Helen Griffin’s passions were art and nature. During her summers on Savary, between 1947 and 1983, she was often seen with sketchbook, pencils and paints, perhaps quietly observing children at play on the beach, or cycling to some destination on the island which had captured her eye. On her death in 1984, Helen left her family 140 sketchbooks which contained rough sketches, drawings, paintings and notes. Pages from these books were reproduced by Helen’s son Tony and his wife Jane to create two volumes entitled ‘Helen Griffin’s Savary Island’. Their hard covers and coil bindings replicate the sketchbooks, and fit together in a hard sleeve. ‘Helen Griffin’s Savary Island’ won third place at the 2010 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada, in the Pictorial category. Proceeds from sales benefit both the Savary Island Heritage Society and the BC Cancer Foundation.

Ruth White was born in Alberta where her parents farmed south of Nanton. She first came to Savary 36 years ago, spending her first ten years in the Savary Shores area. She worked during the summers at the Mad Hatter restaurant and did various other jobs. Ruth moved to Savary permanently in 1995. She and her partner, Paul Leighton, live at the “Red House” with their two black cats, Thor and Loki. For ten years they have hosted Savary Stock, a fundraiser for the Savary Island Land Trust, and for five years Ruth has been a first responder. During the recent three years she has established the business RuthMoon Soap Works. While Ruth wears many hats, on Savary most people know her as a land taxi driver.

In ‘Magnetic Isle’, Gladys Bloomfield (1919 – 2007) shares her first-hand knowledge of Savary life during the time she lived there as a child in the 1920s, until she stopped writing in the 90s. The book also includes information about the island’s formation, its discovery and settlement. It contains stories about and interviews with some of the early pioneers who have had a profound effect on Savary, such as Harry Keefer, Jim Spilsbury, Louie Anderson, the Mace family, R.S. Sherman, and Jack Green, whose treasure is still said to be buried somewhere on the island. Gladys’s words are illustrated with over 60 historical photographs. Her dream was to one day write a book about the island she loved so much, and the society is gratified to have helped in fulfilling that dream.