one anew.
"It's nearly impossible to build [a reputation as publisher]. When you have presses already set up, it's worth it just to build on them," he shared.
After taking over, the young man built the company into an award-winning entity. To date, Nightwood has been nominated for four governor-general awards in the past seven years, has won two B.C. Book Prizes and has been nominated for several Trillium Book Awards created by the Ontario government for Ontario authors.
White's relationship with Harbour Publishing continues to be a helpful one. His father's company does the distribution and White runs the editorial and production end of Nightwood. And he continues to do freelance editing work for Harbour Publishing.
Ten years after he graduated from Pender Harbour Secondary School, White ran as school board trustee for the Sechelt area in 2005. Two years later he became board chair. To date, he is the youngest trustee in B.C., a fact that works well for his relations with his peers.
"I've built up a lot of experience now. I've been a provincial director for two years for the B.C. Public School Employer Association. We are the bargaining agent for boards around the province and we're just going into negotiations. As a young leader, I recently did a workshop on social media, blogging, Twitter and Facebook. People were fascinated by the topic. They appreciated having someone who was versant on the topic," White said.
He's passionate about the role education plays on the Coast.
"Having a school is very important to the vitality and sustainability of the community. It aids in the attraction and retention of young people," he remarked.
A need he sees as imperative to the long-term health of the Sunshine Coast, White is part of a group, VOICE, that came about as a result of the 2009 Vital Signs (an initiative of the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation) identifying youth employment needs as a big concern on the Coast.
In the fall of 2010, a meeting brought together youth, senior leaders in the community, politicians and business people. From there a task force was formed to address young people's issues that morphed into VOICE with the leadership taken over by young adults to advocate for their concerns in the community.
Being part of that initiative helped White with another goal, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Victoria. His final paper was on the attraction, retention and employment of young adults on the Sunshine Coast.
Fortunately, White said, he was able to complete most of the requirements for this degree on line.
"Otherwise I would never have been able to do it. It's always a difficult balance juggling things. I work hard for a couple of weeks on one project and then go on to the next and do the same. And even though I'm up at 5:30 a.m. a lot these days, my family is a pleasure and they energize me," White said.
His advice to young people wanting to get involved in the community is succinct - do it.
"The biggest thing to realize is that younger voices are more welcome than people think they are. People are incredibly supportive of young people getting involved. The 'what's the use of trying, the whole Sunshine Coast is run by seniors' doesn't turn out to be the case when you get out there and start working with these people. They're very encouraging," he related - pure poetry from a hometown boy.
