Patti Shales Lefkos is a Canadian writer and journalist. Patti studied journalism at Langara University. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Toronto Teachers’ College, Simon Fraser University and the Wilderness Leadership Program at Capilano College.
Patti’s articles, profiles, columns and travel writing have appeared in a range of Canadian and international publications. She was part of the San Francisco Chronicle team that won the Lowell Thomas Award for the best newspaper travel section in 2014.
Her Himalayan adventure travel memoir Nepal One Day at a Time celebrates her creative non-fiction debut. Nepal One Day at a Time is the story of her first trekking trip on her own. Her second book, Grounded by Granite, a tale of family connection and personal resilience, serves as a sequel. It illuminates the childhood experiences that gave Patti the strength and resilience to excel at her outdoor pursuits and humanitarian efforts.
In April 2015, 9,000 people died and 22,000 were injured in a devastating earthquake in Nepal. As a result Patti and her husband, Barry Hodgins, founded BC non-profit Nepal One Day at a Time to support education in Gorkha province, Nepal, the epicentre of the earthquake. Nepal One Day at a Time partners with Kathmandu based NGO Sambhav Nepal and Vernon BC’s Kalamalka Rotary where Patti is chair of the International Committee.
NEPAL IT'S NEVER TOO LATE: Rediscovering Love, Connection and Personal Resilience on Nepal's Great Himalayan Trail
Ms Lefkos' third book, in progress, fills in their trekking adventures as a couple, completing the first 700 km of the Great Himalayan Trail after the age of 65 in 2011 and 2017, and will also tell of their attempt in the fall of 2023, at the age of 76 and 77, to complete up to 800 km of the remaining trek.
The presentation concerns their mission to encourage others to leap out of their comfort zone, no matter what their age, and to make a difference in the lives of others in developing countries. Patti's talk will highlight not only their adventures but also what they have learned about themselves from these adventures and how they have grown to love and appreciate the warmth and friendship of the people of Nepal.
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