We are very happy to welcoming local writer Ruby Smith Diaz who is the author of Searching for Serafim, a layered exploration of the life of Vancouver's first lifeguard, Serafim "Joe" Fortes.
A Trinidad native who arrived on the shores of Canada in 1885, Fortes was heralded as a hero in Vancouver for saving dozens of people from drowning, and his funeral drew the largest crowd ever recorded in the city's history. Since his passing, Fortes has been commemorated with a Canada Post-issued stamp and local buildings named in his honour. Yet, little has been discussed about how he navigated an openly white supremacist society as an Afro Latino man.
This is a free event, Ruby will be chatting with attendees and signing copies.
Book Review:
The legacy of Serafim Fortes is immense, and Ruby Smith Diaz is to be commended for bringing to light this multilayered history by documenting the crucial role Fortes played in early twentieth-century Vancouver's development. In Searching for Serafim, Diaz places Fortes at the centre of Black BC history, sharing his riveting transnational story and how he changed British Columbia. -Afua Cooper, professor of Black and women's history, University of Toronto
About the author:
RUBY SMITH DIAZ is an Afro Latina multidisciplinary artist, educator, and award-winning body-positive personal trainer. Her experiences growing up in a migrant, poor, single-parent family in Amiskwaciy (Edmonton, AB) have inspired her to dedicate her life's work to exploring and addressing issues of equity and social justice. Ruby currently resides on the unceded territories of the Stz'uminus peoples (Ladysmith, BC).
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