Gwendolyn Southin is one of the “founding mothers” of the Festival of the Written Arts that began in the 1980s, but she is best known on the Sunshine Coast as the author of five mystery books, recounting the adventures of the sleuthing Margaret Spencer and her detective partner, Nat Southby. The fact that Southin has five books out and a sixth on the way is even more remarkable since she didn’t pick up the novel-writing pen until the age of 59.
Amica, a retirement living organization, thought it was remarkable too, and they have recently named her an inspiring senior.
“Amica is proud to celebrate Gwen Southin, an inspiring senior who discovered a new passion later in life and is a leader in her community,” the organization wrote in their acknowledgment of the honour. Amica will be naming one of the new meeting rooms after Southin at their support office in Toronto, as well as posting information about her literary accomplishments.
Southin moved away from Sechelt two years ago to live at Somerset House in Victoria, one of Amica’s residences.
“A couple of months ago,” she said, “I was asked by the wellness and activity staff if I minded them nominating me for an inspiring seniors competition. Every retirement home would be entering someone from their place. To be honest, I completely forgot all about it until I received a letter from head office saying that ‘out of all their overwhelming number of incredible submissions’ they had chosen me. I was quite flabbergasted.”
Though now living in Victoria, Southin is still in touch with her Sechelt friends, including Festival co-founder Betty Keller.
“Betty edited my sixth book in the Margaret Spencer series,” Southin said. “It’s called Death Plays With Fire. It’s not quite finished and Betty was a wonderful help as it is set in the Okanagan and she knows that area so well. She inspired me so much that I am anxious to get it finished.”
Southin has been featured at an international writers’ festival as well as being a speaker at the Festival in Sechelt that she helped to organize. Her last published book was Death as a Fine Art (Touchwood Editions) which she launched in 2012 during the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl. She has gained quite a following at Amica’s Somerset House among the residents; fans on the Sunshine Coast also await her sixth book. For Southin, the greatest reward is when people can identify with her characters and they are entertained.
