Gail Bowen, one of Saskatchewan’s most prolific authors, has died at the age of 84 after a long battle with cancer.
Originally born in Toronto, she moved to Regina and became an English professor at the First Nations University of Canada. Bowen is best known for her long-running mystery and crime novel series centered around a character named Joanne Kilbourn.
Kelley Jo Burke says she knew Bowen personally for more than 25 years as a neighbour, friend, and later professionally, producing several of her pieces for radio.
“She adored her husband, she loved her children, she loved her grandchildren. She was an incredibly active, loving partner and mother, and that was her world,” Burke said.
Beyond that, most people knew Bowen because of the world she created in her novels, which were set in Saskatchewan, Burke said.
“She was Canada’s national treasure and one of the most successful mystery writers in the country … She traveled around the country promoting her books and was the most rigorous, relentless writer that you have ever seen.
“Gail’s work ethic was unbelievable. She got up at 5, she did yoga, she did rewrites, then she had breakfast, and she did it every day.”