A Short History of Dallas Hansen

At age 18, Mr. Hansen began his paid writing career via an ironic gig with the now-defunct weekly Today's Seniors. At age 23, he arrived on the Winnipeg Free Press opinion-editorial page, becoming a weekly colunist in 2004.

Mr. Hansen's editorials have covered a plethora of topics—nutrition, poverty, foreign affairs, drugs, technology—but a recurrent theme is Winnipeg's urban life. In 2005, in response to the inadequacies of Winnipeg's proposed Bus Rapid Transit plan, he founded Transit Riders' Union of Winnipeg, promoting inner-city Winnipeg and a subway rapid transit plan by Norman D. Wilson, who designed Toronto's TTC Subway.

He grew up outside Winnipeg on Worthington Avenue in Old St. Vital, and by age 8 he had skipped two grades and amassed a Marvel Comics collection numbering several hundred. As a child he made regular Saturday afternoon trips to downtown Winnipeg unaccompanied by any parent, exploring the streets and shops with fascination, wander Portage Avenue into such places as Saratoga Amusments, Advance Electronics, Pendragon Games, Comic World, Book Fair, Games on the Avenue, Eaton's, and The Bay.

Upon becoming a teenager, Mr. Hansen moved to a brand-new suburban home in outer St. Vital, the Perimeter Highway visible from his kitchen window. The bus ride downtown doubled in duration to one hour, and many of his favourite stores had closed shop or left downtown.

At age 14, he began skateboarding as a way to span the 15-minute walk between his suburban home and the nearest bus stop. At 16, he moved to downtown Winnipeg, occupying a $200/month bachelor suite. At 18, he went travelling, visiting New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal, and Toronto. At age 21 he moved to Vancouver, working such odd jobs as video store clerk and collection agency skip tracer, earning a reputation as "an heir-apparent to Jack Kerouac" at the local Bolts of Fiction reading events.

Today he resides in a 94 year-old house in Winnipeg's West End, where he enjoys the area's diverse ethnic restaurants and close proximity to the city centre.

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