Experienced journalist and multi-genre author, both self and traditionally published. Books include Camp Picton: A Storied 70 Years and Camp Picton Boys in the RCAF.

But when you start out to research your family genealogy, you never know where the journey will take you. For , the journey took her all the way to South Dakota.

Researching her Cournyea family led to the discovery of relatives in the United States and following that thread, Joanne discovered a branch of her family spelling their last name “Cournoyer”.   As she explains, “The three eldest brothers of a Lakota Sioux family in 1880’s South Dakota are leading free lives on a large family ranch until the encroachment of modern society and white culture takes over….[before] joining up with the notorious cattle rustler Jack Sully. Together the Sully Gang steals more than 50,000 head of cattle and innumerable horses from 1885-1915.”    Part of the research for this book included a trip to South Dakota where she met members of her family in the Lakota Sioux tribe who still live in the same place. The story of the Cournoyer boys was so captivating that Joanne has turned it into historical fiction book. Rustlers, Renegades and Rogues: The Exploits of the Cournoyer Brothers will be the first in a trilogy with the following titles to be released in short order.

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