Born in Collingwood, Ontario to a boat captain and his wife, Edna Jaques (1891-1978) was raised in Briercrest near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where her father took up homesteading. Her earliest poems, written in her teenage years, appeared in the MOOSE JAW TIMES and reflected her prairie experiences. After completing her education in the local public school, she attempted to travel around the world, but only got as far as Calgary. There, she gained prominence when her poetic response to "In Flanders Fields" became the dedication read at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C. Her instant celebrity elicited an offer from the editor of the CALGARY HERALD to send her to university, but in order to fulfill her urge to travel she was sent instead to Vancouver, where she worked in a hospital, as a stenographer, and as a waitress before becoming a journalist for the VANCOUVER PROVINCE. She married William Ernest Jamieson (1889-1942), a farmer from Moose Jaw, in 1921 and they moved to a farm near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where they raised their daughter, Joyce. When financial difficulties arose, Jaques moved with her daughter to Victoria, working as a stenographer and writing articles and poems for newspapers and magazines. During the depression, her books of poetry that sold for 25 cents helped her to survive. She became a popular lecturer for Women's Institutes, and eventually left her daughter in Saskatchewan in order to pursue this career full time. During World War II, she worked in a factory for a time and then on the War Time Prices and Trade Board with other female journalists and writers. Her literary friends included Nellie McClung* and Mildred Valley Thornton*, with McClung being instrumental in the publication of Jaques' first major book, MY KITCHEN WINDOW. By the 1950s she was a Canadian author of some celebrity, and possibly the best-selling poet of her generation. When she reached the age of 85, she was able to say that her 10 books of poetry had sold one quarter of a million copies. Edna Jaques died in Toronto in 1978 and was buried at Trinity United Church Cemetery in Collingwood