Thu, Oct 22nd, 7-9pm,Slide show & book sign Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper, by Caroline Woodward
Light Yearsis an eloquent personal account that details Caroline’s endurance of extreme climatic, interpersonal and medical challenges, as well as the practical and psychological aspects of living a happy, healthy, useful and creative life in isolation.
Caroline Woodward is the author of Disturbing the Peace (Polestar, 1990), which was nominated for the Ethel Wilson BC Book Prize, Alaska Highway Two-Step (Polestar, 1993), Penny Loves Wade, Wade Loves Penny (Oolichan, 2010) and two children’s books that have also been nominated for many prizes. She lives on the Lennard Island Lightstation with her husband, Jeff George. www.carolinewoodward.ca
FMI http://alberni.ca/events/  Char’s 19+ Lounge opens M-F 4pm, S-S 1pm www.charslanding.com Char’s Landing, 4815 Argyle @5th. Port Alberni V9Y 1V9
 
 
Eight years ago, Caroline Woodward made a life-changing decision to
 
become a lighthouse keeper on Canada’s wild west coast. Light Years:
 
Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper describes both the delights and
 
challenges that followed.
 
For decades, books had been central to Caroline’s existence. She had
 
worked for a publisher in a number of capacities and had experience
 
as a book reviewer, sales representative and bookstore owner. But she
 
wasn’t spending enough time and energy on her own writing. It was
 
time to make a change.
 
When she realized that she could move to a remote island to devote
 
herself to her true passion, there was no turning back.
 
Being a lighthouse keeper offers long stretches of solitude, which
 
appealed to Caroline. But she was quick to learn that idle time and
 
endless empty hours for writing are not necessarily a reality of the job.
 
There are 3am weather reports, building maintenance, beach cleaning,
 
radio communication and sea sampling, not to mention all the work
 
that goes into ensuring that there’s enough food for weeks—or even
 
months—of isolation.
 
Still, Caroline found the lifestyle to be immensely rewarding, and to
 
this day, she continues to thrive “on the lights.” She is exhilarated by
 
the scenic coastline with its drizzle and fog. She sometimes falls asleep
 
to “whales singing deep sea lullabies” and her garden provides her with
 
all the sustenance (both physical and spiritual) that she could ask for.
 
And amidst all her duties and the hard physical labor, she is able to
 
find time to do what she has always wanted: write.
 
Told with eloquent introspection and an eye for detail, Light Years is
 
the personal account of a lighthouse keeper in twenty-first century
 
British Columbia. It is also the story of pursuing a dream, and having it
 
realized in unexpected ways.
 
Caroline Woodward is the author of Alaska Highway Two-Step (Polestar,
 
1993), Disturbing the Peace (Polestar, 1990, 1995), which was nominated
 
for the Ethel Wilson BC Book Prize, Penny Loves Wade, Wade Loves
 
Penny (Oolichan, 2010) and two children’s books that have also
 
been nominated for many prizes. She lives on the Lennard Island
 
Lightstation with her husband, Jeff George.
 
Light Years
 
memoir of a modern
 
lighthouse keeper
 
Caroline Woodward
 
Harbour Publishing
 
PO Box 219
 
Madeira Park, BC
 
V0N 2H0 Canada www.harbourpublishing.com