Life of Writer: Walter Schmur

By Ellen Nguyen 

​You may see Walter Schmur around town, usually reading a book at a cafe. It was at one of these cafes that he saw someone wearing a 'Slo-Pitch' baseball cap and was inspired to write his 4th novel "Fantastic Baseball".

"Fantastic Baseball" deals with 2 fathers, living in the same town, getting their sole sons involved in baseball. Being of a different age group, each boy ends up in a different league, but an exhibition game is arranged between their two teams. Although a number of players on both teams are also good acrobats, the younger team tries to beat the home-run hitting older team with their skills at bunting.

Walter and 2nd his wife Margaret have called Mission home since 1985. Originally born in the Ukraine, he came to Canada in 1949, along with his war-widowed mother and his younger brother as post World War II refugees. They were sponsored by his mother’s uncle, who had a small farm in Abbotsford and he completed his grades 1 through 13, there. Throughout his career as an accountant, he self-published short stories, booklets and editorial letters. It was not until he reached his seventies that he began writing novels. Sometimes he finds it hard to believe that from one idea could come a forty to fifty thousand word novel. 

When you have a chance to chat with him, you will see that his life story is one of passion, imagination and endless possibilities.

Some of his other works:
The Rejection Slip Up, 1972
Where the Money Is, 1988
Just This Side of Hell, 2009
Golf Fantasy, 2015
Nightmare with Fins, 2017