John Sawatsky was born in 1948 in Winkler, Manitoba. He received his B.A. Honours in Political Science at the Simon Fraser University in 1974. He has acquired much experience in the field of journalism at various universities including Carleton University and the University of Regina. Sawatsky was previously employed at the Vancouver Sun and B.C. Petroleum. He is presently a Journalism Trainer and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Journalism at the Carleton University. He is also a self-employed journalist and writer. Sawatsky has written "Men in the Shadows: the RCMP Security Service" (1980), "For Services Rendered: Leslie James Bennett and the RCMP Security Service" (1982), "Gouzenko: the Untold Story" (1984), "The Insiders: Government, Business and the Lobbyists" (1989) and "Mulroney: the Politics of Ambition" (1992). In 1976 he received the Michener Award for meritorious public service in the field of journalism. He has also received various other professional honours for other works he has completed. In 1985 Sawatsky returned to Ottawa where he now serves as an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism, Carlton University, and pursues a free lance career.

A U.S. native, Oscar D. Seawell received a B.A.(Hons.) in mathematics and physics from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1947. In 1943-44, in the midst of his undergraduate studies, he participated in a U.S. Army specialized training program in advanced civil engineering at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. For post-graduate work he enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, graduating with an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 1948. In the years prior to his arrival at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus in 1971, Mr. Seawell worked in private industry gaining experience in construction (2 years) nuclear (11 years), and systems (5 years) engineering. He also maintained a lengthy association with the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Reserve (1949-1983), rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and completing various correspondence courses in engineering, management, and officer training. His career as an educator began in 1952 to 1956 when he taught engineering at the University of Idaho. In 1956-1957, and again in 1961-1962, he taught an engineering extension course in nuclear reactor design at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also taught at San Jose State College in 1964-1965. In 1971 Oscar Seawell moved to Canada to accept an appointment as professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus. He was heavily involved in the planning of the new Industrial Systems Engineering Program and served as its coordinator from 1977-1985. He also served on a number of university and faculty committees. Upon his retirement from the University of Regina in 1989 Mr. Seawell was named Professor Emeritus of Systems Engineering. He continues to reside in Regina.

Maggie Siggins is a journalist and broadcaster of national stature. Born in Toronto in 1942, she received a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism in 1965 from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and began her career as a reporter for the 'Toronto Telegram.' During the 1970s she worked as a political reporter, commentator, interviewer, and producer for CBC and CITY-TV Toronto. As a freelancer, her work has appeared in such major national magazines as 'Chatelaine', 'Macleans', 'Reader's Digest', 'Today Magazine', and 'Financial Post Magazine', and she published a monthly political column in 'Toronto Life', 1981-1983. She has produced documentaries for CBC and CITY-TV, and spent 1985-1986 in China where she worked at the New China News Agency and taught at the Beijing Broadcast Institute. She is the author of six major books. Siggins has won a number of awards and honours. In 1985 her book on the JoAnn and Colin Thatcher murder case, 'A Canadian Tragedy' (MacMillan, 1985), won the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis award. 'Revenge of the Land' received the Governor-General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 1992, and 'Riel: A Life of Revolution' won the City of Regina Best Book Award. 'Love and Hate', a CBC television miniseries based on Siggins' book on the Thatcher case, was produced in 1989 and has aired in Canada, the U.S., Britain and forty other countries. A miniseries based on 'Revenge of the Land' is in production. Siggins has lectured widely and taught journalism, receiving the Southam Fellowship for Journalists, University of Toronto (1973-1974), and the Max Bell Chair in Journalism at the University of Regina (1983-1984). She is a member of numerous professional organizations and has served as chair of the Writers' Union of Canada and as a board member of PEN. Maggie Siggins has three children and resides in Regina with her husband, Gerald B. Sperling.

Barbara Leete Stange was a Special Lecturer and Assistant Professor at the University of Regina, Faculty of Education, from 1975 to 1987. In addition, Stange acted as Director of the University of Regina Children's Centre, (which operated under the direction of the Early Childhood subject Area, Faculty of Education), from 1978 to 1982, and from January to June 1987. Stange retired in 1987. She was married to Karl Stange, who was a professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Regina and who died in 1997.

