about Kathleen... A PASSION FOR GOOD WORDS.... Wherever they are found, Kathleen Gibson's words influence lives. A Christ-follower, clergy wife, mother and grandmother, she writes and speaks from the heart, exploring faith and life with simplicity, humor, and poignancy. Kathleen grew up in Port Moody B.C., a Vancouver suburb on the shores of the Burrard Inlet. Her parents encouraged in her three things that would eventually play significant roles in her life: a love of God, creativity, and a passion for good words. Of the three, she says, "It's that heritage of faith I value most." Kathleen married her clergyman husband Richard, in 1976, a calling which has taken them to cities large and small over several Canadian provinces. As well as assisting in ministry, Kathleen has taught music, creative arts and spiritual growth studies to people of all ages. For several years she edited a home education journal and was a contributing designer for Country Handcrafts magazine (a former Reiman publication.) She has also held the post of birding editor at BellaOnline.com, the web's second largest women's site. She currently holds an editorial position at Prairies North Magazine (www.prairiesnorth.com) Kathleen's work has been included in anthologies and published in a variety of media, including Reader's Digest worldwide, women's magazines, national radio and public school curriculum. She has conducted writing and journaling workshops and is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, workshops and women's retreats. In 2004, Kathleen followed her published words to India, where for five weeks she traveled, worked, and lived closely with the people of that country, many of them of the Dalit (untouchable) caste. That trip, she says, "generated an incredible deepening in my life and faith." Sunny Side Up, Kathleen's weekly inspirational newspaper column, reflects both her practicality and her spiritual beliefs. Sampling from experiences collected over decades, she explores with frankness the integration of practical faith and ordinary life. Sunny Side Up Press remains one of Kathleen's favorite ventures. "This is micro-publishing, at best," she says. "I produce a few tiny books with large print and great messages, I write some, friends write some . We publish a hundred or two at a time, then give most of them away or sell them locally and at speaking engagements. It's fabulous fun." In summer of 2007, Kathleen's husband, Rick, contracted Neuurological West Nile Disease. During their subsequent, and ongoing, battle against what they came to call 'the Pirates', Kathleen kept a daily journal and published numerous articles. Her book, West Nile Diary, a compilation of these writings, will be released in 2009. Kathleen graduated from Canadian Nazarene College in Winnipeg, (now Nazarene University College, Calgary), with a Bachelor of Sacred Literature degree, and has completed further studies in writing and creative arts. Return to just_as_i_thought home page |
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