Category: Thelma - Amy Jo Ehman

Thanks to You!

1/21/2021

Thank you everyone who purchased a copy of "Thelma" since its release in September. I made a pledge to donate $1 for each book sold or gifted in 2020 to Read Saskatoon, the literacy change maker in my community. That came to $638!

Thelma was a huge fan of reading, especially reading out loud to her four children when they were growing up. In mid life, she volunteered to read to residents at a seniors care home on her street. Reading out loud seemed to open the floodgates on their own memories. Listening to their stories of days gone by, Thelma wanted to take their photographs. And beautiful photos they are ♥

Another thing Thelma truly believed is the power of creativity to foster hope and healing. She believed everyone has a creative spirit and that we are happiest when following our passions, whether art or music or even creativity in the kitchen.

Next month, a major retrospective of Thelma's work opens at Remai Modern art gallery in Saskatoon (Feb. 13 to Aug. 15). In Thelma's honour, for every book purchased during her exhibition, $1 will be donated to Remai Modern for art programs in the community. So everyone has a chance to express their inner art. Thelma would like that.

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Thelma Pepper 1920~2020

12/3/2020

My dear friend Thelma has left us. It happened quickly and caught me by surprise. Though she was 100, she seemed invincible. I thought she'd live a long long time, well, at least so we could meet again after pandemic lockdown. I am grateful to have spent so much time with her over these past two years and that she was here to see our book come to fruition in September. She taught me a lot about living with passion and growing old with grace. Adieu my friend 💝

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What's in a Cover?

11/16/2020

Sure, we could have used a picture of Thelma with her camera. But instead, we used a picture of young Thelma with a book. Reading is so important to Thelma—in fact, you could say reading changed her life and led her down the path of photography.

In honour of Thelma, my publisher and I will donate $1 for every book purchased in 2020 to Read Saskatoon, the literacy change-maker in our community.

Thelma always believed in the power of reading. She read to her children, even when they could read themselves. When they left home, Thelma found herself in a mid-life depression, searching for new meaning in her life. She volunteered to read to seniors at the care home on her street. Listening to her read seemed to open the floodgates on their own stories. Thelma saw the pride and joy in their faces, and she wanted to capture that in photographs. The rest, as they say, is history…

Three major exhibitions (and a fourth coming up), Saskatchewan Order of Merit, a Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award, and countless admirers of her positive message of creativity and following your passions to your destiny. As she said, at the age of 99, “It’s a good thing I found myself, or I would not be here today.”

Sheryl Harrow-Yurach, CEO of ReadSaskatoon: “We know one in three Saskatchewan adults struggle daily with reading and writing. Strong literacy skills are foundational to an individual’s economic, social, educational, and employment success. Even more significant, strong literacy skills are foundational to a family’s success. Children’s first teachers are their parents. Their home is the first classroom, and the community is their first school. And like Thelma and Amy Jo, and in the words of one our clients ‘Please get involved! You can’t afford not to. There is more to life than our own little space. Bringing community together through literacy makes our Saskatchewan families stronger because we never stop learning. Ever!’”

For those of you who have purchased a copy of Thelma, $1 is already in the kitty. Thank you!! For those of you thinking of a book for yourself or others, consider it a $1 gift toward the strength and success of the new readers—and their families—in our community.

Now, in pandemic lockdown, reading is Thelma’s lifeline to the outside world. The last time I was able to briefly visit, she was reading Guns, Germs and Steel. I took her the new biography of Sylvia Fedoruk, which truly delighted her. She’s probably read another three books since then :)

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Virtual Book Launch, Literally

10/16/2020

Despite all your preparation, thing go wrong, right?

On Tuesday, we did a technical test run for my virtual book launch of Thelma: A Life in Pictures. But yesterday, when I connected via zoom, my audio showed up but not my video. Baffled, I rebooted my computer, which worked ~ with 1 minute to spare 😳

So, thankfully, I showed up at my own book launch 😃 and thanks to all of you who came, too. Thanks to McNally Robinson bookstore in Saskatoon for organizing and managing the event. And super thanks to Joanne Paulson for co-hosting with me, 'cause zooming with a friend is way more fun than zooming alone.

Joanne's grandma was photographed by Thelma and is featured in the book, so her participation was personal and heartfelt ♥

I've got to be honest, it feels strange launching a book in covid times, with NO personal contact or a roster of book-promoting events. But it's also a time of intentional and sincere connections via social channels that hone our relationships and our gratitude. Thank you!!

If you missed the book launch, you can watch it via youtube by tapping the screenshot image below. I hope you enjoy connecting as much as I did.

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Thelma's Sherbrooke Portraits

10/13/2020

Today I delivered a copy of my book Thelma: A Life in Pictures to the Sherbrooke care home in Saskatoon. Thelma's husband Jim spent his final years there with Alzheimer's disease. It was a special place to her. She came every day to eat meals with Jim and appreciated the caring, encouraging, joyful atmosphere that put a smile on the faces of its residents.

Thelma saw the grace and spirit in those aging faces and wanted to capture them in photographs. She asked permission to take their pictures and it was granted.

Such tender and compassionate portraits... Her photos remind us that everyone has gifts to share no matter the age or infirmity. The creative spirit flows through each of us to the best of our ability. That is when we are truly happy.

This is Thelma's message. When all feels lost or hopeless or sad, doing something ~ even a little thing ~ for ourselves and for others is our saving grace.

Alice Turner and Child, 2001 by Thelma Pepper

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Thelma has Arrived!

10/2/2020

Oh that new book smell... After a year of gestation, my book Thelma: A Life in Pictures has arrived in book stores! I spent an hour this morning at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Saskatoon signing some 60 copies. By the time I left the store, it was already on the shelf, sitting next to my two previous books ~ Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens and Saskatoon: A History. Welcome to the world Thelma ♥

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New Book Launch!!!!!

9/24/2020

My new book Thelma: A Life in Pictures is hot off the press and will be arriving in stores soon. So you're invited to a book launch!!! Virtual of course.

It feels a bit odd to launch a new book with no in-person encounters and no roster of events for a month of getting the word out. But life as it is requires that we do things differently and make the best of it. The great thing about a virtual book launch is that folks can join from anywhere in the world. That's big!

The book launch for Thelma is set for Thursday, October 15 @ 7 pm (Sask. time) hosted by McNally Robinson Booksellers on its online platforms Zoom and YouTube. You can get the watch details from their website by clicking the image below 👇

Please join us! I would love to see you there ♥

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What's in a Cover

8/10/2020

Whew. After a marathon four days of page proofing, "Thelma" is off to the printers. Now the wait for an honest to goodness book to emerge...

For several months, I've been sending the publisher possible images for the cover of the book. But in the end, he picked a photo I had not considered in my own little pea brain. But it's brilliant!! Don't you agree?

This is Thelma as a little girl, captured by her father's lens, doing what she has loved for all of her 100 years ~ reading a good book.

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The Best Birthday Gift

7/28/2020

Today is Thelma's 100th birthday and what a birthday present!! Saskatoon's new art gallery Remai Modern announced it will stage a major retrospective of Thelma's photographs in the new year, from February to August 2021.

The Remai illustrated the announcement with this image of Thelma's called Evangeline's Mother, 1993. Click here to see the full announcement on the Remai Modern website.

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