Barbara Godin is a graduate of Athabasca University. She writes the “”Dear Barb” and the “Women of Interest” columns. As well, Barb has written many personal interest stories and enjoys connecting with others through her writing. She has been writing for The Voice since 2003.
If you enjoy reading Dear Barb, you can also purchase her curated collection, Dear Barb: Answers to Everyday Questions at her website, http://www.barbgodin.com.
Dear Barb: Hi, I am a single mother who is working toward my degree at AU, but it is slow going since I can’t afford to take more than one course at a time. My daughter is five years old and we have been living alone since her father left three years ago. Back then… Read more »
Jean Sutherland Boggs was born in Negritos Peru, on June 11, 1922, and died August 22, 2014, in Ottawa, Canada. Her parents were Canadians, her father was a geologist and her mother a school teacher. In 1966 Sutherland Boggs was the first woman in the world to become head of the National Gallery of Canada…. Read more »
Dear Barb: Hi, I have been with my boyfriend for five years. He suffers from bipolar disorder and, over the course of our relationship, has gotten worse. I love him a lot, but my life is consumed with his illness. Each day is dependent on how Gary feels. If he has a good day, then… Read more »
Jean Flatt Davey was born March 16, 1909 in Hamilton Ontario and died March 31, 1980. Davey was the second woman, and the first woman doctor, enlisted in the Women’s Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Davey went on to be awarded the Order of the British Empire (established to acknowledge contributions to the… Read more »
Dear Barb: I’m working on my degree at AU and working full time, so I’m very busy. My neighbor is driving me crazy. Cara is a very nice person who lives in a condo behind me. She is pleasant enough, but I think she is lonely. I have talked to her a few times and… Read more »
Sara Corning, born in 1872, in Chegoggin City, Nova Scotia and died there in 1969. Corning rescued 5000 orphans during the Turkish Massacre. These orphans were mostly Armenian and Greek children under the age of twelve. The children were brought to Greece where Corning established Orphanages to raise them as Christians. In 1923 King George… Read more »
Dear Barb: Hi, I hope some of your readers can relate to my story. My husband and I met after the untimely death of our spouses. We both have grown children who were, supportive of our relationship. Since we were older and this was not our first marriage we decided to elope. Unfortunately, my daughter… Read more »
Dear Barb: I am in my early twenties and just found out I was adopted. I had a very happy childhood and felt loved by my parents, but since I never looked like anybody else in the family, I always felt different. In the back of my mind I wondered if I was adopted because… Read more »
Phyllis “Pat” Grosskurth, born March 16, 1924 in Toronto Ontario and died August 2, 2015. In 1965 Pat Grosskurth became the first female professor hired by University of Toronto. She was a literary biographer, whose work was often controversial and ground breaking, hired by the English Department. Her first biographical work, John Addington Symonds: A… Read more »
Mary “Bonnie” Baker, (1918-2003) was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. Bonnie Baker was an all star catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball league from 1943 to 1952. In 1950 she was the only woman in league history to become a player-manager with the Kalamazoo Lassies, however, the next year the league passed a law prohibiting… Read more »