We’ve just added the write up about the Event “A Day in May for Mrs. G” written by Douglas Welbanks and we’ve posted two sets of photos taken at the event. Thanks to Tallulah and Douglas for the photos.
Capturing the life and times of amazing May
Doug Welbanks writes about a woman who transformed him with her unwavering dedication to the poor in Downtown Eastside. Click here to read the article.
By Douglas Todd 25 Jan 2011
Filed under: Douglas Todd, Anglicans, May Gutteridge, Jack Webster
The impressive story of the tough British woman who was among the first to
go the extra mile for the poor of the Downtown Eastside has been published.
From Lost to Found is a biographical labour of love by a man who greatly
admired the woman who voluntarily ran Vancouver’s St. James Social Services
Society for more than 30 years, beginning in the 1960s.
Douglas Welbanks realized how much he missed May Gutteridge after she died
on Feb. 26, 2002, the same day as another feisty Vancouver legend, Harry
Rankin, who matched Gutteridge in his care for the poor but sometimes
clashed with her over methods.
To pay tribute to the woman who did so much for the needy, Welbanks talked
to those who knew her and put together a book that in part recreates her
life. The project includes a testimonial website, which can be found here.
Gutteridge received countless awards for her work at St. James Social
Services — which had a budget of $3 million, but she worked for no pay –
and became a fixture on the talk show of Jack Webster, another former
resident of Britain, who had seen the devastations of poverty in his native
Glasgow.
Curiously enough, one of the reasons Welbanks said he wrote the biography of
Gutteridge was his shock at discovering how little has been written about
her, despite her contributions to B.C.
A couple of years after Gutteridge died, Welbanks began researching her life
and the only thing he really found about her was my obituary.
“I was surprised to find so little information available,” Welbanks writes
in the preface to From Lost to Found.
“The best public acknowledgment of her work came from The Vancouver Sun, in
a one-page obituary by Douglas Todd that seemed too little, too late.”
From Lost to Found is Welbanks’ attempt to make things right in regards to
Gutteridge’s legacy
Click here to see my original obituary, as well as my earlier profile of May
Gutteridge
from Book captures May Gutteridge, the fierce Anglican with the green beret
written by Douglas Todd
In July 2008 I began looking for biographical information about May Cecelia Gutteridge. What compelled me to go to the Internet and Google her name is still a mystery. Six years had passed since her death. We had not been in contact since 2000. I really missed her. Her wonderful sense of humour allowed me to laugh at the world and myself. Just a few minutes in the warmth of her love were enough to sharpen my convictions and reinforce my faith in the future.
When I took up my search, I was surprised to find so little information available. The best public acknowledgement of her work c ofame from the Vancouver Sun, in a one-page obituary by Douglas Todd that seemed much too little, too late. A few other highlights of her life could be found in a one-page summary I found on the St. James’ Social Service Society website. Still, this footnote came up woefully inadequate.
I sat at my computer screen, stunned with disbelief. I tried searching “East Enders Society” and struck gold. Finally some documentation. As I read line by line, I learned about the society’s early days in the Downtown Eastside, but there was no mention of May Gutteridge. Nothing. Not a word, even though she was the founder and first president of the society. How could this be?
May’s conspicuous absence from BC history gave new meaning to the famous biblical phrase “from lost to found.” To me, May Gutteridge and her incredible story of triumph had been “lost,” but deserved to be better known. I became determined to resurrect the faded memories of a very important Canadian—a charismatic and devout leader who waded into the cold, cold waters of drug addiction and poverty to help thousands of British Columbians at a time, the 1950s and 60s, when it was not politically correct to do so. There is little doubt that May’s early pioneer work influenced governments at all levels to respond to her cry for compassion and funding that finally came in the 1970s.
To make this story come alive, I have used scenes and conversations based on real clients and events, interviews and meeting minutes in a manner that allows the reader to see her laughing, crying, speaking, listening, and taking the hands of those who needed her most. It was through May that many experienced, often for the very first time, true dignity and acceptance
Client names have been changed to protect their privacy.
Douglas Welbanks
