Carol Shields
On July 16, Carol Shields passed away at the age of 68 due to complications from breast cancer. Carol, an author, playwright, poet, and literary critic, was chancellor of The University of Winnipeg from 1996 to October 1999 and a friend to many at the University. Carol leaves her husband Don, her children, John Shields, Anne Shields Giardini, Catherine Shields, Meg Shields, and Sara Cassidy Shields.
In 1995, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Governor General’s Award for The Stone Diaries, which was also nominated for the 1993 Booker Prize, the Commonwealth’s most prestigious book award. Other honours included the Orange Prize for women’s fiction for Larry’s Party, and in April 2002, she was awarded the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for her biography of Jane Austen, published in 2000.
In addition to writing acclaimed poetry, novels and short stories, Carol was a teacher. She was a professor at the University of Ottawa, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Manitoba. Carol also served on the board of the Canada Council, the body that gave her a $900 grant that helped springboard her career in 1976 when she was 41. In 1998 she was named an officer of the Order of Canada.
Born in Oak Park, Ill., on June 2, 1935, Carol Shields was educated at colleges and universities in Indiana and Maryland. She moved to Winnipeg after she married Don Shields, dean of engineering at the University of Manitoba, in 1957. She became a Canadian citizen in 1971.
Details of memorials planned in Victoria and Winnipeg will be made available at a later time.
In lieu of flowers the family has asked that contributions be made in Carol’s memory to:
The Winnipeg Public Library Millennium Fund
251 Donald Street
Winnipeg, MB, R3C 3P5 (204-986-6415)
or
The Inez Sellgren Bursary
The Inez Sellgren Bursary was established by Carol Shields in honour of her mother. The funds annually provide assistance to a single parent entering any program of study at The University of Winnipeg on a full-time basis. Carol wished to give preference to students whose assessed financial need for government-sponsored student aid programs exceeds the maximum funds available from these sources.
To give toward Carol’s request click: An Inez Sellgren Bursary Donation Form, or please call 786-9013 in Winnipeg or 1-888-829-7053 (in Canada and the U.S.).
