Truth really is stranger than fiction

Like many an aspiring author I set out to write the Great Canadian Novel.

Very quickly, however, the harsh truth sank in: I didn’t have what it takes.

But there was a soft landing for me. Even before this sad fact hit home, I’d discovered non-fiction—writing about real people and real events. There was nothing, it seemed, that I could invent in my imagination that hadn’t already been done—and better—in real life!

There’s no getting around it: people and their actions—the good, the bad and the ugly—are fascinating. And the treasure trove of documented history available even to casual researchers is beyond calculation.

I was reminded of this recently while reorganizing my library: a story I’d researched way back when I was writing weekly for the Victoria Colonist. It’s a sad tale, one so unlikely that I defy any fiction writer to make it up.

That’s next week in the Chronicles.

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PHOTO: Beautiful Veterans’ Cemetery, Esquimalt, B.C. —Commonwealth War Graves Commission