As a loving tribute to his late son, a prolific Kelowna author has written one final book at age 93.
Bill Peckham admits he thought his writing days were coming to a close as he deals with advanced age, deteriorating vision and taking care of his wife.
However, thanks to the memories of his late son Jim, who passed away after a tough battle with cancer in March of 2021, Peckham is the proud author of You’re Never Too Old For Love, which he self-published in early September.
“In December 2020, my late son Jim, asked me to write the story about a trip we made together,” said Peckham, in a phone interview from his Kelowna home earlier this week.
“I told him I thought it was a boring story and was going to scrap it. But he suggested I put a twist on the story and make it interesting.
“In March 2021, the short story started. When it reached 10,000 words, I knew there was much more to the story and it had to be written and finished.”
In the forward of his new novel, Peckham pays a beautiful tribute to his son and thanks him for providing him with the inspiration to keep writing, despite his age and health challenges.
“This is dedicated to my late son, Jim Peckham,” he wrote. “I still remember your words. You wanted me to write a story about your drive from Niagara Falls to Kelowna in 2001. You know, a couple of thousand words or so. Without those words of yours, this novel would not exist. Thank you, Jim, for your suggestion. In your memory, I dedicate this book to you, your spirit of adventure and love of family.”
Peckham grew up in beautiful Niagara Falls, Ont. and has spent almost 25 years in beautiful Kelowna.
Peckham spent four decades making a living in the home improvement and renovation industry, including hosting the first call-in radio show about home renovations that he knew of in Canada dating back to 1971.
“I was on the air for 30 years,” he said.
He then was asked to host and write the scripts for a national television show on home renovations called Don’t Move, Improve.
Peckham ended up in Kelowna early in the new millennium after finding out his current wife and former high school sweetheart Lynn was living there, he said.
“She was a widow and I was going through a divorce and we happened to meet again and got together after 50 years,” he said.
He had visited Kelowna twice while working in the home improvement industry and thought it was beautiful and when he had the opportunity to start a new chapter in his life, he jumped at it, he said.
His passion for writing only started once he arrived in Kelowna more than two decades ago, he said.
He had started writing the outline for a book called Don’t Hang Wallpaper With Your Wife in 2003 in Ontario, but it didn’t go far, he said.
However, when he presented the outline to his current wife and showed her the first 30 pages, she thought it was great and encouraged him to finish the book, he said.
“She said you know we could do something with this,” he said. “She’s very good with grammar and English … so she eventually became my editor and best critic.”
Peckham eventually signed up for a creative writing course at Okanagan College in Kelowna and loved it.
“That’s all I needed,” he said. “I was off and running and haven’t really stopped since.”
You’re Never Too Old For Love is his fifth novel in the past 20 years.
His son originally wanted him to write a story about a trip he and his won made from Ontario to Kelowna back in 2001, said Peckham.
“He said you got to write that story,” he said. “I told him I thought it was boring. He told me put a twist on it. I finally started writing and within a few weeks, I had 100,000 words.”
Instead of telling the story of his personal journey from Ontario to Kelowna with his son, he made up fictional characters, including the main character Jake Zimmerman, he said.
The protagonist engages on a cross-country trip stops in Thunder Bay, meets a woman in a country and western bar, falls for her and ends up staying for months.
The two of them end up forming their own country music duo and play numerous concerts in and around Thunder Bay, before deciding to continue their journey across Canada heading towards Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley after buying a trailer, he said.
He spent months doing research on dozens of small towns they might travel through on their way out West and this is all incorporated into the storyline in the new book, he said.
“It’s an adventure of two people travelling across the country and meeting some great people along the way,” he said.
The couple get married when they arrive in Kelowna and live many happy years together, before he develops health issues and dies, he said.
“That signals the end of the book,” he said.
The book sat half-finished for years, but he completed the majority of it in a matter of months in 2023 and earlier this year, he said.
“When I start to write, you can’t get me away from the computer,” he said. “What I find, is new characters just pop into my head and I have to write about them.”
The book hit the streets the first week in September and many longtime fans have read it and given positive feedback, he said.
He has serious issues with his vision, which makes it very difficult for him to keep writing, said Peckham.
“I’ll keep writing, but I doubt I will publish anything again,” he said. “I just don’t have the energy and I can’t read well enough anymore. I’m not blind, I can see everything, but just can’t read anything smaller or defined.”
Besides the five novels he’s self published, Peckham has written nine collections of short stories. Most of them are memoirs of loved ones, including his grandfather, maternal grandfather, his father and mother and his son.
“They’re just simple little stories about their lives,” he said. “In my son’s case, I did 12 short stories. It involves short stories about my memories of those I loved the most through my life.”
Anyone wishing to purchase You’re Never Too Old For Love, can send an email to Peckham at
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