Audacious Gumboot creators
March 25th, 2026
How Two Audacious Amateurs Created Four Best-selling Books (with the help of 124 friends)
By Kristin Miller
Jane Wilde and Lou Allison had no prior publishing experience in 2011 when they dreamed up Gumboot Girls: Adventure, Love, and Survival on British Columbia’s North Coast, a collection of brief memoirs. They imagined selling 200 copies to friends. Since then, they have produced a quartet of best-selling Gumboot titles, involving over 120 novice writers. The books have earned an astounding $25,000 in royalties which have been entirely donated to the BC Society of Transition Houses and to the Living Oceans Society.
Jane proposed the idea for Gumboot Girls while drinking wine with friends in Dodge Cove, a small village across the harbour from Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Having listened for years to tales of their rugged North Coast lives, she declared, “We should write a book of our stories.” She was inspired by Sheila Weller’s book, Girls Like Us: The Journey of a Generation, which told of lifelong friendships evolving from youthful meetings in the 1960s and 70s.
She explains, “I realized we too had circles of friendship that had endured since the 1970s. We’d been sharing stories of our coastal adventures for years. I suggested we write them down, for fun.” Her friends were doubtful at first. Carol comments, “It could’ve been the wine; it could’ve been the laughter. I never thought Jane was serious when she suggested we publish a collection of memoirs. I remained oblivious, thinking it was a joke until I heard that women were actually writing.” Betsy recalls, “Jane got the idea from Girls like Us, about Joni Michell, Carol King and Carly Simon. I thought these ladies were nothing like us at all.” But she agreed to participate.
Jane told the prospective writers, “We have a complex, interconnected, ongoing story about adventure and risk, migration, sociology, and self-determination. About families, relationships, and community; about quilting, building, and boating. I think these memories should be captured.” She envisioned a book that traced coastal connections through memoirs of 2500 words or less describing the women’s experiences on land and sea on the North Coast of BC. The women were prompted by these questions:
• When in the ‘70s did you move North, and when did you leave, if you did?
• Where and how did you live on the North Coast?
• Why did you move North initially? Why did you stay or leave?
• Who were your social connections and community at the time?
• What path did you envision you were on before and/or after you arrived?
• Are any seeds of your original vision evident in your present life?
Proud and excited Gumboot Girls at the 2012 Prince Rupert launch of their book.
By spring, 34 women had written their stories and Muskeg Press in Prince Rupert had agreed to publish the book. Lou leapt at the chance to edit, though she had no formal experience. She reflects, “What I brought to the project was an abiding love for language and some strong ideas about what makes good writing. I also have deep respect for the power of personal story, how it strengthens, heartens and validates people to tell their stories in a way that preserves and enshrines them.” Editing the stories challenged Lou, as the writing skills of the women varied greatly.
Each woman interpreted the assignment differently, with submissions ranging from straightforward storytelling to poetry, to stream-of-consciousness, and even to a story told from the viewpoint of a dog. Lou wisely honoured the individuality of each writer’s voice and style. Jane encouraged the newborn writers, collated photos, ‘herded cats’, and kept the project on schedule.
The writers found the process both rewarding and painful. “I wrote through my fears, anxieties, and heartaches,” Carol remembers. Linda says, “I was reluctant to put my private life in print, but I was encouraged by Jane’s excitement and enthusiasm.” Writing brought back many wonderful memories for Carmen, and renewed relationships with old friends. She found the process life-affirming.
Gumboot Girls was published in November 2012. The launch party in Rupert was crowded and boisterous. Sales were brisk and Muskeg Press covered its initial investment in hours. The many writers and their friends and families attended launches, readings, celebratory dances, pub crawls, and parties in Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii, and Vancouver. The thirty-four writers became informal but enthusiastic publicists for the books, and the initial print run of 1,000 sold out quickly.
When Muskeg Press closed a year later, Jane acquired the rights for one dollar, and she and Lou scrambled to find a new publisher. Jane remembers contacting Vici Johnstone of Caitlin Press. “She was initially reluctant to handle a book that had already been out for a year, but when she heard how many we had sold, she agreed to take us on,” Jane said.
Vici says, “It was intriguing that this book had reached so many people, and sold out its first run of 1000 almost immediately, without really even trying. I decided to take a risk on it, and it was a good risk, because we did sell many more thousands.”
In 2016 Jane moved to Comox on Vancouver Island and met a new cohort of women with back-to-the-land stories of coming to the Comox Valley in the 1970s.This was the genesis of Dancing in Gumboots: Adventure, Love and Resilience, Women of the Comox Valley. A joyous celebratory dance at the Merville Hall and readings on Denman Island launched the book. Sandy recalls, “Each event was packed to the rafters, with stories and visuals evoking memories and laughter.”
Salty dogs—the Gumboot Guys at the Crofton pub book launch, 2023.
Jane realized that the Gumboot books captured a significant time in Canadian history. “My friend, historian Jo Mrozewski, gave me a growing appreciation of the importance of documenting rural social history. She encouraged me to keep saving our stories.” Vici at Caitlin Press believes the stories are culturally important. “They showcase a movement of women who pushed, who broke boundaries, going out and finding jobs like fishing and tree-planting that were traditionally men’s work.”
