The Heart of a Peacock

Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1871, and died there in 1945. She studied art in San Francisco, London and Paris. Except for a period of fifteen years when she was discouraged by the reception to her work, she was a commited painter. After 1927, when she was encouraged by the praise of the Group of Seven, interest in her paintings grew and she gained recognition as one of Canada's most gifted artists. Now, nearly sixty years after her death, her reputation continues to grow.Freelance writer Rosemary Neering has long been interested in Emily Carr and her female contemporaries. Her short biography of Carr was first published in 1975 and revised in 1999. She is the author of Wild West Women:Travellers, Adventurers and Rebels, an award-winning look at unconventional women in the Canadian west between 1850 and 1950; Down the Road: Journeys through Small-Town British Columbia, and a long list of other books on the history and society of British Columbia. She has written extensively for magazines on the lesser-known regions of the province. As did Carr, she lives in Victoria, and her travels have taken her to many of the places where Carr found inspiration for her paintings and her writings.Ira Dilworth taught English at Victoria High School from 1915-26 and was the school's principal from 1926-34. He was a friend and mentor of the great Emily Carr, whose writing career he promoted as her literary agent. He taught at UBC for four years before joining CBC Radio, directing the corporation's BC operations from 1938-46. Dilworth founded the CBC Vancouver Orchestra in 1938 and in 1956 became director of the CBC English language network.