Editor, writer, educator.
Born at New York, New York on 14 November 1942, she graduated with a BA from Smith College in 1964, an MA from Tulane University two years later and a PhD from the University of North Carolina in 1973. She moved with her husband, novelist Leon Rooke, to the University of Victoria. She taught there for 20 years, serving as the first Chair of the Womens Studies Department, then moved to the University of Guelph in 1988, eventually rising to the position of Vice-President (Academic). From there, she was recruited as the President of the University of Winnipeg, serving from 1999 to 2003. She left the University before the end of her contract and moved to Toronto where she served two years as President of PEN Canada and helped to establish a creative writing program at the University of Guelph. She died of cancer at Toronto on 4 October 2008.
Obituary, Globe and Mail, 6 October 2008.
“U of W guarding severance details,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 January 2002, page 18.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 17 April 2019
Memorable Manitobans
This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.
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