About Richard...
Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to visit my site and if you’ve read the books, thank you for the honor of being in your world. If you haven’t, you can read short excerpts from them here as well as getting a taste of my new series called One Native Life. It’s a series of reminiscences and recollections from 52 years of living as a Native man in Canada. I think you’ll like it.
If you know nothing about me, let me start by telling you that I am a proud member of the Ojibway Nation. My traditional home is in northwestern Ontario, north of the Lake of the Woods. The settlement is called Whitedog and in the last few years my people have returned to their traditional name for their territory. It’s known as Wabaseemoong now.
I’ve been writing professionally since 1979. In the beginning I was a print journalist then moved to radio for a few years. Television came along in the late 1980s. But my heart has always been with the printed word. In 1991 I became the first Native Canadian to win a National Newspaper Award for Column Writing while I was with the Calgary Herald.
You know, I always wanted to write stories. Even though I was happy and successful as a journalist, there was still an urge in me to create worlds for myself and in 1993 armed with an old 256 computer, I stayed in a friend’s basement and wrote what would become my first novel, Keeper’n Me. It was published in 1994 and to date has sold over 24,000 copies. I was honored with the Alberta Writers Guild Best Novel Award for that story.
I wrote my second novel, A Quality of Light in Ottawa in 1995. It was published in 1997 and even though it hasn’t fared as well as Keeper’n Me, it’s still a story I’m proud of. In 2002 my memoir, For Joshua: An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son arrived. It’s a critically acclaimed look back at my life and the hurts and healing I’ve encountered.
Then, in 2006, Dream Wheels arrived. My third novel tells the story of Indian cowboys, bull riders, who learn how to stitch rodeo, family and traditional teachings together for a lifestyle that’s spiritual and adventurous. It was awarded the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction in 2007.
Recently, I struck a deal with Douglas & McIntyre publishers in Vancouver for two non-fiction books. Look for updates in the near future.
There are always ideas for new novels in my head and I’ll be working on more soon. Right now I’m busy in radio, television and newspaper simultaneously with One Native Life and hope to get back the stories before too long.
Again, welcome, and thanks for visiting. Enjoy the excerpts and please feel free to leave your comments.
