Finnigan, Helen Joan MacKenzie 'Joan' (Died)

FINNIGAN, Joan

Helen Joan MacKenzie

Joan died in the Ottawa Valley among those

she loved on Sunday August 12th, 2007,

the year of publication of her 31st book, and

12th book of poetry, Looking For A Turnout.

Joan Finnigan, daughter of Frank and Maye,

was born in Ottawa in 1925. Joan attended

Lisgar Collegiate Institute where in her final

year she edited the 100th anniversary

edition of Vox Lycei and in 1993 the 150th

edition, entered Carleton University in 1946,

married Grant MacKenzie in 1949, and

graduated in 1967 from Queen’s University

where she earned scholarships and worked

on their Journal. To support herself, then to

help support her family while her husband

was in medical school, then to raise their

three children as a parent widowed in 1965,

Joan wrote feature articles for the Ottawa

Journal, Chatelaine, the Toronto Star

Weekly and many other publications,

together with radio scripts and teleplays for

the CBC. She was gleeful that most

feminists did not consider her one of them.

Joan received the Centennial Medal for

Poetry in 1967 for Entrance to the

Greenhouse. In 1969 The Best Damn

Fiddler From Calabogie To Kaladar,

produced by The National Film Board of

Canada, earned Joan the Genie award for

best screenplay. The artwork and Joan’s

original manuscript for Look! The Land Is

Growing Giants, published in French and

English, were the first purchase by the

National Library of Canada for its Children’s

Collection. In 1984 Joan’s Laughing All the

Way Home made the short list for the

Stephen Leacock Award for Humour.

Joan’s poetry collection, Wintering Over,

made the short list for Ontario’s Trillium

Award in 1992. “I’m glad to be short and

honoured to be listed”. The Mayor of

Ottawa declared 16 April 2005 JOAN

FINNIGAN DAY.

Joan was a poet all her life. She always

said that the poetry could not be coaxed

and that rather “it arose spontaneously”.

Woven throughout a lifetime of writing

poetry, there have been plays, short story

collections and oral histories: among them,

Songs from Both Sides of the River which

was performed at the National Arts Centre

in 1987, Old Scores, New Goals: The Story

of the Ottawa Senators published in 1992,

Dancing at the Crossroads published in

1995, and six books of oral history

beginning in 1981 with Some of the stories I

told you were true and finally in 2004, Life

Along the Opeongo Line.

Joan did not choose between perfection of

the life or perfection of the work. She chose

both. Joan’s three children, Jonathan and

Roderick and Martha MacKenzie, and her

seven grandchildren made her most proud.

They were her gifts. Jonathan and Helen

gave her Matthew, Caitlin and Maria;

Roderick and Margaret gave her Iain and

Maura; and Martha and Louis Vezina gave

her Genevieve and Mackenzie. Joan loved

each of them. Pre-deceased by her

brothers John and Ross, she is survived by

her sister Norma Goodfellow and Norma’s

daughters Ruth, Margaret and Jane and

their families. She is also survived by her

brother Frank, his wife Marie and their

children Michael, Paul, Mary and Todd and

their families. Many more loved her and

Joan will be missed by all she knew.

Friends may call at W. J. HAYES & SONS

FUNERAL HOME (819-647-2221), 134

Centre Street, Shawville, Quebec on Friday,

August 17 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A

service will be held at Shawville United

Church on Saturday, August 18, 2007 at

10:30 a.m. followed by interment in Maple

Grove Cemetery. In lieu of flowers

donations to The Hospice at May Court in

Ottawa will be welcome.

Today and always, in memory of Joan, hug

someone you love. Then listen for the

laughter in the Valley.

10782255