Vincent Ho recognizes the importance of 'The Life of Helen Betty Osborne' by David Robertson

Vincent Ho (CBC)

"...this human being was viewed as being less socially important.  That really resonated with me.....it's not just the crime.  It's about racism, cultural ignorance, the plight of all women.  It resonated with me as a visible minority.  I was intrigued how this writer would be able to represent this story in this format."

Vincent Ho is composer in residence with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and one of our esteemed panelists in the first edition of Manitoba Reads. 

He will be defedning a graphic novel called The Life of Helen Betty Osborne by David Alexander Robertson.

Listen to find out more about why Vincent chose this book. 

VINCENT HO is the Composer-in-Residence at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. His works have been praised for their profound expressiveness and textural beauty, and his long list of awards includes Harvard University's Fromm Music Commission, The Canada Council for the Arts' "Robert Fleming Prize," ASCAP's "Morton Gould Young Composer Award," four SOCAN Young Composers Awards, and CBC Radio's Audience Choice Award. In 2011, the WSO premiered his percussion concerto, The Shaman, with Dame Evelyn Glennie as the featured soloist.

Listen to Vince read (and describe) an excerpt from The Life of Helen Betty Osborne.

David Robertson: The Life of Helen Betty Osborne (Portage and Main, 2009)
Helen Betty Osborne dreamed of becoming a teacher. Sadly, her dream never came true. Helen left her home in Norway House, Manitoba, to attend Guy Hill Residential School in 1969. In September 1971, she entered Margaret Barbour Collegiate in The Pas, Manitoba. Two months later, on November 13, 1971, she was brutally murdered by four young, white men. Years later, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry concluded that her murder was the result of racism, sexism, and indifference. The Life of Helen Betty Osborne is a graphic novel about Betty's life up to that tragic November day. Her story is told by a young boy named Daniel. The events in Betty's story are true. The events in Daniel's story represent our ability to change, learn, and grow.