An anthology of obituaries sounds like it would be just right for what’s shaping up to be another gloomy Victoria autumn, but it turns out there’s nothing morbid about Tom Hawthorn’s Deadlines: Obits of Memorable British Columbians. The focus of this collection is life, not death, and a colourful cast of real-life heroes and antiheroes that runs the gamut from local notoriety to international celebrity.
Although Hawthorn himself is the first to admit that obit writing is the journalistic equivalent of trawling Wikipedia, he’s made an art form of it, crafting front-page-quality human-interest pieces of the stuff once relegated to the classifieds. He’s even won awards for it. (Plaques shaped like tombstones. Cute, right?)
Deadlines is a great read for any local history buff. And even if history’s not your thing, it’s still worth skimming. Each obit is no more than a few pages, and a diverse range of perspectives ensures that there’s bound to be something you’re in the mood for. Curious about notable entertainers? Innovators? Villains? (Well, villainŃsingular. There’s just one lone serial killer profiled in the pages of Deadlines. But he sure was scary.)
Murderer (and corrupt politiciansŃwe have a few of those, too) aside, this book is a great source of bragging rights. Besides all the world-class athletes, artists, and intellectuals BC has churned out, the rest of the world also has BC to thank for James Bond. That’s rightŃPatrick Dalzel-Job, the man whose sheer badassery inspired Ian Fleming, settled in BC and was stationed at Esquimalt with the Canadian navy.
Just as refreshing as Hawthorn’s crisp writing style is the fact that this is a history book that’s not all white men. Granted, it’s still mostly white men, but there are several women featured in Deadlines, as well as a handful of Aboriginal and immigrant personalities whose stories offer an unsettling glimpse of our province’s segregation-happy past.
Hawthorn approaches each entry with respect and enthusiasm, and the result is engaging prose that makes the reader wish these people were still around.
Except the serial killer. He can stay right where he is.