It is with great sadness that we learned recently of the death of Cree writer Darrel McLeod, who came to the McLoughlin Gardens in 2022 to be our writer-in-residence. Author of Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age (Douglas & MacIntyre, 2018) and Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity (Milkweed Editions, 2021), Darrel gave a writing workshop titled "Going Deep: Writing Memoir" that was so popular we offered it a second time.

One participant wrote: "Thank you for putting together the workshop. It was one of the best I have ever attended. Darrel shared his personal experience in writing and addressed all the participants' questions. Such a beautiful person, a gorgeous setting and an inspiring workshop!"

In his report, following his residency, Darrel wrote effusively of his time at the Gardens: "The setting of the McLoughlin Gardens is spectacular and wonderfully conducive to being creative. The isolated rural setting is marvelous, and the positioning of the house, facing east, is brilliant – I awoke to the morning sunrise each and every day of my stay. Beauty is all around, which is healing, exciting and inspiring. I worked on my fourth book, my third memoir, each day of my stay in the gardens in addition to singing jazz each afternoon for a few hours while gazing at the amazing Salish Sea."

At the public reading, held at the hall at K'ómoks First Nations, Darrel offered some reflections on the community healing that resulted from the publication of his memoir. He had been contacted by friends and family who had read his book. They told him how his story helped them come to terms with the loss and suffering in their own lives, how reading his words had inspired them to repair broken relationships. Cree elder, Catherine Bird had encouraged Darrel to write his life stories down. "Your stories will help people," she'd said. It was true.