Canadian editor, author, and journalist Walter Douglas Stewart was born in Toronto on April 19, 1931. He studied history at the University of Toronto, 1949 to 1953, but left before graduation to work for the Toronto 'Telegram' where he served as general reporter, picture editor, and financial feature writer until he joined 'Star Weekly' magazine as assistant picture editor in 1962. The following year he became Ottawa correspondent staying until 1968 when he assumed the same duties for 'Maclean's' magazine. At 'Maclean's' he moved on to become Toronto associate editor (1970-1972, 1973-1975), Washington correspondent (1975-1977), and managing editor (1977). He has worked as a feature writer for the Toronto 'Star' (1972-1973), as Ottawa correspondent and national columnist for FP News Service (1979-1980), as editor of 'Today' magazine, Toronto (1981-1982), as editor of 'Policy Options' magazine (1988-1992), and as columnist for 'The Toronto Sun' (1983-1997). As a freelancer, his work has appeared extensively in daily newspapers and magazines in Canada and the US, and on radio and television. Stewart is the author of fifteen non-fiction books, chiefly on Canadian political, historical, and economic subjects, and two detective novels. He edited a book on Canadian journalism; 'Canadian Newspapers: The Inside Story' (Hurtig, 1981), and is co-author, with Eric Kierans, of 'Wrong End of the Rainbow' (Collins, 1988). He has also ghost-written a number of books. Mr. Stewart's work has earned a number of awards including the Canadian Business Writers' Award for Investigative Journalism (1983), and the Canadian Magazines Award for Business Writing (1983). He has served as Professor and Director of the School of Journalism at King's College, Halifax (1984-1986) and as Max Bell Professor of Journalism at the University of Regina (1987-1988). Walter Stewart married Joan Marie Finley of Peterborough, Ontario, on September 24, 1955. They have a son, Craig, a daughter, Sandra, and two grandchildren.

Jack Sures was born 20 November 1934 in Brandon, Manitoba. He studied Painting and Printmaking at the University of Manitoba for both his undergraduate degree and his masters degree at the University of Michigan. Though he attended only one academic Ceramics course, Sures worked in The Chelsea Pottery studio and a ceramic cat factory while traveling in England after his graduation in 1959. After traveling extensively overseas he returned to Winnipeg in 1962 and set up a ceramics studio, building his own gas kiln (the first in Manitoba), and fashioning a pottery wheel out of a farmers' milk separator. Sures ran this studio, selling his work and offering studio space to other artists until 1965 when he was hired by the University of Saskatchewan (now the University of Regina) to set up the Ceramics and Printmaking programs. This position allowed him to teach and focus on the development his own practise. Over the course of his teaching career at the University of Regina, Jack Sures completed numerous large-scale commissions, including installations at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Sturdy Stone Provincial Office Building, The University of Saskatchewan, and the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre. His art has been awarded nationally and internationally, winning, among many others, the Grand Prize at the International Ceramics Competition in Mino Japan in 1989. Sures was honoured with the investiture of the Order of Canada, as well as repeated recognition by The University of Regina for excellence in Teaching and Research. Upon his retirement in 1998 he was named professor emeritus, and he continues to be recognized for his contributions receiving Saskatchewan's' highest honour, The Order of Merit (2003), and a commemorative medal for the 125th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Through-out his career he has participated in a multitude of solo and group exhibitions, workshops, and several art boards and organizations, exemplifying his expansive passion for the Fine Arts. Jack Sures continues to exhibit and produce work, and contribute his expertise at the University of Regina.

Tony Tascona was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba in 1926. He attended the Winnipeg School of Art and the University of Manitoba School of Fine Arts between 1948 and 1952. He worked as a electroplating technician between 1953 and 1971. This position provided him with a knowledge of metallurgy and its related technologies that he subsequently put to use in his sculptures. In 1971 he left this position to devote himself to his art. Single-artist shows include those at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Frederickton, N.B., and La Galerie Internationale, Ribe, Denmark. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions as well. Tascona has won major awards for his artwork, finishing first and second many times in Winnipeg shows and other local exhibitions. In 1970 he received citations from the Royal Canadian Academy, the Royal Architectural institute of Canada and the Italian Academy of Arts and Works. He also received an honorary degree from St. John's College of the University in 1994. In addition to his art work, Tascona has been very involved in the arts. He was prairie region Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1979-1981), served on the Board of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1975-1976), and was involved in the Canadian Conference of the Arts (1990-1993). He is married to Doreen Millen and currently resides in Winnipeg.

The son of John A. and Adeline (Folk) Thauberger, David Thauberger was born in Holdfast, Saskatchewan on June 26, 1948. While studying Education at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, a summer course in art ignited his desire to become an artist, and he completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1971. After two years in the United States, where he earned a Master of Arts (California State University, Sacramento, 1972) and a Master of Fine Arts (University of Montana, Missoula, 1973), Thauberger returned to Saskatchewan to pursue his artistic career, supplementing his income conducting workshops and teaching art classes. Prior to 1975, when he switched to full-time painting, the artist worked primarily with ceramics. He has also sustained an interest in folk art, from whence he drew inspiration for his painting style, and he spent time gathering art works and information about this little known art form, chiefly in Saskatchewan. Thauberger's works are widely represented in public and private collections all over North America, and have been included in numerous solo and groups exhibitions. He has been commissioned to create works for various corporations and individuals, and has served as a juror in several art competitions. David Thauberger resides in Regina. He is married to Veronica Pawliw, and they have two sons, Jonathon (born 1972) and Christopher (born 1975).

Born March 19, 1888 at Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, Robert Charles Hollis Torville was the son of Rose Blanchard Torville and Robert Torville, a stableman. After his parents separated in 1897 he was sent to an orphanage in London where he received a brief education. He emigrated to Halifax in 1899 and in 1910 took up a homestead in the Milestone district where he farmed until retiring to Regina in 1966. Torville was a poet, writer, and songwriter who sought personal truth through mysticism, studying in the 1930s with the Mystic Brotherhood, University of Tampa, Florida. He published three volumes of poetry including "Song of my Soul" in 1965. Upon his death he bequethed $50,000 to the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, which was used to establish the Torville Honour Scholarship, presented annually to a student majoring in English.

