Five outstanding Vic High graduates will be honoured at the Victoria High School Alumni Association’s third Black and Gold Dinner on Saturday, June 2, at the CFB Esquimalt Wardroom.
The five are a prominent University of B.C. surgeon whose roots are in Victoria’s Chinatown, a former Olympic rowing silver medallist and federal cabinet minister, an acclaimed author and expert on J.R.R. Tolkien, a Gemini Award-winning filmmaker who worked on the Gord Downey documentary and a renowned fabric artist with ties to Munro’s Books.
Dr. Wallace Chung, grad of 1945, is the former director of surgery and a medical researcher at UBC, credited with the introduction of innovative techniques in stroke surgery and advancing vascular surgery as a recognized specialty.
He worked at his father’s tailor shop in Chinatown, where his playground included Fan Tan Alley, and later became head of surgery both at UBC and Vancouver General Hospital.
David Anderson, from the Class of ’55, was on Canada’s eights rowing team, which captured silver in the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome before turning to politics and holding four cabinet posts before retiring.
Internationally acclaimed writer David Day, a 1966 grad, has written many books on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and the highly praised Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Decoded, based on the Lewis Carroll classic.
Gemini Award winner Sam Dunn, class of 1992, was one of many who worked on a documentary on the life of musician Gord Downie. He won a Gemini for his writing of the documentary film Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey.
Dunn and another former UVic student, Scot McFadyen, won a Peabody Award for producing a series about the roots of hip hop.
Carole Sabiston, 1957 Vic High grad, is renowned for her fabric artistry and was awarded the Order of British Columbia for her work. Her magnificent painted murals, hanging aerial sculptures and tapestries can be seen in Europe and North America. They are on display at Munro’s Books, which was owned by her late husband, Jim Munro.
Tickets for the business-attire dinner are $125 each (a $55 tax receipt will be issued) or a group rate is available for tables of eight. Contact dinner chair Anne McKeachie by email at Anne.McKeachie@outlook.com, by phone at 250-472-1661 or obtain a ticket order form from the Victoria High School Alumni Association website vichigh.com and mail it and your cheque to the association, 1260 Grant St., Victoria, B.C., V8T 1C2.
