Fluevog: 50 Years of Unique Soles for Unique Souls by John Fluevog Vancouver: LifeTree Media, 2019 $69.99 / 9781928055532 Reviewed by Elena Siemens * Founded by John Fluevog in Vancouver in 1985, Fluevog Shoes now has 27 stores in North America and Europe. Remarkably, Fluevogs have strong aftermarket value, selling on high-end arts and crafts,…
Read more #758 Fine shoes from the Fluemarket
Voices from Hornby & Denman Island Home Support, 1979-2019 by Megan J. Davies and Rachel Barken (editors) Hornby and Denman Community Health Care Society, 2019 $10.00 / 978199278403 Available from Abraxas Books, Denman Island Reviewed by Lee Reid * “Will there be help for me when I am old and in need?” is the enduring…
Read more #715 Growing old on Hornby and Denman
Advocates and activists by Graeme Wynn, with Jennifer Bonnell An extract from The Nature of Canada, edited by Colin M. Coates and Graeme Wynn (Vancouver: On Point Press, an imprint of UBC Press, 2019) * Jenny Clayton has reviewed The Nature of Canada for the Ormsby Review — see #603, Deep time to time slipping…
Read more #683 Nature’s advocates and activists
At the Wilderness Edge: The Rise of the Antidevelopment Movement on Canada’s West Coast by J.I. (Jack) Little Montréal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019 $29.95 / 9780773556409 Reviewed by John Douglas Belshaw * Bear with me, please. Shouldn’t “Wilderness” be in the possessive? At the Wilderness’s Edge maybe? If so, this is a shocking…
Read more #593 Wilderness campaigns & cultures
The Co-op Revolution: Vancouver’s Search For Food Alternatives by Jan DeGrass, with a foreword by Rick Scott Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2019 $24.95 / 9781987915952 * Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants by Jon Steinman Gabriola: New Society Publishers, 2019 $19.99 / 9780865719071 * Both books reviewed by…
Read more #563 BC’s community food co-ops
First published April 30, 2019. The Co-op Revolution: Vancouver’s Search For Food Alternatives by Jan DeGrass, with a foreword by Rick Scott Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2019 $24.95 / 9781987915952 Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants by Jon Steinman Gabriola: New Society Publishers, 2019 $19.99 / 9780865719071…
Read more #541 Co-opting the food chain
What Forever Feels Like: A Memoir of Johnsons Landing by Ellen Burt New Denver: Maa Press, 2018 $23.00 / 9781999554804 Reviewed by Lee Reid First published March 28, 2019 * The old magic of “once upon a time” can ambush us, especially when we see the loves and challenges of our own lives mirrored in…
Read more #518 Matriarchs of Johnsons Landing
The Little Book of Cannabis: How Marijuana Can Improve Your Life by Amanda Siebert, foreword by Rav Ivker Vancouver: Greystone Books: 2018 $14.95 / 9781771644044 Reviewed by Derek von Essen First published Feb. 14, 2019 * The dialogue surrounding cannabis cultivation and usage in Canada has changed recently with the legalization and the impending corporatization…
Read more #487 Welcome to the new Cann lit
Dancing in Gumboots: Adventure, Love and Resilience. Women of the Comox Valley Lou Allison with Jane Wilde (editors) Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2018 $24.05 / 9781987915761 Reviewed by Susan Mayse First published Dec. 13, 2018 * Mountains and glaciers glittered under a deep blue sky, fields and forests rolled all the way down to tidewater…
Read more #446 Comox Valley counterculture
Ron Verzuh reviews two books: A Carpenter’s Tale: Ian Ridgway, A Life by Ian Ridgway with Jim Brown and Pat Ridgway Elphinstone: Gypsy Deluxe Books, 2017 $30.00 / 9781775008309 Orders: patridg201@gmail.com * Mudflat Dreaming: Waterfront Battles in 1970s Vancouver and the Squatters who Fought Them by Jean Walton Vancouver: New Star Books, 2018 $24.00 /…
Read more #444 Carpenters and vagabonds
