"Long before she became the renowned author of the best-selling Schmecks cookbooks, an award-winning journalist for magazines such as Maclean's, and a creative non-fiction mentor, Edna Staebler was a writer of a different sort." "Staebler began serious diary writing at the age of sixteen and continued to write for over eighty years. Must Write: Edna Staebler's Diaries draws from these diaries selections that map Staebler's construction of herself as a writer. They document her frustrations, struggles, and joy of life, together with her need to express herself in writing." "She felt she "must write," while at the same time she doubted the value of her "scribblings." Spanning much of the twentieth century - each decade is introduced by an overview of key events in the author's life during that period - the diaries illuminate both her intensely personal experiences and her broader social world."--BOOK JACKET.