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In Other Words
In Other Words is the site blog for Globe Books. It is written by Peter Scowen and by guest bloggers from the literary world.
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Friday, November 27, 2009 1:18 PM

Doc Pollard, RIP

Judith Fitzgerald

When any writer in this country thinks of Cobalt, ON, images of its legendary Highway Book Shop immediately come to mind, thanks entirely to Douglas Charles Pollard (b. 1925), the intrepid proprietor and publisher heading up the going concern (which attracted as many tourists as authors over the last six decades). On Wednesday, the dapperly dressed entrepreneur passed away in New Liskeard's Temiskaming Hospital. Funeral services for Doc Pollard, the recipient of an honourary degree from North Bay's Nipissing University and invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada last year, will take place tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at the Buffam Leveille Funeral Home at 2 p.m. An original in his own write, we at IOW extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Lois, and salute a trooper who believed in the value of good words and works. IOW? Northern Ontario has lost a genuine treasure.

JSYK: The five shortlists for the Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbreads), announced Wednesday, include four poetry finalists: Angels Over Elsinore by Clive James, One Eye'd Leigh by Katharine Kilalea, Darwin: A Life in Poems by Ruth Padel and A Scattering by Christopher Reid. The less said about RP, the better; but, IMO, Christopher Reid (who edited a magnificent collection of the letters of Ted Hughes published early this year) ought to receive this one, no contest.

FWIW: Last weekend, a celebration of the release of Southbrook Vineyard's 2007 Poeticas featured a series of informal talks, food pairings and a gallery of Poetica "art" at its winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake: "Poetica was inspired by a love story. A love of wine and the dream of one couple, Bill and Marilyn Redelmeier, to create a beautiful vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake and build Canada's first LEED Gold winery project with a Jack Diamond-designed hospitality building that meets the highest environmental standards. Southbrook is also the first winery in Canada to receive Demeter certification for their biodynamic vineyard and winery . . . Working with the Southbrook team on the challenge of designing the new iconography and wine labels for Southbrook was Toronto-based graphic designer Laura Wills of Messenger. In seeking to express Southbrook's philosophy that great wine is made through careful respect for the vine and the earth, Wills wanted to capture the sensuous character of these wines and created an artist series showcasing Canadian poets -- and called it Poetica."

Kudos to Christopher Dewdney whose poetry graces the latest Poetica offering; he joins luminary lights the likes of P. K. Page, Lesley Choyce, Gwendolyn MacEwen and bp Nichol. Cheers!

(Photograph of Lois and Doc Pollard © 1995-2009 W. Franczyk.)

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Latest posts from In Other Words

In Other Words Contributors

Peter Scowen

Peter Scowen is a communities editor with the Globe and Mail and is responsible for the Globe Books website. He is a veteran reporter and editor who has worked for a number of dailies and alternative weeklies in Toronto and Montreal. He is the author of Rogue Nation: The America the Rest of the World Knows.

 
 

Judith Fitzgerald

Judith Fitzgerald -- poet, editor and cultural critic with 30 works (including poetry, biography, anthologies and children's books) to her credit -- writes about poetry for In Other Words and is a contributing reviewer for this newspaper as well as a Poetry Fellow of the Chalmers Arts Foundation. Short-listed for (or recipient of) several major honours including the Fiona Mee, Trillium, Governor-General's Poetry and Writers’ Choice Awards (among others), she recently completed The Adagios Quartet. The ex-Torontonian now calls the Almaguin Highlands home.

 
 

Linda Leith

Linda Leith is the founder and artistic director of the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival. The annual festival was the world's first multilingual (including English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Italian, Urdu...) books festival when it was launched in 1999. Linda's most recent book is Marrying Hungary (2008).

 
 

Brian Joseph Davis

Brian Joseph Davis is an artist and writer based in Toronto. He's the co-founder of Joyland.ca and has written for Arthur Magazine, The Utne Reader, and Eye Weekly. He's the author of the books Portable Altamont (Coach House, 2005) and I,Tania (ECW, 2008), which Slate.com called "the book of your fever dreams."

 
 

Ben McNally

Ben McNally has been a bookseller in Toronto for more than 30 years and has been operating his own store, Ben McNally Books, in the heart of Toronto's financial district on Bay Street since September 2007. In partnership with the Globe and Mail, he co-ordinates the popular Sunday Authors Brunch Series at the King Edward Hotel, and has, for the past two years, been the bookseller at the International Festival of Authors.