Arlene Stafford-Wilson

Arlene Stafford-Wilson grew up on the Third Line of Bathurst Township (Tay Valley), Lanark County, Ontario, Canada.
She was educated in one-room schools at Christie Lake and the Scotch Line, and from an early age began writing stories and poetry.

By the age of eight many of her poems had been published in children's magazines and when she was eleven she entered and won a national writing contest for "The Enthusiast" magazine.

Former Newsletter Editor of the Lanark County Genealogical Society, she has authored articles for both Canadian and Irish Genealogical publications. Her first book ‘Recipes and Recollections, Treats and Tales from Our Mother’s Kitchen” published in 2011, was an instant favourite in the region.

Her second book “Lanark County Kid, My Travels Up and Down the Third Line” in 2012 was another success, selling out time and again in local book stores.

"Lanark County Chronicle" followed on the heels of her second book and featured more stories set in rural Eastern Ontario, Canada in the 1960s and 70s.

"Lanark County Calendar:Four Seasons on the Third Line" beckons us back once again to the family farm in the 1960s and 1970s for an unforgettable trip down memory lane.

"Lanark County Connections: Memories Among the Maples", the author's fifth book, once again features a collection of short stories set in historic Lanark County. As the book begins, the reader is invited to step back in time to spend some carefree summer evenings at an old style country dance hall on the Rideau Lakes known as Antler Lodge. Another compelling story in the book transports the reader back to the 1960s to visit an elegant mansion in Perth and discover the secrets of its wealthy inhabitants. In one of the stories, the author takes the reader along for a ghostly encounter with a spirit who walks the halls of their childhood home. In a more light-hearted story, join the author on a bus tour set in the 1970s weaving its way through several townships on Lanark County’s back roads where the reader will meet some fascinating characters, and visit some of the county’s hidden gems.

The lives of ordinary people sing out from these historical stories, which take the reader through two decades or more of closely observed regional life. As in her previous books, the author weaves the names of local people throughout the stories, included in an index at the back. You may even find your own name in the book!