To Edmonton's Lila Fahlman, education and culture go hand in hand - you need one to learn about, and preserve the other. Although retired now, at various times in her life, Dr. Fahlman has been a dress-maker, teacher, political activist, and mother - but she's always been a Muslim.

Born as Lila Ganam in Limmerick, Saskatchewan, her father was a Lebanese immigrant who travelled across North America peddling wholesale wares until her met Lila's mother, a Methodist from Nebraska. She was sixteen, he was forty-three. Her father said no. They eloped in 1910.

While the family was living in Regina, Lila fell in love with, and met a young entertainer named Al Fahlman, a.k.a. 'Saskatchewan's Roving Cowboy'. She heard him on the radio and got to know him when he came to her father for instruction in the Muslim faith. She was fourteen, he was in his twenties.

With the encouragement of her children and husband, Lila pursued graduate degrees - a master in Educational Administration and Psychology in 1976 and her Ph.D. in 1984. She also ran for public office in a couple of municipal and provincial elections.

Length: 23:44
Original Format: Video
Originally Broadcast: July 12, 1994 on CBC Television

• Dr. Lila Fahlman's Home page
• World Council of Muslim Women Foundation - a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Fahlman in 1993.

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Gregory M. Coyes (Edmonton, Alberta) - worked as a production assistant and assistant director on some of the most successful films to come out of western Canada in the 1980's including: My American Cousin, Shooting Stars, Cowboys Don't Cry and Life After Hockey. He has written and directed a number of documentaries and client sponsored films. At the time of broadcast, he was serving as president of the Aboriginal Filmmakers Association of Alberta and is an organizer of the annual festival of First Nation's films, arts and culture. {also directed Our Stories: Buddy Daye}