Vernon Oickle was born and raised in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, where he continues to reside with his wife, Nancy, and their family. Growing up in a small town in rural Nova Scotia, Vernon always wanted to pursue a career as a newspaper reporter. After completing high school in 1979, he attended Lethbridge Community College. He graduated in 1982 with an honours diploma in Journalism and returned to Liverpool to work at the local newspaper, The Advance. His community newspaper career spanned 33 years.In addition to his long list of newspaper awards and honours, in 2012 Vernon received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, recognizing his contributions to his community, province and country, and in April 2015 he received a Distinguished Alumni Award (Community Leader) from Lethbridge College. He was inducted into the Atlantic Journalism Awards Hall of Fame in the spring of 2020.As a testimony to his outstanding career, in 2014 the South Queens Middle School in Liverpool announced the creation of the Vernon Oickle Writer's Award, to be given annually to a student who excels in the art of writing, either fiction or non-fiction.