Joanie roomed next door to me at Acadia.

In the evenings she loved to tell us stories, mostly ghost stories, which she made up as she went.

Even then her special talent was blossoming.

Great memories.

Les Harvey

I met Jack when I first moved to Calgary in 1976 and worked with him on many projects over many years. As the years went by I became friends with Joan and their family. I have many fond memories of social get togethers at their home in Wildwood and then in Bragg Creek. And the friendship continued in a long distance fashion upon their move to St John's.

Condolences to the family.

Bill Burwash

Tim , Tony and Sara We are so sorry for you loss. We will always value our time as neighbours and all the fun times we had. Joan was a gifted writer and I, Joan have read most of her books, many with different perspectives and all so inviting. It is some time since I spoke to your mom but one of the things she quizzed me about was your house and garden right which as you know, is next to ours. I assured her the gardens were still as beautiful as ever. Joan was grateful to hear .She was much

loved and will be missed for her beautiful self as well as her writings, Hugs and Blessings Joan Holland

Dear Clark Family,

I was just telling my daughter-in-law about my favourite Canadian author, Joan Clark, and looked her up online. I'm very sorry to read that she has passed. Please accept my sincere condolences. I loved all of her books so much.

Cindy Bryson

St Catharines, ON

Sara, I remember getting to know your mom, Joan, a little more when you joined us as a student at OEIC/C-CORE. Joan was a very caring and gracious lady and I feel fortunate to have been in her company on numerous occasions. I send my heartfelt condolences to you, your brothers, Tim and Tony, and their families on her passing.

I had the pleasure of meeting Joan at a reading in St. John's. I knew she was a great writer, I also learned that night that she was an elegant, warm and gracious woman. I recall reading in one of her novels that one of her characters enjoyed a particular view. It was one third sky, one third ocean, and one third land, a perfect view. The sentence rang so true that as my wife and I planned for a retirement home we kept that phrase with us. We're now living in Black Point, Nova Scotia, waking up every morning to just such a view: one third sky, one third ocean, one third land. Thank you Joan!

Deep condolences to family and friends.

Our heartfelt condolences to Joan's family. Joan and Jack were very much part of our lives when they resided in St. John's. We remember our get-togethers over the years with great fondness. Joan was such an asset to the cultural community here-- always supportive of new writers and the many others who came together to celebrate literature, whether it was with the Writers' Alliance of NL, at a Literary Conference or Festival, at the opening of a new play or the launch of a new book. She was a superb writer, a gracious and generous human being. We will always cherish our friendship.

So sorry to hear about Joan’s passing. Dr. Clark (Jack) was President of C-CORE when I started my career with C-CORE. Him and Joan welcomed the C-CORE family into their home on so many occasions for brunches, BBQs and their fabulous baked stuffed cod! They were both such warm people and always interested in what you had to say. I can’t imagine how many friendships they have made over the years on their adventures!! They will both be surely missed by many.

My sincere condolences to Joan Clark's family. I met Joan and Jack in 2000 when the hurricane blew into St. John's and a group of us, all visiting writers for children, weathered the storm in the hotel where a conference for teachers was being held.

We all managed to stay away from flying debris and Joan invited some of us back to her home. There, she and Jack served up some hearty chowder that they had made. My memories of the Clark home are of great warmth and lots of laughter on that cold October day.

I'm sorry we never saw each other again; I'm glad that Joan's many wonderful books and my mental snapshots of her terrific smile and radiant joy will keep her ever-present for me and fortunate others. Please take care.

My thoughts are with Sara, Tony, Tim and your families. Your mom was a special person who I got to meet through working with your dad at C-CORE. I loved chatting with Joan - she always had a way of capturing your attention.

