By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
In yet another demonstration of the depth of the creative talent residing in the local communities, no less than five recent books by local authors have hit the shelves in time for Christmas.
Former Osoyoos Times journalist Richard McGuire has produced a mini-coffee table book chronicling the local region through photos and text in his book “A Landscape Like No Other – South Okanagan, Similkameen & Boundary Country”, while The Happy Paper Parlor’s Lindsay Bayford has written a beautifully illustrated children’s book titled “The Piano Mouse”.
Iconic local artist Peter Scott has produced a book of prose, poetry and art images detailing his time living amongst the majestic Chilliwack Cascade mountains, titled “My Soul Lives in These Mountains”.
Former Lower Mainland police officer and now Oliver resident Robert Price has published a book of his experiences drawn from across his long career titled “Badge 13”.
Most recently, Osoyoos’ Sheldon Herman (also a former police officer in town) has come out with his first book titled “The Tortured Traveller” an outrageously hilarious, albeit nearly tragic memoir of his 55-day tour of a handful of African countries. And spoiler alert: Despite barely hitting the shelves, Herman’s impossible-to-put-down book of improbably true travel tales is already being discussed as a possible series on a major streaming platform.
Herman will be launching his book at Wayside Select Books & Art in Osoyoos (8317 Main Street) this Friday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. The event will feature readings from the book, photographs, book signing and refreshments. Oh, and magic tricks too (you’ll understand why later).
As the virtual epicentre of this literary outpouring, Wayside, although keenly focused on preloved books, has been a key local supporter of these and other local writers.
Dan Williams, chief protagonist at Wayside commented: “Wayside is thrilled to be as part of its mission of supporting the arts, and because we’re a bookstore, we’re very thrilled to be supporting the literary arts, which is a significant part of the arts and because we’re a bookstore, that is a wonderful overlap.”
The bookstore has managed to have two events recently – for Bayford’s and Scott’s books – which included author readings and stories about their writing with a third upcoming for Herman’s book.
“It’s a treat,” Williams rightfully enthuses. “It says something about just how creative our little town and this nearby region is. The fact that we’re not only doing the visual arts and music, but we have all this publishing going on, some of it with traditional publishers, some of it self-published, but all of it showing just a real commitment to the written word.”
Williams notes that some of the themes are very connected to this area while others are from other places further afield where people have lived and worked or have been involved in some way. “It’s kind of the whole world coming to Osoyoos, but also the Osoyoos story getting out to the world through these authors,” he observes.
“So we’re excited. We hope we can do a lot more of this kind of thing at Wayside and other places in town, and continue to support these authors.”
Herman’s The Tortured Traveller, Scott’s My Soul Lives in These Mountains and Price’s Badge 13 are all available at various outlets including Wayside Select Books & Art. Bayford’s The Piano Mouse is available at the Happy Paper Parlor and McGuire’s book is available at various locations or by contacting him at [email protected]. Some of these titles are also available on Amazon.ca.
