Diane Pinch, a local author who calls Golden home during the winter months, has been announced as the recipient of the 2020 George Ryga Award for her non-fiction homage to the Sierra Club of B.C.
The book, titled Passion and Persistence: Fifty Years of the Sierra Club in British Columbia, outlines the history and activism of the Sierra Club, one of the oldest environmental organizations in North America, founded in 1892.
“I’m quite honoured to be the recipient of this award, it was such a pleasant surprise,” said Pinch. “I’m absolutely thrilled. I couldn’t believe it.”
READ MORE: Winter resident writes book on Sierra Club B.C.
The award was established in 2004 by the Vancouver Public Library to honour George Ryga, a famous Canadian playwright and novelist.
Since then, the award has been presented to a B.C. writer who has achieved an “outstanding degree” of social awareness in a book published in the last calendar year.
The award comes with a $2,500 prize and was judged by Canadian author Trevor Carolan, Vancouver librarian Jane Curry and publisher Beverly Cramp.
“I was quite thrilled to follow in the footsteps of other writers such as Wade Davis,” said Pinch. “It’s a huge honour to be a part of this.”
Pinch is a long-time volunteer with the Sierra Club, joining their ranks for the first time in 1975. She spent five years digging through archives and interviewing founding and current members of the club.
The result is a comprehensive and detailed narrative that explores the legacy that the Sierra Club has left in B.C. after 50 years of operation in the province.
Complete with first-hand accounts, maps and photos, Passion and Persistence is an in-depth look at environmentalism in Western Canada through the years.
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“I’m happy that the book is getting recognition and there’s going to be more knowledgeable about it and the environmental issues we face,” said Pinch.
The shortlist totalled five books and included a biography of the early B.C. Aboriginal rights activist James Teit, a graphic novel on one of Canada’s largest labour strikes, a biography of a First Nation elder and a collection of fiction short stories about the immigrant experience of modern Vietnamese Canadians.
The ceremony in Vancouver has been indefinitely postponed. While disappointing for Pinch, who was looking forward to getting away for a weekend on the coast, she says the award remains a huge honour for her. The book is for sale through Amazon or Bacchus Books.
