JaneKansas

Jane in her Dinette, ca 1991

Jane Kansas was born in 1954 in Kansas but did most of her growing up in Ottawa. She moved to Nova Scotia in May of 1986 from Guelph, Ontario where she lived in a warehouse creating huge paintings and award winning short stories.

In Hubbards Kansas did odd jobs, worked for the school system as a teaching assistant and then opened Debbie's Dinette (DebbiesDinette) a very gay friendly eatery.

She moved to Halifax in January 1993 and immediately became the janitor at Rumours and co-host of "TheWordIsOut," the great CKDU queer newsmagazine radio show. She contributed a column to WayvesMagazine and became presdident of GALA (GaeGala), survived a bitter impeachment and went on to work on PrideCelebrations while the committee it was chaired by LynnMurphy. Kansas ended up co-chairing the committee with TomRomard?. Her greatest achievement was indeed switching the location of the after-parade reception from the cold dank windowless Rumours to Sackville Landing. The first year that happened was sunny. "Rise Up" by Parachute Club blared from speakers and parade celebrants arrived into Sackville Landing.

Later Kansas wrote for The Sunday Daily News, often on gay issues, and for TheCoast. In the spring of 2004 she was a freelance writer seriously contemplating selling everything and embarking on a long bicycle trip to New Mexico, in order to see an art installation called "The Lightning Field".

Fan Mail

Jane Kansas is to Halifax as butter is to bread. When good writing comes to mind, locally she has no competition. She co-chaired the PrideCelebrations one year and presents "Reading Out Loud" during Pride every year.

Jane moved our Pride reception out from a bar into the open (Sackville Landing).

I wish the Daily News would get their head out of the sand and get Jane back into the paper. She was certainly an interesting part of the paper's content.

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