Thumbing a Ride: Hitchhikers, Hostels, and Counterculture in Canada by Linda Mahood Vancouver: UBC Press, 2018 $32.95 / 9780774837347 Reviewed by Lauren Harding First published November 19, 2018 * In this fascinating history, Linda Mahood takes a look at changing views of youth mobility in twentieth century Canada, from the early days of automobile travel…
Read more #427 Counterculture wanderlust
Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast by Joanna Streetly Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2018 $22.95 / 9781987915655 Reviewed by Lauren Harding First published November 8, 2018 * This book moved me in unexpected ways. Having spent a good deal of 2013 and 2014 living and working on the west coast of Vancouver…
Read more #417 Living wild in Clayoquot Sound
First published Sept. 24, 2018. Changemakers: Embracing Hope, Taking Action, and Transforming the World by Fay Weller and Mary Wilson Gabriola Island: New Society, 2018 $17.99 / 9780865718753 Reviewed by Sandi Ratch * Fay Weller and Mary Wilson of Gabriola Island have teamed up to present Changemakers: Embracing Hope, Taking Action, and Transforming the World, a…
Read more #383 Sea change on Gabriola
Tom Burrows by Scott Watson and Ian Wallace Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2018. Co-published with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery $50.00 / 9781927958889 Reviewed by Robert Amos First published September 11th, 2018 * Born in Ontario in 1940, Tom Burrows moved to Vancouver in 1960 hoping to study medicine, but instead earned a B.A….
Read more #371 Burning down the house
First published Jul. 8, 2018. Culture Gap: Towards a New World in the Yalakom Valley by Judith Plant Vancouver: New Star Books, 2017. $19 / 9781554201334 Reviewed by Nancy Janovicek * What had happened to us? Where did it go wrong? What could we have done? What should we have done? What we built together…
Read more #337 True tales of Camelsfoot
First published April 18, 2018. Mod ‘n Lavender: Salt Spring Island in the ‘60s by John Grain Kelowna: Tadpole Publishing, 2017. $18.95 / 9780973863413 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * For some of us, remembering the 1960s is increasingly hindered by old age and failing memories. A few of us might prefer to forget parts of…
Read more #289 Coming of Age on Salt Spring
The Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism by Joel Solomon with Tyee Bridge Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2017 $29.99 / 9780865718395 Reviewed by Jawad Qureshy First published April 2, 2018 * Born in Tennessee in 1954, Joel Solomon was educated at Vassar College, worked as national youth co-ordinator on Jimmy Carter’s election campaign…
Read more #279 The wisdom of Solomon
Busted: An Illustrated History of Drug Prohibition in Canada by Susan C. Boyd Black Point, Nova Scotia, and Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood Publishing, 2017 $21.00 / 9781552669761 Reviewed by Erika Dyck First published March 18th, 2018 * As we enter into a new era of marijuana regulation in Canada, Susan Boyd’s Busted: An Illustrated History of Drug…
Read more #267 Reefers and opium
Georgia Straight: A 50th Anniversary Celebration by Doug Sarti and Dan McLeod, with an introduction by Bob Geldof and essays by Mike Harcourt, Paul Watson, and Bif Naked Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2017 $40.00 / 9781771602525 Reviewed by Ron Dart First published Mar. 10, 2018 * In February 1967, the name Georgia Straight was hatched…
Read more #263 Georgia Straight honoured
First published Nov. 24, 2017. Jeannie Kamins has written and published a VFMF history with a memoir by Gary Cristall who says, “I guess I booked pretty close to 1,000 artists.” For $25 plus shipping costs, 40 Years and Counting: A Visual History of Forty Years of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival (Jeannie Kamins, 2017)…
Read more #209 Gary Cristall’s ball