DR. FIORENZA ALBERT-HOWARD, a native of Rome who is descended from a long line of prominent Italian architects and engineers, was a pioneer in her fields of civic and computer engineering.
“I was the only female in a class of 750 engineering students at the University of Rome,” she laughs.
Fiorenza, a recipient of numerous international awards for her work, built an illustrious career with, first, Italian IBM and Olivetti, and, later, BC Tel and the University of BC. A health issue more than a decade ago caused her to take a pause. She now applies her many skills and interests to “giving back” to the West Vancouver community, where she has lived since 1986. Currently, Fiorenza is a member of the Advisory Committee of the West Vancouver Art Museum, which is exhibiting Jim Breukelman’s Altered States photographs later this month.
“Art has always been a big part of my life,” she says. “When we were growing up, our parents took us ‘camping’ all over Europe for several months each summer to look at and to experience Europe’s classic and modern art and architecture.”
The family cultural travel mantra became, “Give us this day our daily church,” she says, with the enthusiasm and humour she brings to her life and to her projects.
LORRAINE MURRAY is writing a sequel to The Adventures of Humboldt, her first children’s book, in her favourite coffee shop in Quadra Village in Victoria. The former ESL teacher with Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Settlement Centre, previously from Winnipeg and Montreal, now focuses mainly on her writing in Maine, US and Victoria, where she is also a part-time on-call teacher’s assistant.
“I’m a writer but I’m becoming more dedicated by writing every day,” she says. She prefers the coffee shop ambience. “Coffee gets my brain whizzing and I like the din of others. Writing can be a lonely business.”
Her first book, available at Munro’s in Victoria and in Maine’s oldest bookstore, Sherman’s, is set in London, UK, and aims to inspire the innocence of young readers. Lorraine has tapped into her own imagination by conjuring up Humboldt’s adventures.
“To start writing,” she says, “you just need to begin. It’s like coming home to yourself; it brings great joy.” Then, she packs up her coffee-shop office and she’s off to walk her Newfoundland dog, Dory.
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