Nova Scotia auditor general writes book on lessons learned from ‘superhero’ grandmother

Michael Pickup describes his grandma as a superhero, a friend, and “everything and more than people traditionally think of a grandmother.”

As Nova Scotia’s auditor general, Pickup is perhaps more well-known for writing reports, but last year, he decided to try his hand at authorship, penning a 150-page book about lessons he learned from his nan.

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Mary Ann Pickup of Cape Breton was the oldest of 12 children, the mother of five sons, and became a grandmother at 42 when Pickup was born to teenage parents.

While she was a career woman – returning to school in her 30s to pursue a career in health care, an uncommon feat for women at the time – Pickup says she always took the time to care for her family, imparting her wisdom on him as a child and well into his adulthood.

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The recently released self-published “Nan-Made: How a Grandmother Made a Man” recounts 25 of her lessons Pickup has carried with him through his life, including the importance of living with integrity and taking the time to love oneself.

Pickup included his grandmother in the book-writing process and was able to show her the finished product in July, two weeks before her death at the age of 94.