Deight Underwood attended Regina College from 1927-28 to 1929-30. During his senior year he served on the Student Executive and played basketball. Underwood grew up in Shackleton, Saskatchewan, where he lived until his death in the 1990's.

Geoffrey Ursell was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1943. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Masters of Arts from the University of Manitoba in 1965 and 1966 respectively. His Ph.D. was earned from the University of London in 1973. He returned to the University of Manitoba as a Lecturer in English from 1971 to 1973. From there he went to the University of Regina as a Special Lecturer (1975-1978) and Special Assistant Professor in English (1980-81 and 1982-83). Ursell is a writer, composer, poet, and editor. He has earned many awards: the Clifford E. Lee Playwriting Award, Edmonton Critic's First Night Award, Performing Arts in Canada One-Act Play Competition, Persephone Theatre National Playwriting Competition Award and Books in Canada First Novel Award plus grants from Canada Council, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council Explorations Grant and many others. His professional activies are numerous: President, Thunder Creek Publishing Co.; Writer-in-Residence, Saskatoon Public Library and Winnipeg Public Library; Associate Director, 25th Street Theatre; member-at-large, Writer Director and Vice-President, Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA); President, Saskatchewan Writers' Guild; and member, Saskatchewan Sport Trust Cultural Steering Committee. He has had articles published in various publications such as: "Grain". "NeWest Review", "Quarry", "Western People", "Canadian Fiction Magazine", and "This Magazine".

Fenton Russell Vance received a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1941. He was a serious photographer for many years and accumulated a library of nearly 500 slides of Saskatchewan wildflowers. He was the main photographer for the book 'Wildflowers Across the Prairies', (Western Producer Prairie Books, 1997, 1984), working with naturalist James R. Jowsey and illustrator James S. McLean. Mr. Vance died in Regina on April 2, 1997 at the age of 89. His wife, Irene, predeceased him in 1980.

Allan Bishop VanCleave was born August 19, 1910 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He began his post-secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan, receiving a B.Sc. in 1931 and an M.Sc. in 1933. His post-graduate work was done at McGill, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1935, and at Cambridge, where a second Ph.D. was conferred in 1937. He joined the University of Saskatchewan as assistant professor of chemistry in 1937 and achieved full professor status in 1952. In 1962 Dr. VanCleave was appointed Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences at Regina Campus, where he became Dean of Graduate Studies in 1969. Following his retirement from the University of Regina in 1977, he was named Professor Emeritus. Dr. VanCleave authored nearly fifty scientific papers in physical and surface chemistry. He was also instrumental in introducing a new CHEM Study program into Saskatchewan high schools and training teachers to use this approach, work that was recognized by the Chemical Institute of Canada in 1968 when it presented him with a Chemistry Education Award. Dr. VanCleave was president of the University of Saskatchewan Alumni Association (1949-1951). He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976, and received an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Regina in 1980. Dr. VanCleave and his wife, Dorothy, had two sons and two daughters. He died in April 1992.

Jan Gerrit Wyers was born on July 20, 1888 in Emmer, The Netherlands. He left school at the age of 12 to work on his father's farm. On February 18, 1913 he left for the United States with three friends. He worked as a hired hand and on threshing crews in North Dakota and South Dakota until 1916 when he moved to Canada and bought a quarter section of land at Windthorst, Saskatchewan. Jan Wyers started painting in 1937-38 to keep himself busy during the cold winters. His first exhibition was in 1956. He exhibited 'The First Saskatchewan Harvest' and 'These Good Old Thrashing Days' in the seventh annual Saskatchewan Art Exhibition sponsored by the Saskatchewan Arts Board and held at the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina. He received an Award of Merit for the 'The First Saskatchewan Harvest'. In 1959, eight of Jan Wyer's paintings were included in the National Gallery of Canada's exhibition 'Folk Painters of the Canadian West' which toured to galleries throughout Canada and the United States. Through these exhibitions and articles in 'Canadian Art', 'artscanada' and 'Time', Wyers gained national recognition for his 'naive' style of folk art. He remained in Windthorst for most of his life until he developed Parkinson's disease and had to move to a nursing home in 1970. He died in Regina July 4, 1973.

Russell Yuristy was born in Goodeve, Sask. in 1936. He moved to Silton, Sask. in 1969. In 1959 he received his B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Campus. He received his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1967 with a major in painting and a minor in graphics. He taught drawing and painting at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus from 1967-71 and was Administrator of the Emma Lake Artists' Workshops from 1968-70. Yuristy is best known for his large animal playground sculptures. He has built sculptures in Ottawa, Spokane (Washington), Churchill (Manitoba), Swift Current, Saskatoon, Vancouver (for Expo '86) and in Regina. In 1986 he moved to Ottawa and taught some classes at the University of Ottawa and the Ontario College of Art. He moved to Montreal in 1990.