Helen Edwards

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Books Written to Perfection

I have been a writer for most of my life. I have written for magazines, newsletters, and genealogy societies and am now publishing books.

Rated 5 out of 5
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Rated 5 out of 5
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Rated 5 out of 5
Learn More
Rated 5 out of 5
Learn More
Rated 5 out of 5
Learn More
Rated 5 out of 5
Learn More

Helen Edwards

Author

Rated 5 out of 5

Victoria HarbourCats: 10 Years and Counting is a must–read for anyone who loves baseball. It faithfully documents every game played by the Victoria HarbourCats summer college baseball team over a decade, making them the only franchise in local history to last more than a few years. The book starts with a local baseball history and then outlines the highs and lows of the past 10 years. It features interviews with former players, coaches, and executives, bringing their stories to life. The pages are richly illustrated with a selection from the thousands of photos taken by team photographers and supplemented by archival images. Learn some new stories and enjoy the familiar ones. It’s all here. Written by award-winning author and co-owner of the team, Helen Edwards, it deserves a place on your bookshelf.

Available locally from Russell Books, Bolen Books, and Munro’s Books. Also sold at the HarbourCats office, from the author, or on Amazon.

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Helen Edwards

Author

Rated 5 out of 5
The Heritage Detective, Volume One, is a must-read for anyone interested in the history and culture of Victoria, BC. It tells the stories behind the heritage buildings and the people who lived and worked in them, providing a unique window into the past. The stories are full of fascinating details and vivid descriptions that will transport you to the past and give you a sense of the area’s history. The Heritage Detective brings to life the stories of the families, businesses, and organizations that have shaped Victoria’s history. Through it, readers gain an insight into the evolution of the city as well as the people and places that made it what it is today. Loosely based on articles written over several decades with additional research to bring the stories up to date and rich with photographs, the book tells the tales of ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives. Because, of course, it wasn’t just the mansions that everybody writes about that had exciting histories. Learn about the electrocution on Fort Street, a pioneer who owned Wallace Island and the story of his nephew who lived in James Bay, the survival of tiny houses from around the turn of the twentieth century on upper Fort Street, and early real estate speculation in Fairfield. For residents of Victoria, The Heritage Detective is an invaluable resource that provides a deeper understanding of the city and its history. For those outside the area, it is an engaging and educational read that offers an in-depth look at the history and culture of the city. So whether you are a resident or a visitor, this book will entertain and educate you.
 

This book is available locally from Munro’s Books, Bolen Books, Ivy’s Bookshop, Russell Books,  Tanner’s Books and at the Craigdarroch Castle Gift Shop. It is also online at Amazon.

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Helen Edwards

Author

Rated 5 out of 5

The Heritage Detective, Volume Two is the second book in the series. The book brings alive the stories of ordinary people living extraordinary lives in the city’s neighbourhoods, including Fairfield, Rockland, Oak Bay, and Esquimalt. Richly illustrated with more than 200 photographs, this book draws upon decades of articles about the city’s history, their details expanded and updated with additional research by Victoria’s heritage detective, Helen Edwards. The result is a tapestry of local tales packed with vivid descriptions that will transport you to a past era when the young city was just beginning to invent its vibrant future. The Heritage Detective is an invaluable resource for Victorian seeking a deeper understanding of their community’s history. Visitors will discover captivating accounts of day-to-day life and memorable moments that provide and in-depth look at the history and culture of the city.

This book is available locally from Munro’s Books, Bolen Books, Ivy’s Bookshop, Russell Books,  Tanner’s Books and at the Craigdarroch Castle Gift Shop. It is also online at Amazon.

Download Our Ebook for Free

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Helen Edwards

Author

Rated 5 out of 5

While sorting through family treasures, we came across these amazing journals, written between 1916 and 1929, which told the first-person story of years of naval service. That they survived the myriad of moves that a naval family makes is a minor miracle. Doubly amazing is the fact that we also found photographs that enhance the text. Now, over a century later, the story of naval service in the early twentieth century can be told—in the words of the journal writer, Commodore John Crispo Inglis Edwards. “Dutchy’s Diaries: Life as a Canadian Naval Officer, in His Own Words: 1916-1929” was soft launched on February 18, 2020, at the Wardroom at CFB Esquimalt.

Check out details and the story behind the book, including scans of the original journal pages:

    • Journal one: February 21, 1916 to July 18, 1918

    • Journal two: July 19, 1918 to November 14, 1920

    • Journal three: December 21, 1920 to November 25, 1925

    • Journal four: January 27, 1926 to September 13, 1929:

Helen Edwards

Author

Rated 5 out of 5

This book is a sequel to Dutchy’s Diaries, Life as a Canadian Naval Officer, In His Own Words, 1916-1929 that was published in 2020. Once I published that book, the logical question was “what’s next?” I knew there were binders full of material about later duties and set about investigating precisely what we had. I found special editions of books, binders of clippings about Dutchy’s time in the navy, and hundreds of photographs illustrating a complete story of a long naval career. As he rose through the ranks, his staff collected newspaper clippings for him and compiled them into scrapbooks that proved invaluable in documenting events, even if the name of the publication did not always appear. I scanned everything to have working copies and then shipped all the source material to its new home at Library and Archives Canada. I was thrilled that they considered this material to be of national significance. Thus, Dutchy joined his father and brother in the LAC files. The partial journals that gave insight into the day-to-day operation were fun to read. Typewritten notes combined with the Night Order book outlined the journey of HMCS Prince Henry from the Caribbean to Alaska and the stops in between, including a starlet-filled reception at the Beverley Hills Hotel. As in the  first book, I corrected minor spelling errors in the two journal sections but did not change anything else. My principle in this regard was minimum intervention to bring Dutchy’s voice to a new audience. His sense of humour shines through these segments and puts a human face on a naval career. In the 1930s, there was not much going on in the naval world, so Dutchy and Dot were able to compete in tennis tournaments at a high level. This brings a whole different aspect to his life story and reinforces the athletic activities that were mentioned frequently in his early journals.

Helen Edwards

Author

Rated 5 out of 5

The History of Professional Hockey in Victoria is an in-depth examination of professional hockey in Victoria. It includes details on the different leagues, statistics on every game played by a Victoria team, and information on every player to dress for at least one regular season game.

From the Patrick family to RG Properties, this book covers the ownership of teams and records the highlights and low points of every team.

It was produced as a “thank-you” to the players who entertained Victorians over a century, giving us reason to cheer on many occasions and to be disappointed as well. Victoria enjoyed three championships, including the Stanley Cup victory in 1925. Little did the Cougars know that they would go down in history as the last non-NHL team to win the Stanley Cup and the last non-NHL team to play in a Stanley Cup series. They were also the last West Coast team to win the Stanley Cup until Anaheim did it in 2007. The 1950-51 Cougars, led by their “kid line” of Andy Hebenton, Bob Frampton, and Reg Abbott, won the league title while the Maple Leafs (with Hebenton in the lineup) won the Lester Patrick Cup in the1965-1966 season.

Included in the narrative is the story of the construction and operation of the different venues in which games were played. The politics behind arena construction are examined as well, with editorial cartoons to make the reader laugh about the folly of some ideas.

Biographies of selected players tell the story of individuals and how they came to play hockey in Victoria. Learn from behind-the-scenes stories told by the players themselves.

Lavishly illustrated, this is a book for those who love hockey history and its connection to Victoria, BC.

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