SUNNY SANDY SAVARY

by Ian Kennedy
Paperback: 1 88 pages, 48 illustrations,
line drawings and maps.
ISBN 0-9696921-0-9
First printing 1992, Second 1993, Third 2008.
Price: $19.95

Copies are available at
Breakwater Books & Coffee, 6812A Alberni Street, Powell River, BC V8A 2B4,
and at Pollen Sweaters and the Lund General Store in Lund.

To order, email kennedyi@uniserve.com or call 1-250-339-7278

“Kennedy is to be congratulated for managing to produce anything at all given that Savary (Island), all 8 1/2 kilometres of it, is somewhat off the beaten track of history. The most engaging segments are his anecdotes from the past. For the horde of current-day cottagers who descend on the island in summer, and for the handful of diehards who tough it out through the less-than-tropical off-season, Kennedy’s work is
a must.”

Stanley Jackson, Vancouver Sun

SUNNY SANDY SAVARY relates the history of Savary Island up to 1992.

It outlines the geology and geography of the island, the pre-historic First Nations myths about it and the Sliammon tribe’s early habitation of it. Captain Vancouver named the island in 1792 when he sailed past it, but where the name comes from remains shrouded in mystery.

The first resident fell victim to a ne’er-do-well’s bullet before, just prior to W.W.l, land developers saw the Island’s potential as a summer resort and divided it into 50-foot lots.

For decades, the vagaries of the economy have dictated Savary’s development but recent years has seen the island become one of the most sought after cottage retreats of the B.C. coast.

Author Ian Kennedy has owned property on Savary Island since 1980 and as an historian set out to write the definitive history of the whole island in time for the bi-centenary of Captain Vancouver’s naming of the island on July 1, 1792.

Now in its third printing, this is a must-have for all Savaryites and those interested in B.C. Coastal history.

 

Born in Co. Donegal, Ireland, Ian kennedy immigrated to Canada with his family in 1954 and later graduated from Burnaby North High School and the University of British Columbia.

After hitch-hiking around Europe for a year he did post-graduate work at Queen’s University, Belfast before returning to teach history and geography at Steveston High School for thirty years (1969-1999).

His great love for the game of rugby led him to become a rugby journalist and for many years he traveled the world, covering three World Cups and a host of international rugby matches and tournaments.

He now lives in the Comox Valley with his wife Judith, whom he met while serving on Savary Island’s first Committee.

Ian Kennedy is also co-author of ‘A Guide to the Neighbourhood Pubs’ (1983) and ‘The Pick of the Pubs’ (1986. He is currently working on a history of Tofino, British Columbia.