Wendy Davis: An Edmonton lifelong learner

By Kathy Kerr

(AJNews) – The love of learning recognizes no age barriers. Just ask Wendy Davis, who has enjoyed a wide range of courses for 30 years with the Edmonton Lifelong Learners Association (ELLA).

Wendy, who turns 96 this year, comes out each spring to take ELLA’s non-credit classes at the University of Alberta. ELLA also offers online courses in winter.

“I have many senior friends who invariably gripe about the vagaries of aging. I love ELLA as our discussions are inspired by the content of our classes – be it bugs or glaciers or politics – which I find stimulating and invigorating,” says Wendy.

A class Wendy took early in her ELLA experience inspired her to write a memoir about her childhood in India.

“Eunice Scarfe was the teacher. Eunice recommended that we keep our little group going when ELLA was over. We did… That is how my book on my girlhood in India, Dal and Rice, was written, and eventually published by McGill-Queens University Press, thanks to then writer-in-residence, Tim Bowling,” says Wendy.

Born in London, England in 1928, Wendy spent her childhood from infancy to five in India before returning to England for school. She returned to India as a 10-year old, spending five years of the Second World War there with her parents.

In 1945 Wendy returned to the UK and eventually trained as an occupational therapist.

“I worked at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh where I met two Calgarian physiotherapists who suggested that I return with them (to Canada) and apply to the U of A to teach in rehab medicine. I was offered a position as a teaching assistant and moved to Edmonton in 1974,” she says.

She wrote a book, Aids Make You Able, for stroke patients and their families. “It served to help individuals regain and maintain as much independence as possible.”

When Wendy retired at 65, she sought out volunteer opportunities. That was when ELLA, and memoir writing, came into her life.

“I would like to encourage others to write their life stories. Remember: it is easier to recall what you did at age 10 than what you had for dinner last night. Writing your life may seem overwhelming at the start, but I suggest you simply begin with three lines every night,” she says.

“That practice, and the encouragement of colleagues I met at ELLA, were instrumental in my becoming a published creative writer at age 80.”

“ELLA is an exceptional organization – I know of nothing like it. I have friends who have retired away from Alberta, and who now make a point of visiting their adult children in Edmonton during the three weeks ELLA is offered (in the spring), so that they may partake in the wonderful programming while catching up with family.”

Participants can also enjoy ELLA’s wide variety of courses remotely. Registration for the Online Winter Session begins December 5, with classes starting Jan. 13. For course information, and more details, visit my-ella.com.