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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, March 5, 2015 | 30 Plum Johnson cleans up as 2015 RBC Taylor Prize winner Award-winning memoir tells story of children tasked with clearing out family home after mother's death by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" Author and former Oakville resident Plum Johnson is the recipient of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize. `The most beautiful place on earth' Johnson received the prestigious award for literary non"Mum always said, it was `the most beautiful place on fiction for her book They Left Us Everything, published by earth', and I agree with her," she added. Penguin Canada, as well as a $25,000 prize to go with it. The book is "beautifully observed and written with great "I am stunned... I never expected it," Johnson told the warmth and wit... (it) is an absorbing memoir of grief, growth Oakville Beaver. and decluttering," wrote the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize selection The announcement was made Monday by prize foundation jury. and chair Noreen Taylor during a gala luncheon celebrating "Plum Johnson must deal not merely with the legacy of this year's finalists at Toronto's Omni King Edward Hotel. her difficult, ill-matched parents, but is handed the burden of "This is a prize that pushes nondisposing of the seemingly endless fiction boundaries," said Taylor. contents of their 23-room Lake "Each year, the winner sets the Ontario home, which becomes a And what I thought would be an onerous bar higher and higher for stancharacter on its own in the telling," dards of excellence in the field of the jury continued. task ended up being a gift. Living there a unique Canadian non-fiction "The task, which she initially (in her Oakville childhood home) was like genre." thinks manageable, proves Hercubeing in paradise -- walking along the The five finalists for the 2015 lean, far more complex than she'd lakefront, looking out at the water, watching RBC Taylor Prize were: Johnson; imagined, involving understandthe sky and listening to the birds. Mum David O'Keefe, for One Day in ing her past and packing up its always said, it was `the most beautiful place August: The Untold Story Behind contents, both literal and metaCanada's Tragedy at Dieppe; Barphorical. A story of love, loss, and on earth', and I agree with her. bara Taylor, for The Last Asylum: legacy, written with compassion Plum Johnson and humour....." A Memoir of Madness In Our Times; Author M.G. Vassanji, for And Home Was Johnson is an award-winning Kariakoo: A Memoir of East Africa; author, artist, and entrepreneur. and Kathleen Winter, for Boundless. She was the founder of KidsCanada Publishing Corp., pubThe RBC Taylor Prize is awarded annually to the author lisher of KidsToronto, and co-founder of Help's Here! resource whose book best combines "an excellent command of the magazine for seniors and caregivers. English language, an elegance of style, quality of thought, As part of winning the RBC Taylor Prize, the recipient is and subtlety of perception," stated a press release by the RBC tasked with selecting a Canadian, non-fiction author to reTaylor Prize committee. ceive the Emerging Writers Award. The runner-up finalists each receive a $2,000 prize. Established in 2013, to recognize and assist a Canadian They Left Us Everything follows Johnson after she returns published author working on a significant writing project, to her 23-room family home in Oakville at the south end of the award includes a $10,000 and the chance to be mentored Trafalgar Road, where her family lived for more than 60 years. It falls on Johnson and her siblings to clean out the house and sell it when their 92-year-old mother passes away. A task Johnson thought would only take a few weeks ends up spanning two years. "And what I thought would be an onerous task ended up being a gift," said Johnson, who now lives in Toronto. "Living there was like being in paradise -- walking along the lakefront, looking out at the water, watching the sky and listening to the birds. RBC Taylor Prize winner for 2015 Plum Johnson, left, and Noreen Taylor, founder of the RBC Taylor Prize. | photo by Tom Sandler (CNW Group/RBC Taylor Prize) under the current RBC Taylor Prize winner. The recipient of the second annual Emerging Writers Award will be announced later this month. This is the 14th awarding of the RBC Taylor Prize. Presenting partner RBC Wealth Management will host Johnson on a speaking tour of selected Canadian cities. For more information, visit www.rbctaylorprize.ca. BIG MOVIES, SMALL PRICES! 171 Speers Road (at Kerr) Oakville 905-338-6397 www.film.ca facebook.com/filmca @FilmCaCinemas THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC CHAPPIE (14A) CINDERELLA (G) MARIGOLD HOTEL (PG) MARCH 6 MARCH 13 MARCH 6 INSURGENT (PG) MARCH 20 HOME (G) MARCH 20 Sign up for Cin-E-Mail and get a free popcorn! Get our showtimes and promos: cinemail.film.ca