The death of Jane’s fisherman husband in 2018 prompted Jane to collect the stories of men who had embraced a boat-based life in the 70s. She was afraid that the memories of that generation of men might soon be lost. Gumboot Guys: Nautical Adventures on British Columbia’s North Coast was published by Caitlin Press in 2020.
Asked if she was hesitant to publish Gumboot Guys, Vici said, “Not at all. Jane and Lou are a great team to work with. Jane is a visionary, but also a great coordinator. Lou is really good at developing the stories; she knows what people are interested in reading. We do the copy-editing and proofing.”
Marvin says, “Writing a chapter for Gumboot Guys led me to rethink all of the decisions involved in those days.” Bill comments, “What struck me while writing was how innocent we were, and how the friendships we made have persisted to this day.”
A live band enticed the 2019 Gumboot crowd at the Merville Hall launch to dance their hearts out.
Jane and the writers organized readings and celebrations in Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Haida Gwaii, and Vancouver Island. The pre-dance meal was often catered by locals, who on one occasion even provided weed. Grey-haired folks grooved to local bands just as they had done 50 years before. “Dance Your Hearts Out” was the theme, even after one reveller had a heart attack three days later. Luckily, she recovered.
Recalling the dance in Daajing Giids, George says, “Jane and Lou’s gigantic efforts produced books, but just as importantly, they produced a joyous, dancing community:” Jane says, “Dancing to live bands was part of our shared culture in the ’70s. We danced at our first book launch, and have had nine more Gumboot dances since. They have become a focal point for writers and friends to travel up and down the coast. The gatherings have cemented or revived old friendships and connections; some half a century old.”
New connections have also sprung up. After reading Gumboot Girls, eight young women travelled 165 kilometres from Terrace to Prince Rupert to meet Lou and the local Gumboot writers. The visitors brought copies of Drawn to the North: Short Reflections from the Next Generation, a ‘zine of their own stories. The ‘zine was dedicated to Lou and all the Gumboot Girls “…for leaving a beautiful legacy”. Carol reflects, “They are the next generation, and already they are strong, grounded, and have a network of supportive friends. Imagine the stories they will write when they are our age.”
I am one of two Gumboot writers who have gone on to write our own books. Lou gave a first reading of my memoir, Knots and Stitches, Community Quilts Across the Harbour, and she edited Joline Martin’s book, War Resisters: Standing Against the Vietnam War. Jane included both books in Gumboot publicity and events, and accompanied Joline on her BC book tour. Jane says, “I’m keen to see these books sell, from a share-the-news perspective. There are so many crossovers of themes, era, and people that connect the two books to the Gumboot stories.”
In 2024, Gumboots in the Straits: Nautical Adventures from Sointula to the Salish Sea joined the series. Jamie says, “I’ve had many adventures while wearing gumboots, but the writing adventure was a singular and very exciting one. As I wrote and read my own story, it became a journey of re-discovery. Wow, I really did all those things. I really was that person.”
Lou faced a ruckus as editor when modern gender-neutral guidelines collided with the traditional seafaring custom of calling a boat “she”. Lou recalls, “This was thorny, and there was push-back. Two writers quit the project, though one later came back. A few others grumbled, but it wasn’t a make-it-or-break-it issue.”
The new book was presented in coastal pubs, libraries, and community halls up and down the coast. “The icing on the cake for me was the book launch at the Heriot Bay Inn on Quadra Island,” says Brian. “A bunch of writers, old fishermen and women, sat in the bar swapping fishing stories until the barkeep sent us packing at one in the morning.”
Gumboots in the Straits writers, flanked by Lou and Jane at the 2024 Heriot Bay Inn launch
Creating and nurturing bonds between people is important to both Jane and Lou. “I see community as vital to mental and emotional health, and the creation of community as vital to the places we inhabit,” says Lou. “Together we are stronger and can accomplish more. The books have acted as the catalysts to individual growth and validation. and to collective celebration.”
The broad community of writers and fans has stoked sales. Jane comments, “Anthologies with thirty or more writers create lots of organic publicity with friends and family sharing them onward.” Jane posts photos and excerpts from the books biweekly on the ‘Gumboot Girls and Guys’ Facebook page. Local venues, bands, and booksellers also publicize Gumboot books and events, and of course, Caitlin Press advertises, promotes, and markets the books.
“Jane and Lou are awesome people who, at their own expense, have put endless hours into all of these books,” says John. For the past 12 years, Jane and Lou have given their time and talents to the Gumboot books. With the consent of the writers, all royalties have been donated to women’s transition houses and to ocean protection.
Carmen exclaims, “Can you even imagine how hard it would be to corral, organize, and shepherd over 100 of the most determined free-minded and strongly independent people you could ever meet, to work on a project of this scale? It was an amazing accomplishment to produce one book, but to do it four times is truly remarkable.” Vici, their publisher, says, “To this day, I have a hard time entirely understanding how Jane and Lou created what they created.”
Asked how they did it, Lou replied, “Having never published or edited anything before, we ran with an idea, worked hard, had a lot of fun and met with undreamed of results, in the best Gumboot Girls spirit!”
Will there will be new Gumboot titles in the future? Both Jane and Lou say no. “We’ve had a good run, so let’s get out while we’re still hot!” exclaims Jane. But they’ve said ‘no’ several times before, then jumped with gumboot-clad feet into a new volume. It will be interesting to see what these two bookish renegades do next.
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