SURREY - The city has lost one of its civic treasures.Writer and educator Ed Griffin died July 23 at Surrey Memorial Hospital after a long battle with cancer. He had also suffered a severe stroke recently, according to Sheila McKinnon, Surrey's manager of arts services.Griffin, a founder of the Surrey International Writers' Conference, was named a Surrey Civic Treasure in 2012 for his cultural contributions to the city.Last February, Griffin wrote about his life in a story that appeared in the Now.