Lois Hole Speaks: Words That Matter.

Frits Pannekoek is an associate professor of heritage studies, director
of information resources at the University of Calgary, and the author of
A Snug Little Flock: The Social Origins of the Riel Resistance of
1869–70.

Her Excellency, Lois Hole was Chancellor of the University of Alberta for less than a term when she was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Alberta, one of the most brilliant appointments of that kind ever made. She knew the people of Alberta well, but most important, she knew her own values and never hesitated to espouse them. She was, for example, one of the staunchest supporters of libraries that anyone could every want, and had one of the most imaginative projects, the Lois Hole Digital Library, which brings the world’s best e-library material to every person in the province, named after her. She knew of the project and supported its advocates with more than one of her hallmark hugs. She warned the library community that the province had a short memory and sure enough, without her skilled boosterism today the Lois Hole Library is fading, becoming a shadow of its former self.

These speeches will, I hope, be read with some care. They are the conscience of the people. Although those who give as many speeches as Lois Hole did often have writers, I believe that even if she did, she personalized them.

The fifty page introduction by Marc Lisac is a masterful analysis, based on interviews with those who knew her best. Gary Mar and Dave Hancock, both Ministers of the Alberta Crown and admirers, had offices just down the hall from her, affording them more than the occasional chat. She had a down-to-earth elegance of phrase that made many rethink their positions. To Gary Mar she was a “great Canadian” who, according to Lisac, had an “ability to translate passions into persuasive civilized words.” Her passing was too soon. Lisac has done us all a service by collecting her thoughts which deserve reading again and again.