Canadian Blood Services Profile

Still thankful 33 years after transplant, Toronto woman now helps others. "During my time in hospital, I received 157 units of blood,” she says. “Each unit represented a blood donation from someone I didn’t know. Those transfusions kept me alive during treatment, so supporting the work of Canadian Blood Services to facilitate blood and stem cell donations across Canada is a no-brainer." Thanks to Canadian Blood Services for helping me celebrate the 33-year anniversary of the bone marrow transplant that cured my leukemia and saved my life. The procedure was a last-ditch Hail Mary play after all other treatment [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:38:00+00:00May 22nd, 2021|cycling, fundraising, Publication, Survivor, Volunteering, Writer|0 Comments
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The Globe and Mail: Organ donation op-ed

Skip the mall this Christmas. Your organ-donation consent is the best gift you can give   'Tis the season for gift shopping. That time of year when we flock online, a Pavlovian response to slick advertising. We search shopping malls and stalk special one-day-only sale racks, spending hours seeking the perfect gift. But what if we didn’t have to search? What if we already carried the perfect gift within us? Less than one-quarter of Canadians have registered to donate organs, but 90 per cent of Canadians say they support organ donation. Presumed consent is a potential solution to increase donors, [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:38:28+00:00May 10th, 2021|Publication, School, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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2020 *virtual* Ride to Conquer Cancer

So much has changed in the world since last year but cycling has given me back my freedom this summer, which I sorely missed during the spring. This month there’s the added bonus of training for my 10th Ride to Conquer Cancer on August 29, 2020. For safety reasons during the pandemic, all participants will ride their own routes that day to create a *virtual* ride. Here’s my pledge this August: 10 training rides, 100 km cycled the Aug.29 weekend *at least* $10,000 raised. UPDATE Aug. 30, 2020 : Ride 2020 is a wrap! 11 rides completed, 110 [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:39:56+00:00August 15th, 2020|Covid-19, cycling, fundraising, Survivor|0 Comments
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National Post Excerpt: I became a human chimera

How my sister's cells attacked my body, and changed my life. "It would be another 25 years before I learned about blood tissue, cells, genes and DNA. Before I would understand that I’d become a sort of human chimera. Like the fire-breathing creature from Greek mythology — with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail — my body was no longer just my own. I was host to my sister and myself." I knew it was a medical Hail Mary play — a first-of-its-kind procedure in Canada, with an eight per cent chance of success. It was 1988 [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:40:26+00:00July 10th, 2020|cycling, Publication, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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Winner: 2020 Penguin Random House MFA Prize

I am honoured to be the winner of the 2020 Penguin Random House MFA Prize for best nonfiction book proposal. "Margaret Lynch, who graduated in May from the University of King’s College with her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction degree, is the winner of the 2020 Penguin Random House Best Nonfiction Book Proposal Prize. Lynch, a Toronto-based storyteller who writes about people, places, and plights, won for her proposal for Transformed: When My DNA Changed, So Did I, her memoir of her journey to “become a better person” after a rare leukemia invaded her body when she was just [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:40:56+00:00June 26th, 2020|MFA, Publication, School, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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CMAJ Blog Post

Déjà Vu in the Time of Covid-19 One Monday morning not long ago, I attended my yoga class. We stretched and twisted, breathed and meditated amidst a soundtrack of calming music and the instructor’s soothing voice. It was late January 2020, when we still took for granted our ability to move freely in and around the world. Afterwards, I chatted with another yogini. Standing close together, we discussed the first reported Canadian case of COVID-19. The National Microbiology Laboratory had confirmed the presumptive case two days earlier. We were concerned, but we agreed the problem could be easily contained. [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:41:33+00:00April 24th, 2020|Covid-19, Publication, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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My manuscript is finished

That’s a wrap! 2 years, 4 mentors, 11 chapters, a book proposal, numerous essays, op-eds, book reviews, publications, a finished manuscript and an MFA. I’ve enjoyed every minute of the past 20 months, even (especially?) when I was challenged! Going back to school for my MFA at this stage of life has been a gift. One of the many rewards is belonging to the wonderful University of King’s College, Halifax community, which I will carry with me. Thanks to my outstanding mentors Ayelet Tsabari, Wanda Taylor, Jane Silcott, Cooper Lee Bombardier andMFA program faculty Kim Pittaway, Dean Jobb, and [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:42:25+00:00April 9th, 2020|MFA, School, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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Launch Party: untethered Issue 5.1

On January 9th, 2020 I was honoured to share the stage with so many talented writers for the launch of untethered issue 5.1 at the Monarch Tavern in Toronto. What a party! Thanks to intrepid editors Stephanie and Nicole for curating this fabulous issue and organizing this fantastic event! Love that cover artwork by Sarah Graham too! Thanks to untethered for the photos! Back to Complete List of Blog Posts:

By |2023-10-15T21:44:03+00:00January 10th, 2020|Publication, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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How I Created My Writer Platform

I’m writing this memoir for those who need to see someone standing strong farther down the road they’re travelling. In February of this year, I stood transfixed in my living room listening to my Camino story on CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition. I hardly recognized my own voice, which sounded like it had received the audio equivalent of airbrushing. But even though I knew the story, I was almost in tears. I had written something that, to me, felt remarkable. Then came the annoying voices in my head: How will I ever write anything this good again? And did I really bare [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:44:38+00:00November 1st, 2019|Publication, Survivor, Writer|0 Comments
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Camino de Santiago

Six years ago on this day, I arrived at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Over eleven days, I had walked 275 kilometres in the footsteps of pilgrims dating back to the eleventh century. It was an emotional end to my Camino pilgrimage. At the time, I didn't have words to describe the life-changing impact of that journey. But I do now. I'm retracing my steps to write about this trip for the final chapter in my memoir about life and love after leukemia. As I re-read my journal and look at photos, I'm reminded of all the [...]

By |2023-10-15T21:45:32+00:00October 6th, 2019|Survivor, Travel, Writer|0 Comments
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