It is with great sadness we share the news of the death of Gregory Younging, who passed away at the Penticton Hospital on May 3, 2019.
Greg Younging was the publisher of Theytus Books, the oldest Indigenous publishing house in Canada, where he worked as managing editor from 1990 to 2004, and again as publisher from 2015 until his death.
Greg will be greatly missed. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.
From his online obituary: “’He was generous with his time and knowledge, and contributed to the community in so many different ways,’ said Heidi Waechtler, Executive Director of the Association of Book Publishers of BC. ‘It’s difficult to articulate what a huge loss this is for all of us.’
“Greg Younging served as Chair of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus of Creator’s Rights Alliance and variously contributed to The Royal Commission On Aboriginal Peoples, Assembly Of First Nations and Committee Of Inquiry Into Indian Education. As well, he was a member of the Canada Council Aboriginal Peoples Committee on the Arts (June 1997-June 2001) and the British Columbia Arts Council (July 1999-July 2001).
“In his poetry collection The Random Flow of Blood and Flowers (1996), he wrote about Metis status, racism, exploitation and colonialism.
“With his surname hyphenated as Young-Ing, he edited three volumes of Gatherings, once described as the only journal of literary writing by Aboriginal people in North America. Gatherings – Volume III (1992) explored Mother Earth Perspectives; Gatherings – Volume IX (1998) was subtitled Beyond Victimization: Forging a Path of Celebration; Gatherings – Volume X (1999) celebrated the publication’s tenth anniversary. As well, he co-edited We get Our Living Like Milk From the Land (1993-94) and IndigeCrit: Aboriginal Perspectives on Aboriginal Literature (2001).”
Read Greg’s full obituary HERE
Quill & Quire has also posted an article about Greg HERE.
In THIS INTERVIEW, Greg talks about the development of Indigenous Literature in Canadian publishing.