December 28, 2009

News Release

Contact: Lindy Sisson 604-786-3259

Canadian author, popular humourist and respected QC, Hal Sisson at 88 years of age passed away December 26, 2009.  After 18 days waiting in the Victoria Royal Jubilee Hospital for heart valve replacement surgery which was to take place at St Paul’s in Vancouver, he died of severe aortic stenosis, as the medical bureaucracy moved too slowly for the operation to take place.

Born in 1921 in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, he was an armourer with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He later attended the University of Saskatchewan, where he obtained a degree in law in 1951. His varied career included a stint as a reporter for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix and a thirty-year law practice in Peace River, Alberta. While there, he got involved in provincial politics and conceived, produced and starred in Sorry 'Bout That, the longest running annual burlesque revue in Western Canada.

He retired from the law in 1984 to devote time to croquet, marble collecting and writing fiction. He penned eleven books including The Big Bamboozle; Caverns of the Cross; A Fat Lot of Good and its sequels, Maquiladora Mayhem and You Should Live So Long, and prequel Potshots; Garage Sale of the Mind and its sequel Coots, Codgers and Curmudgeons (with Dwayne W. Rowe); A Fowler View of Life (biography of Bill Fowler);Modus Operandi 9/11 and Sorry 'Bout That, an anthology of authentic burlesque skits.

“His novels feature daring and imaginative plot lines and subject matters, ranging from murder mysteries (three novels in a series featuring old fart octogenarians Phil Figgwiggin and Mike Fowler); collections of humorous reminiscences on the vagaries of life in rural western Canada during simpler times; the dignity and humane treatment of animals and great apes fighting off extinction; exposing the ways in which we are truly being controlled by those in power, and the lengths to which they will go in order to feed their insatiable greed; sinister forces of blackmail and unscrupulous legal drug dealers, Catholic church cults, contraceptive industrial espionage within the Vatican, set against a backdrop of the world population explosion; and a partial history with authentic skits of burlesque and music hall comedy.  In all of these he used many comedic devices to address very serious concerns, providing fascinating skitters of wit and wisdom through the sub rosa of the mind; a wake-up call which provides offence to all those who want to believe things are exactly as they would have them. His goal was “to keep writing as much as possible before kick-off time through the goalposts of life.”

Sisson was a ranking Canadian and US player of six-wicket USCA and international croquet. An avid collector of unique marbles, in 2001 Hal placed in the top 25 shooters in the World Marble Championships in London, England. He was also a ranking table tennis player in the Alberta Seniors Games. While a resident in Victoria, BC, Sisson helped launch that city’s chapter of the 9/11 Truth Movement and wrote many published articles on this and other politically sensitive topics.

As Canada’s oldest stand-up sit-down comic, while living with congestive heart failure he performed his last gig at the Fernwood Inn in Victoria the fall of 2009.  His most requested routine was his backwards rendition of Cinderella and the Sisty-Uglers, which can be heard on the Vancouver International Children’s Festival 30^th Anniversary CD.  His “modus operandi” was to make folks laugh at the same time as encouraging them to think for themselves.

In the Modus Operandi 9/11 dedication he wrote:  “I am Hal Sisson, a member of the rabble in good standing. You know who you are. We ignore the increasing assaults on civil liberties and habeas corpus at our own peril. Perhaps, if everyone does a little bit, together we can contribute to whatever rectification is still possible to make this world a better place.”

“By all means, have a good time while you’re in your prime, cause it won’t mean a thing when you’re dead. But if we don’t do something to stop the Fourth Reich now, then our descendants will be living in a fascist police state, compounded by poverty, violence, genocide, tyranny and disease.”

Hal was married to Doreen Sisson, who remains in Victoria, and he also leaves behind two children, Ted Sisson of Peace River and Lindy Sisson who now lives in Coquitlam with her children Cydney and Jeremy Paddon.  Of her Father, Lindy (former Artistic Director of the Vancouver International Children’s Festival and current Executive Director of The ACT Arts Centre and Theatre) said “my father was an original thinker who inspired many with his thought-provoking and laughter-inducing wit and writings.  He accomplished so much in his life by having the philosophy that if you had an idea you should just get your arse in the saddle and do it.  This attitude enriched the lives of many and he will be greatly missed. May his death be further inspiration for enough of us to wake up in time to turn things around, if not for our own sake, then for our children’s and our children’s children.”

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