My cousin Aurora Sweeney worked for Joan and enjoyed doing so for years. Aurora was so pleased that Joan used her name as a character in one of her books. Joan made a valuable contribution to children's literature and my neice cherished her autographed copy of the Moons of Madeline. We were so blessed to have her presence in the literary world of NL. May her memory be a blessing. Helen Martinez, PBVM

My sincere condolences to all of Joan’s family. I worked for Dr. Jack Clark and through him I have many happy memories of being in Joan’s company. She was a classy lady and I loved all of her books. May she Rest in Peace.

I have so many wonderful memories of Joan and her family. As my mother, Anne Hart, had maintained a strong friendship with Joan's sister Gail ever since they studied and travelled together in their youth, our families immediately became fast friends when the Clarks moved to St. John's. It helped that Joan was a writer like Mom, that Jack was a member of the MUN community like both my parents, and that Sara and I quickly bonded over Buckaroo Banzai. I remember wonderful meals together, often cooked by Jack and served in the dining room lined by books. Joan became a dear friend to Mom and also to me; she hosted my bridal shower in her lovely living room cum picture gallery (including artwork created for some of her books) - she was a great collector of art. I particularly loved her collection of small charming glass objects displayed on glass shelves in the window beside the front door. By contrast there was also a very lively adorable family dog Saffy (did I spell that right?). Mom and Joan shared not only friendship but also travels (including the fabulous Iceland foray) and their writing careers, both being very active in the Newfoundland writing community. I will never forget my last visit to Joan's lovely home; it was one last gathering of Joan, Mom, and Bernice Morgan before Mom moved to BC to live with me, and Joan moved to Calgary to be close to her family. Each of them had a daughter presentand we had a lovely evening, but bittersweet; the end of an era. I did get to visit Joan one more time in Calgary, and was delighted to find her still surrounded by art and books in beautiful space of her own, producing lovely colourful art and exhibiting her trademark gusto for life. I loved Joan and will always miss her. But thanks to her storytelling genius and impressive self-discipline as a writer, we can all keep hearing Joan's voice. I have a bakers dozen of Joan Clark books and will be re-reading them all over the next while. Thank you Joan. Love always, Susan

I’m so sorry to learn of Joan’s passing. She was such a gifted writer and contributed so much to the writers’ community in Newfoundland & Labrador and well as Canada as a whole. Please accept my sincere condolences on your loss.

Joan understood the many layered meanings of community. She was supportive, loving, and kind, fearlessly so, in a radical toughness the world needs.

Over tea one day, I told her I'd developed an aggressive autoimmune disease. Joan got so angry on my behalf, and that in turn allowed me to recognise and express some of my own anger. She then told me, begged me, to keep writing -- and she knew my illness would make it hard -- no matter what. We sat in silence a moment then, vulnerability and humanity shared: community.

My condolences to everyone missing her.

Joan was just the nicest person. I am very sorry to read of her death. Condolences to her family.

Joan was so wonderful that at our place, we often used to refer to her as Wonderful Joan – just because she truly was. Warm, down-to-earth, creative, generous (she blurbed my novel!), and encouraging, with an easy way of bringing people together and a determination to power around the track at the Works in the winter, where I often used to see her. She'll be missed.

To Joan's family: I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't believe that I'll never see her again, that I won't help to publish any more of her wonderful novels. But I'm forever grateful that I got to know her and that I met her late husband Jack and her sister Gail before she moved from St. John's to Calgary.

She will be much missed,

Diane Martin

Sara and Tony, I am very sorry to hear of your loss. I remember you both talking about your mother, but I never made the connection between the two of you. She was a remarkable person.

Laura

I want to thank my friend Sara for introducing her mom’s body of work to me. I’ve read many of her books and even the children and young adult provided me with thoughts to ponder. She was a guest at a book club event the Calgary Culture Club had in 2008 (Audience of Chairs) and was the guest author for the Banff Book Discussion Weekend in 2016 (The Birthday Lunch). She was forever gracious to her fans and very patient with the questions we asked.

Most of all, to Sara, Tony and Tim and your families, my sincere condolences and please remember the good times. If you need anything at all, let me know and I’ll help wherever I can. XXX