William Peckham started his career as a fiction writer later in life, but although he started at the age of 72, his productivity was productive.
With the help of his wife, Lynn, Peckham is in the process of self-publishing Ivanna – The Final Chapter, which will be released this month on his 89th birthday.
The main character Ivanna is a Russian ballerina who is married to a Russian officer. She fled her home country at the beginning of the Russian Revolution in 1912 and settled in the small town of Brockville east of Toronto, where she became a dance teacher and nanny for two small children.
Her life is later complicated by international intrigue, murder, betrayal and the search for a man who secretly loved her.
This is Peckham’s third novel – the others being House Number Twenty-Nine and From Out Of The Woodwork – in a writing career that also includes memoirs, dozens of short stories, and a time as a columnist for Kelowna Capital News in 2018.
Peckham thanks his wife, Lynn Vaughan-Peckham, for helping him achieve his dream of becoming a writer.
“I wouldn’t be a writer without Lynn’s input, support and encouragement,” said Peckham.
The two had storybook lives, grew up in Ontario, married and separated, and then met in Kelowna many years later when they were both single.
You have lived in Kelowna since 2002 and live in the detached residential complex Sunrise Village 45 plus.
“Bill is creative and shows great imagination in his writing. My strength at school was English grammar. We’ll make a good writer between the two of us, ”laughed Lynn.
Peckham was born and raised in Niagara Falls. He worked in the Ontario lumber business for many years. Using the pseudonym Michael C. Hammar, he wrote newspaper columns for newspapers and hosted a radio call-in-show.
In 1990 he switched from radio to television as a presenter and author of the national series Don’t More Improve.
For her part, Lynn played on many stage musicals during her marriage to her first husband, Mark Vaughan, and hosted a community show on Shaw Cable in Kelowna for many years during the 1990s.
Self-published his latest book, Peckham hopes to use an extensive email list he’s built across North America over the years to aid the sales effort rather than going through the bookstore sales channel.
To get a copy of his new book, email Peckham at peck102mch@yahoo.ca or call 250-860-2420.
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