The life of the party

Writer, blogger and business owner spent her time uplifting others

By: Janine LeGal

An artist and a shining light for everyone she knew, Alyson Shane saw the beauty in others, but not always in herself.

Shane was enthusiastically present and caring for friends, family, community and her cats and was committed to justice, human rights and art.

She struggled bravely and openly with the mental-health challenges that let her give more love to others than she was able to receive.

Shane died unexpectedly on Nov. 6, 2024, a few days before her 37th birthday.

The writer, blogger and business owner was a community volunteer and champion who loved Winnipeg. After graduating from the University of Winnipeg, in 2014 she created Starling Social, a digital marketing agency that grew to become a powerhouse, with a team and a company culture that reflected her values. In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded Volunteer Manitoba’s SPARK Pro Bono Consultant Award.

Shane was born and raised in Winnipeg. Her brother Alex saw her as his best friend; the two regularly compared notes on common interests and daily life.

“We would spend time with each other, sharing favourite music. Both of us are very social people, both of us enjoyed being in the spotlight, both with a similar sense of humour.

“She was inspirational. She was one of the most motivated people I’ve ever met. She always felt the need to want to include everyone and make sure that everyone felt important.”

He remembers his sister cheering others on, supporting and encouraging them in whatever paths and efforts they considered meaningful.

“She’d tell me I can do so much more; I can build a business. She would hype everybody up, always tell people they can do more, accomplish more. She could see the potential in everyone she met,” he said.

Will Jones was immediately struck by how much she cared about people when he met her. The second thing he noticed was her interest in Canadian policy and politics, common ground shared by the best of friends.

“She was not only the life of the party but the host of the party most of the time,” said Jones. “There were political discussions and other discussions, many bottles of moderately priced red wine. She was a devoted leftist, I was Liberal — some overlap, but not much.”

Shane was known for her thoughtfulness, so it came as no surprise that, during the pandemic, in the bitter cold, she arranged to go from friend’s house to friend’s house to entertain for the holiday season.

“She made these hand-crafted carol books where they did these songs six feet from the door,” Jones explained. “It was one of the most beautiful things and was absolutely cherished.”

As a way to honour their friend, Jones and others established the $35,000 Alyson Shane Memorial Award in Rhetoric at the University of Winnipeg, to empower students who need a little help to succeed. The selection process will favour students who identify as female, Indigenous, LGBTTQ+, or coming from other marginalized communities.

Among Shane’s community involvements was the Vote Open campaign, hoping to convince Winnipeggers to re-open Portage and Main, and it was there that she and Tineke Leanne became friends.

“She and I did a tour, brought people through the tunnels and elevators,” explained Leanne. “She was so passionate about accessibility and Winnipeg as a whole.”

The day before she died, Shane spoke in a class, helping to inspire the next generation.

“I think her legacy is a passion to support those around you in every single way, whether uplifting a local business, supporting and frequenting them, or sharing your talents and skills through volunteerism,” said Leanne. “She lived and breathed those values in everything that she did for the entire time that I knew her. She didn’t just say the things, she did them.”

Brimming with 14 years of shared life, love, and adventures, husband John Luxford vividly remembers the day he met Shane.

“At a friend’s baby shower, I was standing in the kitchen, telling the story about my grandmother smoking pot. Alyson was heard asking about the guy in a sweater vest telling a story about his grandmother. We talked and talked at every party after that.”

The couple travelled to multiple countries together and created a home in their beloved Wolseley neighbourhood. They even found space to work together artistically — their folk band Big Trouble in Little Wolseley often played at local festivals and events.

“One of my favourite things about our relationship was performing together; we wrote music together,” said Luxford. “It was clear to me she was always meant to be a performer. She was in the choir, in the school play, in the chorus, the most enthusiastic kid in the back stealing the show. It was like watching her come alive. Watching her perform, when it was just the two of us playing and singing and looking at each other’s eyes, I was thinking to myself, ‘Take this in, this is special. It’s one of those moments.’”

Everything about Shane was a testament to her prolific creativity. Her days were spent making things, from growing food in the garden to experimenting with international recipes as well as crafting.

Her blog featured writing she’d planned someday to publish in book form. Now Luxford will do that for her.

“It feels like the right thing to do. You find ways to honour the people you’ve lost. Any proceeds will go to the award,” he said.

Luxford appreciated her gift of spinning a single day into poetic little pieces. And then there was her visual art, which depicts a different side of her life.

“She’d made all this art that she never had a chance to show,” said Luxford. “It really highlights her mental-health struggles. (From) this bubbly competent person to this inner monologue where she’s constantly struggling to see that.”

Luxford says he and some of their friends will put on an exhibit of Shane’s art.

“She was so passionate about things she cared about. She really put her money where her mouth was. She looked out for her friends. You meet her once and you feel seen and heard and you feel important. Pretty incredible.”

For more info, see wfp.to/WEC.

city@freepress.mb.ca