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This is a gallery of work specially created for #ThinAir2023. Spend time with writers you love, and discover some new favourites! Ceci est une galerie de travaux spécialement créée pour #ThinAir2023. Passez du temps avec des écrivains que vous aimez et découvrez de nouveaux favoris!Dr. Arthur K. Miki, CM, OM
Arthur Miki has had a distinguished career as an educator and community activist. He began his career as an elementary school teacher and later served as principal for 18 years. Throughout his career, Mr. Miki dedicated a considerable amount of time in promoting positive race relations as well as increasing awareness of human rights issues in Canada.
Mr. Miki is an active leader in the Japanese Canadian community having served as president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC). He led the negotiations to achieve a just redress settlement in 1988 for Japanese Canadians interned during the Second World War.
He was formerly the vice-chairperson of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and a Canadian Citizenship Judge for 10 years.
In recognition of his contribution, he received the Order of Canada (1991), the Order of Manitoba (2012) and the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan government (2017). He received an Honourary Doctorate degree from the University of Winnipeg (1991) and from St John’s College, University of Manitoba (2022).
He is the author of The Japanese Canadian Redress Legacy: A Community Revitalized (2003) and co-author of Shaku of Wondrous Grace: Through the Garden of Yoshimaru Abe (2007).
Interview / Entrevue
When I was a kid I don’t remember holding back on any books from my parents. They were too busy working to be concerned about what we read. However, when I got interested in reading I think I read every book on Dr. Doolittle. The other books that I enjoyed then were biographies of sports heroes.
I don’t have any specific quote in mind from any of the books I read but I had a quote posted in my office and now at home that is a reminder for me regarding human rights. It goes; “There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.”
I’m more of a cluttered desk type of person. I remember one time a person commented after seeing my desk, “it shows that you must be a busy person”.
What keeps me up some nights is when I’m thinking of a proposal I’m writing or when a unique idea comes into my mind or a situation I’m involved in that needs to be resolved. Sometimes I need to get up and write down my ideas so that I don’t forget.
My secret ambition was to write about my experiences. I started about 35 years ago when I had begun my manuscript but had difficulty completing it. During this time I accumulated more content so the focus of the book changed into a memoir. It was during COVID that I decided to spend the time to complete it. That day is finally arriving so I will have fulfilled my secret ambition.
