Originally from Ohio, Bud Osborn settled in Vancouver in the mid-80s. He was a poet and social activist for nearly 40 years. A former director of the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board, Bud Osborn was instrumental in founding such harm reduction organizations as VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users), GTA (Grief to Action), and PRG (Political Response Group ). He also helped launch Creative Resistance, a group that advocated for the repeal of drug prohibition and its "War on Drugs" strategy. Bud Osborn’s poetry credo was always: "fidelity to lived experience." He published six books of poetry which included Black Azure (Coach House), Lonesome Monsters (Anvil, 1995), Hundred Block Rock (Arsenal Pulp, 1999), Oppenheimer Park (1998, in collaboration with artist Richard Tetrault), and Keys to Kingdoms (Get to the Point, 1999) which won the City of Vancouver Book Award, and Signs of the Times, illustrated by muralist and printmaker Richard Tetrault. Bud Osborn passed away on May 6, 2014 in Vancouver.
