Welcome to Patricia Calder! Pat Calder started writing as a teenager. Inspired by an uncle who reported for the CBC, she secretly wrote stories about her life in the 50s and 60s. As a young adult she travelled around Europe as far as Moscow. Inspired by Russian writers she studied in university, she explored communism. The secret of the night her 3-year-old brother died came out at a family event. When she began writing as a retiree, these early memories reappeared in her writing: nature, equality, and loss. In a parallel life, she was developing her eye as a photographer. Spirit of the Hills has been a major influence and support for Pat as a writer and as a photographer, with its arts shows and writing critique groups.