AutomotiveWriting Samples

Ken’s Marvellous Morris 8!

Gordon Ficke

Meticulous craftsmanship and uniqueness come together in this rare British 1946 Morris 8! I encountered this gem at the annual Hank Funk’s Garage car show in 2023 and upon closer inspection of this car there was a lot more to this vehicle than the nice paint job and the fancy 5-spoke Center Line Mags!

Ken found this car in a farmer’s field in stock condition, without the engine and transmission. “It had been sitting there for approximately 35 years, and the birds and rats had pretty much decimated the interior! Green related. “However, regardless that the body has been exposed that long to the ele ments, the body had mostly surface rust, holes throughout the lower inner frame areas, so in my opinion it was salvageable!”

Before Ken purchased and picked up the car in 1997, he flew out to Calgary, Alberta to have a good look at this Morris 8 that had left the English factory with lefthand drive. The original Morris importer was situated in Winnipeg, but spent its’ life in Alberta, just outside of Calgary.

“I immediately had a visual idea of this car’s potential.” Ken envisioned. “When I arrived back home in Vancouver, I did some research and found an original sales brochure.” He continued. “I did transparent overlays of the side, front and rear views of the Morris 8, and then sketched an altered con cept of this car, altering the wheelbase, ride height and custom wheels, etc. I had an epiphany and liked what I had drawn with the changes, and immedi ately phoned the owner and arranged to purchase the car!”

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Derringer in desk drawer
Personal ExperienceWriting Samples

A Lifetime Lesson I Learned from a Toy Derringer

Gordon Ficke

There are many memories I have that flood my brain from time to time, but none as poignant as the one I experienced in my Grade 3 class in 1961. That day forever defined how I viewed and respected other people’s property. That day began as any other elementary school day with Mrs. Beet, our teacher conducting our class. When the bell rang for lunch, our books were put away in our desks and the students retrieved our lunches from the cloakroom. After eating lunch, most of the pupils left the classroom to go outside to play. Our teacher had left to join the other teachers in the staff room for lunch. As there were only a few kids left in our classroom, this opened up an opportunity that I could not pass up.

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Historical SketchesWriting Samples

Ostracized, Dispossessed and Uprooted…the fate of Japanese Canadians during World War II

Gordon Ficke

Florence Kabayama, an 8-year-old Japanese-Canadian girl was living in the remote and isolated west coast British Columbian town of Ocean Falls. Life was good here during the late 1930s and early ‘40s. She lived in one of the homes amongst other Japanese families that formed their community, on the steep hillside across from the bay from the community’s chief employer, the pulp and paper mill. The Japanese families lived in their own area on the steep hillside while the Chinese community resided below them. “I remember the steep wooden steps that led up to our homes.” Florence recalled.

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