I grew up in a hamlet on the North Downs of Kent, under one of the main bombing runs to London and went first to the two-room village school, then for one term to a boarding school in Cornwall.
Then I went to Acton Reynold School for
Girls near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. I was
there for ten years and, while others
loved it, I thought of it as prison.
After I left school in 1954 I worked in the Kent County Library, first in Maidstone, then in the branch library nearest home, Faversham, until I came to Ancaster, Ontario in 1956 at the invitation of my godmother, Kate Steiner.
I was a nurse’s aide for a few months at the TB Sanatorium in Ancaster, Ontario (the First Nations kids were very lively); then a library assistant at McMaster University, before returning to England in 1958.
There I lived and worked in London, first as receptionist in an export/import company, then as media manager’s assistant in an advertising agency on Piccadilly (these were my beatnik years and great fun!). My last month was spent working for an assayer’s company in the City.
February 15, 1960 saw me back in Canada, for a few months again at McMaster University Library before I came to the West Coast to be secretary at the Cancer Research Centre under Dr. Robert Noble, then to the School of Librarianship, both at UBC.
In 1964 I turned student, becoming a Canadian citizen on February 15, 1965, and gaining my B.A. in 1967. During the summers I worked at the CIBC in Montreal (in the gold exchange), with CMHA in Vancouver, and then with Laurentide Finance Co. for eighteen months.
Robert and I married in 1967.
I completed my M.A. in 1969,
and Andrew was born the same year.
After a few months part-time at the School of Librarianship, I became full-time wife, mother, and writer. Jon was born in 1971. 
and, following our move to Vancouver Island, Mark in 1976.
Since then I have committed myself to writing. These have been, and are, good years.
all poems and photos © Joanna M. Weston except where noted
1960willowtree 
Love the photos too!
A neat blog, I’ll look forward to revisiting.
all my best,
Alan, With Words
Hi Alan,
Good to hear from you. Are you a friend of porridge?
Joanna
I love porridge but don’t add salt.
Just porridge oats and hot water, no funny stuff. Amazing invention. 😉
Alan
I learned to hate it at boarding school. It came as in the poem! I’m just happy that there are people out there who love it, as long as I don’t have to.
Joanna
It’s the bad stuff that makes great poetry, or in Amy Winehouse’s case, great songs. Embrace the bad, but only up to a point. 😉
Alan
Love the photos here, and the haiku from your homepage.
Thank you, Jill. I’m a poem-a-day person! All the best.
Hi Joanna, Just searched you on Google to try to find an e-mail address, and found this page instead! It’s great! Just a quick question about organizing the Sally Ann collection. Which day is it this year? And have you got any volunteers from St. John’s to take any time blocks? If you could e-mail me back that would be great.
Hi Angie, The announcement will be out next week and the sign-up sheet
will be up at St. John’s tomorrow. It’s Dec.12th and no sign ups as yet
so take your pick. All the best.
Joanna,
How interesting! I was searching for an old school chum in the UK whom I went to school with at Acton Reynolds School for Girls in Shrewsbury, UK. I have not found her yet! however I then came across your blog wherein you mention you went to Acton Reynolds School for Girls as well! We may have been there around the same time. For me it was around 1960/62. This is rather incredible to say the least. Last but not. least, your poetry is delicious. I have enjoyed scrolling through your blog and reading it
Dear Nanci, This is the first time I’ve heard from anyone from Acton
Reynold, truly amazing! I was there from 1945 to 1954, so we missed by a few years.
Many thanks indeed for enjoying my poetry. I could send you a copy of
‘A Summer Father’ if you like. All the best, Joanna
My e.mail went awol…but it is indeed amazing. I tried finding an ‘old girls’ site to find an old friend but to no avail. Now that there is no AT&T it is really hard to search for old chums. Facebook is not all it is cracked up to be!! Keep writing, simple beautiful poetry. Nanci
Thank you, Nanci. Do you write yourself? And I’ll keep writing, I must must must:-)
Well this is so interesting, We spent many summers in Cornwall when I was a child, at my cousins place in Bodmin. Many happy happy memories and I love Cornwall and Devon. Also Cumbria. I have written a little book actually, but have never done anything with it although it is on Amazon. It’s a little ABC pictorial for small children which I illustrated and self-published. But that is about the extent of it!