• Age: 16
• Grade: 11

Set in the wild country north of Lillooet and west of the great Fraser River, Old Lives paints the rugged landscape and equally rugged lives of the Chilcotin's enigmatic old-timers: aboriginal and settler, male and female, deceased and alive. It takes vigilance, persistence, courage and humour to live where survival requires a deep knowledge and trust of the land, where prosperity is synonymous with self-sufficiency and where thriving is dependent upon a community of neighbours and friends who can be counted on in the direst of times.

In his second collection of Chilcotin stories, John Schreiber unveils an urban life that continues to encroach upon the BC Interior, and as it does, the old ways disappear; traditional knowledge and skills are forgotten, and the legends fade into myth. Old Lives is a book that acknowledges and honours the region's backcountry elders, their way of life and the wild liveliness of the great Chilcotin land where they have existed for centuries.

John Schreiber grew up in coastal logging communities and--for five, formative young years--in the North Thompson Valley north of Kamloops. He has worked extensively in the logging industry, in a mining camp, on a seine fishboat, in a pulp mill, as a parole officer and as a teacher-counselor for 27 years. Since the late '60s he has walked, driven and ridden through the Chilcotin region many times. Now retired, he lives in Victoria, BC, with his partner, Marne. His earlier collection of stories from the Chilcotin, Stranger Wycott's Place, was published in 2008 by New Star Books.

John Schreiber's profile page

Old Lives in the Chilcotin Backcountry

This personal account describes Schreiber’s journeys —alone or accompanied— through areas of the Western Chilcotin region. Schreiber encounters significant pioneers and settlers of the region, listens to their life-stories and the area’s mythic stories and then passes on knowledge leading to wisdom from such. Aspects of the Chilcotin’s flora and fauna, sights and sounds, and geographic landscapes are described. References to ancient kekuli pithouses, the Chilcotin War and the legendary Chiwid — wandering woman of the Chilcotin — are included. First Nations myths such as those centred on Eniyud and Ts’ylos, Raven and Old Coyote, transformers and tricksters are briefly summarized in a chapter that emphasizes the role and importance of myths in informing and transforming us as well as in telling and writing us.

Old Lives in the Chilcotin Backcountry

This personal account describes Schreiber’s journeys —alone or accompanied— through areas of the Western Chilcotin region. Schreiber encounters significant pioneers and settlers of the region, listens to their life-stories and the area’s mythic stories and then passes on knowledge leading to wisdom from such. Aspects of the Chilcotin’s flora and fauna, sights and sounds, and geographic landscapes are described. References to ancient kekuli pithouses, the Chilcotin War and the legendary Chiwid—wandering woman of the Chilcotin—are included. First Nations myths such as those centred on Eniyud and Ts’ylos, Raven and Old Coyote, transformers and tricksters are briefly summarized in a chapter that emphasizes the role and importance of myths in informing and transforming us as well as in telling and writing us.