The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1995, Qupperneq 25

SPRING / SUMMER 1995
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
135
My Amma
Lives in the Woods
An interview with Betty Jane Wylie
by Agnes Bardal Comack
In May of this year, Betty Jane Wylie came to
Winnipeg to help launch her latest book, Read-
ing Between the Lines: The Diaries of
Women. Originally from Winnipeg, she now
lives in Ontario. Betty Jane’s father, Dr. Jack
McKenty, was a general practitioner and her
mother, Ingibjorg, was the daughter of Hans
Peter and Sigridur Tergesen of Gimli.
In 1973, when Betty fane was only forty-two
years old, her husband died very suddenly, leav-
ing her with four children, the youngest being
only ten years old at the time. In her grief she
wrote in her diary — sometimes three times a
day. She used the insight she gained to help oth-
ers by writing about her experience. Over the years
she has been a very prolific writer, this latest be-
ing her twenty-eighth book.
Betty Jane was well prepared for her wri ting
career. She holds a graduate degree in English,
with a major in twentieth century poetry and a
minor in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. She is
an author, playwright and poet, but she loves
theatre best.
When she described her home by a lake, I was
filled with admiration. I happen to oxen a
winterized cottage by a lake. While it is a place I
love dearly, it would take a great strength of char-
acter and courage for me to live there alone as
Betty Jane does in her home “in the woods. ”
On May Day, I was waiting for her in the
lounge of the Royal Plaza in downtown Winni-
peg, our meeting having been arranged by Lorna
Tergesen. Betty Jane had been attending one in-
terview after another• since 9:30 in the morn-
ing. It was now 7:30 in the evening. Although
her voice was hoarse from talking all day and
she was, no doubt, very tired, she was the perfect
hostess as we entered her hotel room. She offered
me a glass of wine as we sat down to begin our
conversation.
Agnes Bardal Comack: Your latest book,
Reading Between the Lines: The Diaries of
Women, raises issues that are connected to
issues in other books you have written. For
example, you say, “Grief is a staggering ex-
perience but an immensely creative proc-
ess.” Would you elaborate on that?
Betty Jane Wylie: Every loss is accom-
panied by gain. It’s ironic often but it’s true
of any loss you encounter, not just death.
There’s always a gain involved as well so you
must look at the positive side. You capital-
ize on the gain and the difference rather
than walk backward and keep looking at
the past because you can’t change that.
Emily Murphy, the social change agent in
Alberta who was the one responsible for
women being declared “persons” in
Canada, used the wonderful line, “fronting
fate abreast.”
Comack: I haven’t read all of your books
but I can’t imagine any one of them being
more important than Beginnings: A Book for
Widows. I bought it for my sister-in-law who
lost her husband very unexpectedly. What
is your experience in terms of feedback
from that book?