Charlize Gordon has called Vancouver home since 1989. She was visiting her stepsister when she decided to see if she could get some work, “and ended up staying.”

Charlize grew up in a beautiful, small, and quiet community in New Brunswick, she says. “It was good. It was laid back. Many of her neighbours worked resource-based jobs like mining, logging, fishing, or construction.

“I miss the environment and my friends,” she adds.

And for good reason. Growing up, there were tons of things Charlize got up to with her friends and family.

“I liked hunting when I was growing up, and fishing,” she remembers fondly. “I liked hunting rabbits. We actually snared rabbits, but that’s in the wintertime.”

Charlize misses fishing off of Gordon’s Wharf, a favourite pastime in her youth.

“Mostly little fish. Smelts were in the winter,” she says. “We catch other ones but throw them back because you couldn’t eat them. We’d look for trout but there were not many in the river.

We’d go to the side rivers for them.”

When she came to Vancouver, Charlize worked in various autobody shops. “Lots of sanding, working on automobiles,” she says. She also worked for a paint shop and in a warehouse.

For a short period, Charlize went to Alberta to visit her older brother and worked up there—but Vancouver drew her back.

Charlize is also a talented writer. She wrote and published a chapbook sharing her personal story thanks to a small arts grant through the Carnegie Centre.

It’s filled with her life story and poetry, including illustrations done by a friend.

Charlize has been selling Megaphone magazine for many years. She really enjoys connecting with people.

You can find her selling all over the place in Vancouver because she likes to move around.

When you do find her, you can hear her pitch:

“Megaphone, read all about it! Get it here, there, everywhere, only on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria. Get it now or later it’s a monthly magazine and the current issue is available now. Stop and ask. I will tell you all about it. No obligation, just a moment of your time.

“Thanks for smiling!”

Charlize Gordon sells in different spots across Vancouver. Photo by Priyanka Roy.