About Star Weiss
Writer Star Weiss has years of life experience as a human, and has the journals to prove it! She has known since she first learned to print — with her left hand, by the way — that writing was what she wanted to do.
Along with writing, Star's passions include off-the-beaten-track travel (Greece is a favourite); hearing or reading a good story; meeting new people; learning about sacred places and diverse spiritual paths in our multicultural-multifaith society (she used to host a multicultural cooking show "Kitchen Culture"); power walking; skiing; hiking; and camping, especially with family or friends.
Star is also an author, educator, and journalist whose work has appeared in The Vancouver Sun, The Georgia Straight, Focus Magazine, and numerous other publications.
Her most recent book, Havens in a Hectic World: Finding Sacred Places (TouchWood Editions, 2008) explores her evolving spiritual beliefs and her lifelong interests in the outdoors and multiculturalism. The book inspired a CBC radio special “Healing the Heart” which Star co-hosted with CBC’s Jo-Ann Roberts, and includes stories told by a wide variety of British Columbians, from artists to prisoners, nuns to native Elders.
Star is an experienced journalism instructor and former program manager of the Written Image journalism/photojournalism program at Western Academy of Photography, Victoria, BC.
Day of Reckoning
My 98-year-old Dad has broken his neck, is in hospital, and we need to choose a nursing home for him, today. How do you do that?
Remembrance of Things Past: Another Mammogram
Star Weiss was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. Eight years later, she reflects back on that diagnosis as she goes for her annual mammogram.
Ode to the Mother Who is My Daughter
A mother watches in awe as her own daughter becomes a mom through natural childbirth.
Squeezed in the Sandwich Generation
Star Weiss, like many of her peers, is experiencing what it’s like to be part of the Sandwich Generation, a demographic coping with the needs of children and ageing parents. How do you balance your priorities when your heart goes out to all of them?
Being There…
Author Star Weiss takes a trip to an ice filled magical arena filled with pomp, circumstance and emotion. I’m a sucker for figure skating, even though I still can’t tell the difference between a triple salchow and a triple loop, no matter how … Read more →
Something’s Happening Here: Hatred and Hope in the U.S.A.
What is happening to the USA? I was born and grew up there, but when I listen to some of the interviews with Americans in the aftermath of the recent tragedy in Tucson, I feel as though I’m wandering through the landscape of an unknown planet: bewildered, uncomprehending, and scared. Can that large a gulf really separate us?
Conscience and Courage
Amidst the atrocities of WW II emerged brave souls who helped and sheltered Jews at great risk to their own lives. Following her trip to Germany, Star Weiss felt inspired by these seemingly ordinary people who rose to the aid of fellow humans.
An Unlikely Friendship: The German Girl and the Candy Bomber
At Remembrance Day, a story from postwar Berlin that may surprise you, a reminder that small gestures and acts of kindness — a child’s letter, a quick decision, two sticks of gum — can have unexpected, far-reaching results. At this time … Read more →
The Halloween Outhouses
Halloween usually conjures images of ghosts and goblins, but outhouses were often a favourite of All Hallow’s pranksters.
Why We Should All See a Concentration Camp
As Star Weiss visits the notorious Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany, she is visited by many questions: “Would I have risked my family’s safety by speaking out, or trying to help prisoners escape? Or would I have remained on the sidelines, averting my eyes and convincing myself that those nice SS men who played on our town sports teams and added music to our festivals were really just engaged in training activities behind the walls of a well-run prison?”
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