Marjorie Gillies
Author of Street of Dreams

Marjorie Gillies was born in Winnipeg and graduated with an Arts degree from the Uiversity of Manitoba. A food and consumer problem columnist at the Winnipeg Tribune, she also wrote feature articles for the Ottawa Citizen on homes, food and senior's affairs.

Marjories' first book was Street of Dreams: The Story of Broadway, published by Heartland in 2001. Expanding the original idea from a focus on the Legistlative building, the resulting book looks at the landmarks buildings and their fascinating history along Western Canada's oldest boulevard. Persevering for more than six years researching the book, Marjorie was nominated for the Margaret McWilliams award for most popular history and Best Illustrated Book award in 2002. Street of Dreams is now a new Manitoba classic for many Winnipeggers.

Recently Marjorie has contributed to Crossroads of the Continent; A History of The Forks of the Red and Assiniboine River (May 2003), researching and writing the chapter on Canada's "Ellis Island", the surprising immigration history of The Forks.

Marjorie has four adult children and eight grandchildren and enjoys searching out little known facts about people and places in Manitoba.

Marjorie Gillies on Street of Dreams:

"From concept to coffee table, launching both "Street of Dreams" and "The Crossroads of the Continent" were my most challenging projects in 50 years of writing. The research for Street of Dreams was great fun with each Broadway character emerging into focus from a welter of newspaper clippings, diaries, letters and microfiche records. The tragic and miserable living conditions under which immigrants from Europe and Iceland lived on arrival were exceptionally depressing accounts
to record for the story of events which began at the Heart of the Continent.

But eventually all the typical obstacles to an author's fulfillment ­ missing facts, writer's block, software glitches ( a senior's occupational hazard) and, of course, a dearth of money to publish ­ were almost magically overcome by persistence and the odd bit of luck. The truly gratifying results were not simply the books themselves but the support along the way from the publisher who always believed I could do it, to the provincial granting body, history buffs, real live fans at the both launches and not least, friends and family."