Canadian writer Sheila Watson (1909–1998) is best known for her modernist novel The Double Hook (1959) about the redemptive struggles of a small, rural community as they deal with the murder of one of their members. Born Sheila Martin Doherty in New Westminster, BC, Watson received her BA, (Hons) in English (1931) and MA (1933) from the University of British Columbia. She taught elementary students in a number of rural schools in British Columbia before marrying Wilfred Watson in 1941. She then continued to teach in Toronto, in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia, and in Powell River, BC While living in Calgary during 1951–52, Watson completed The Double Hook, which was published to mixed reviews. After its publication, Watson began her PhD under he guidance of Marshall McLuhan at the University of Toronto and completed her dissertation Wyndham Lewis: Post Expressionist at the University of Alberta in 1961. While working as a professor at the University of Alberta, Watson continued to write and publish. She maintained correspondence with several Canadian scholars and writers, including Michael Ondaatje, George Bowering, and Daphne Marlatt. After her retirement in 1980, Sheila and her husband moved to Nanaimo, BC, where they died in 1998.
Thesis Abstracts. T.I. Gunton. "Evolution of Urban and Regional Planning in Canada, 1900-1960." Ph.D. Thesis, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia, 1981 Elizabeth Bloomfield. "City-building Process in Berlin / Kitchener and Waterloo, 1870-1930." Ph.D. Thesis, Department of History, University of Guelph, 1981 G. Drangushan. "Regional Planning in Alberta: The Evolution of Alberta's System of Regional Planning Commissions." M.A. Thesis, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia, 1979 D. Hinds. "The Evolution of Urban Public Park Design in Europe and America: Vancouver Adaptation to 1913." M.A. Thesis, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia, 1979 S.L. Kelly. "Senior Citizen Housing in Edmonton: A Spatial Perspective." M.A. Thesis, Department of Geography, University of Alberta, 1980 R.G.F. Higgings. "The Role of the State in the Development of Town Planning in England, 1875-1909." M.A. Thesis, Department of Geography, University of Alberta, 1980 Sara D.S. Gibson, "Sense of Place - Defence of Place: A Case Study of the Toronto Island." Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 1981 Irene E. Robertson. "The Business Community and the Development of Victoria, 1858-1900." M.A. Thesis, Department of History, University of Victoria, 1981