Author excelled at both fiction and true tales

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Award-winning author and journalist Heather Robertson died of cancer Wednesday morning, her 72nd birthday.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/03/2014 (4527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Award-winning author and journalist Heather Robertson died of cancer Wednesday morning, her 72nd birthday.

Born in Winnipeg, Robertson began her career at the Winnipeg Free Press, and published her first book, Reservations Are for Indians, in 1970. She went on to publish three more works of non-fiction in the 1970s and early 1980s, telling the stories of the plight of Western farmers, homesteaders in Western Canada and Winnipeg bank robber Ken Leishman.

Robertson shifted to fiction in the 1980s, penning a trilogy revolving around real people during the years of former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Willie, A Romance, the first of the trilogy, garnered Robertson the Books in Canada Best First Novel award.

Heather Robertson
Heather Robertson

In the 1990s, Robertson turned back to non-fiction, writing on topics such as the wives of prime ministers, hospital care, Lake of the Woods and more, while writing for magazines including Chatelaine, Saturday Night and Macleans. Among her awards was an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Manitoba in 1998.

In addition to her own writing, Robertson was a founding member of the Writers’ Union of Canada, as well as the Professional Writers Association.

In 1996, Robertson launched a class-action lawsuit against Thomson Corp., publisher of the Globe and Mail, after freelance articles she had submitted for print publication in the Globe also appeared in online databases.

The case went to the Supreme Court of Canada, who ruled magazines and newspapers did not have the right to index print articles electronically without the writer’s consent, as the online product was a different entity and was therefore infringing on the creator’s copyright.

Robertson lived in King City, Ont. She is survived by her husband, Andrew Marshall.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

U of M medical student launching MediLuxe Scrubs Ltd.

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Preview

U of M medical student launching MediLuxe Scrubs Ltd.

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

By the time Kayla Curtis becomes a doctor, she’ll be running at least two businesses.

The fourth-year University of Manitoba medical student is the founder of WPG Local Cleaners Inc., a cleaning business she started in 2024 to fund her education. Today Curtis is launching MediLuxe Scrubs Ltd., a brand that offers functional and fashionable scrubs for women health-care workers.

“I’ve always loved fashion and creativity, and after spending the last several years in medicine, those two parts of my life naturally started to come together,” Curtis said.

What you wear doesn’t make you a better clinician, the 28-year-old Winnipegger added, but function, professionalism and personal expression don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Arcade bar to open in former downtown Keg

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview

Arcade bar to open in former downtown Keg

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Monday, Aug. 10, 2026

Smash burgers and Skee-Ball will replace steaks as the former downtown Keg transforms into an arcade bar.

Read
Monday, Aug. 10, 2026

‘Exciting news’ on rail relocation coming

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

‘Exciting news’ on rail relocation coming

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew is expected to make an announcement concerning long-awaited Winnipeg rail relocation later this week.

Former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP Lloyd Axworthy, who Kinew tasked in October 2024 with leading a two-year rail relocation feasibility study, confirmed there would be an announcement Wednesday.

“We’ve had this rail study group which I’ve chaired and we’ve been responsible for developing recommendations,” Axworthy said Monday.

The longtime champion for Winnipeg rail relocation, who is vacationing at his cottage on Lake Winnipeg, deferred to the premier’s office for information, but confirmed he will attend Wednesday’s news conference.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

The circle of life — garden-sized

5 minute read Preview

The circle of life — garden-sized

5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

“The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives.” — Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932), horticulturalist

It’s a chilly day for August — more like fall — but in the garden things are progressing as nicely as if every day this summer had been the perfect combination of sun and showers.

The peonies are spent, their heavy heads with a hangdog look. Soon the petals will fall, revealing the jester-hat seedpods within. The lilacs, too, their beautiful, fragrant blossoms now transformed into brown scruff.

But the day lilies are plumping up, ready for their big reveal. And the roses are still magnificent — dozens and dozens of fuchsia, red, white and coral blooms that turn our stone circle into a heavenly scented bower. It is here where we come after a hard day’s work in the garden, newly scrubbed and wearing fresh clothes, to sit at a little bistro table and have a glass of wine and enjoy the results of our labour.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Killer apologizes to family of 16-year-old he shot in 2024 before judge delivers 18-year manslaughter sentence

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Preview

Killer apologizes to family of 16-year-old he shot in 2024 before judge delivers 18-year manslaughter sentence

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Yesterday at 4:26 PM CDT

Sharon Basarowich’s voice quaked with emotion as she told a court Tuesday of the never-ending pain her family has been left with after her 16-year-old grandson was gunned down outside a Boyd Avenue drug house.

“We have a void that will never be filled,” said Basarowich, whose grandson Trey Basarowich, a talented hockey player and youth mentor, was fatally shot Oct. 5, 2024.

“When Trey died, a part of us died, too,” she said.

Devin Evans, 20, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the killing but in a plea bargain admitted to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison.

Read
Yesterday at 4:26 PM CDT

Steinbach Credit Union names interim CEO

Free Press staff 1 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Steinbach Credit Union is moving its chief corporate sales officer into its top role.

James Gosselin became interim chief executive officer Monday. The term will last 12 months.

Curtis Wennberg, the credit union’s outgoing CEO, will serve as senior advisor to the entity’s board through November 2026.

Gosselin has been with the company since 1995. He began as a senior agriculture and commercial lending account manager and has since held a number of senior management roles.