Gail Bowen obit

Renowned Sask. author Gail Bowen dies at 83

Author of 25 Joanne Kilbourn novels will have final book published posthumously

 She was not on the list.

Gail Bowen, one of Saskatchewan's most prolific authors, has died at the age of 83 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."

Burke described Bowen's works as cozy mystery novels that are also about being a woman who is a mother, a lover, a friend and involved in the lives of children. Writing them was about making that kind of person important, she said.

Bowen's son, Nathaniel Bowen, took to social media to talk about his mother.

"Mom was all about family. She lived for us and she literally was the epicenter of what is now a very large family of very colorful people," he wrote.

Anthony Bidulka, a fellow crime novelist and friend of Bowen's, said her works inspired him to become an author.

"She became my mentor, she became my friend and she became my colleague," Bidulka said.

They were on stage together in October, talking about her newest work, he recalled.

"You know she's a master at storytelling and writing, but more than that, when you read a Gail Bowen book, you know who she is. You know what's important to her," he said.

"She was someone who's a champion of equality for all, and justice. She was a supporter of diversity. She was someone who really cared deeply about her community, about her city, about her province, about her country. Probably above all, though, she was someone who cared deeply about family."

Bowen had her last interview with CBC's Saskatchewan Weekend with Shauna Powers in November, when she discussed her last novel. According to her son, the book is finished and going through edits.

I mean, it's been over 35 years and some of the readers say to me, you know, 'They're like friends to me,'" Bowen said.

"I think I could write another one now because I'm so excited about it, but I mean, I did say it was [the last]. The other thing too is you have to accept the fact that we are all human and that means that we don't live forever."

The final Joanne Kilbourn novel, Homecoming, will be published posthumously.

"It does end with Joanne's very strong feelings about extended family, that you bring people into your life, you don't exclude them," Bowen said.

"If there was a message there, that would be it because we do, I think, only connect. We do need each other."