On this day in 1949, a new novel by one of Canada's most influential mystery writers was hitting Edmonton bookstores.
Frances Shelley Wees didn't spend much time in Edmonton. Wees recalled moving dozens of times in her early life, so she didn't spend much time anywhere. However, the years she spent in Alberta put her on the path to becoming a prolific, beloved novelist.
Wees was born in 1902 in Oregon, although her family soon moved to Saskatchewan, where she spent her childhood. After working as a teacher in Saskatoon, Wees moved to Edmonton in the 1920s to study at the University of Alberta.
During her time in Edmonton, two events set her on the path to becoming a professional author: She wrote her first novel (which has never been published), and she met her husband, Wilfred, who was also a student. Passionate about both education and literature, Wees was heavily involved in organizing so-called "Chautauqua" events that featured public debates, performances, and artistic displays, which were wildly popular in the 1920s (Edmonton's embrace of the Chautauqua trend still lives on at the Royal Alberta Museum, which has a theatre named after the movement.
The pair remained in Edmonton before they moved to Canmore, where Wilfred had received a job offer. Wees's career as a professional novelist started in earnest when Wilfred read one of her manuscripts. He decided to type it up and then sent it to a publisher in New York. The Maestro Murders was published in 1931. It was the first of more than two dozen mystery and romance novels that Wees published during her lifetime, along with poetry and articles. She later moved to Toronto, and then to British Columbia, but she remained a popular figure among Edmonton readers, and the city occasionally played a part in some of her books.
Wees died in 1982.
Wees's success is one page in Edmonton's storied literary history, one that continues with new local authors in both fiction and non-fiction. The last few months have seen the release of new books by local writers, such as Timothy Caulfield, who focuses on how information spreads online, and The Shape of Lost Things by Governor General's Book Award winner Sarah Everett.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.