news
Scene from a Wedding
Date of Post: July 14, 2011
After 15 years of happy co-habitation, Andrew and Katherine got married, on Sunday, July 10. We had a small ceremony in Gibsons, in our generous friends’ beautiful garden, followed by a most enjoyable reception. The weather co-operated. Painting by Jill King, friend (and cousin) in question.
On the work front, I’ve been researching and mulling over possible book projects. I did a short piece on Sechelt for Westworld magazine (Summer 2011 issue) and some fun articles for PHSC Journal on the early postal history of Haida Gwaii (Winter 2011 issue) and 19th-century mail delivery to BC’s north coast (Summer and Fall 2011 issues).
The latest content on the website features our trips to Panama and Turkey.
Fall Presentation at the North Vancouver Museum & Archives
Date of Post: September 23, 2010
Andrew Scott will be making a presentation on “Raincoast Place Names Past and Present” at the Community History Centre, 3203 Institute Road, North Vancouver, on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, at 7 pm. His talk will be part of a lecture series on local place names organized by the North Vancouver Museum & Archives. Two other speakers—Glenn Woodsworth and Rudy Reimer—will talk in November on, respectively, mountain names and First Nation names. A modest entrance fee will be charged. For more information, go to www.northvanmuseum.ca.
Andrew, apparently, will also be a “living book” at the Sechelt Public Library on Saturday, October 23. For further details on this imaginative fund-raiser, please contact the library at 604-885-3260.
And finally, check out this website’s latest new content under “journalism” and “postcards.”
Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names wins Lieutenant Governor’s Medal and Roderick Haig-Brown Regional BC Book Prize
Date of Post: April 25, 2010
On April 6, 2010, the British Columbia Historical Federation announced that the Encyclopedia had received the 2009 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for historical writing. The award is given annually to the author (or authors) deemed by a panel of judges to have written the year’s best book on BC history.
At the BC Book Prizes Gala, held on April 24 at Government House in Victoria, the Encyclopedia won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, given annually “to the author of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia.” It was also a finalist for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, “presented to the originating publisher and author of the book with the best public appeal, initiative, design, production and content.”
The Book Prize winners are shown above. From left to right, back row: Dean Griffiths, Carrie Mac, Cathleen With. Front row: Fred Wah, Brian Brett, Lieutenant Governor Steven Point, Lorna Crozier, Andrew Scott.
For more details about the BC Historical Federation, click here. For a list of this year’s winners and finalists, click here. For detailed information about all 2010 Book Prize winners and nominees, click here.
Spring 2010 presentations planned for Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names
Date of Post: March 6, 2010
Author Andrew Scott will be giving six talks, readings and slide presentations on his latest book, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names, in the Spring of 2010. Here is the schedule:
- Tuesday, March 30, 2010. Sunshine Coast Museum, Gibsons. This event is for the Eldercollege Museum School, and registration is required. Contact Capilano University Continuing Education, Sechelt, at 604-885-9310.
- Wednesday, April 7, 2010. Port Moody Public Library, 100 Newport Drive, Port Moody. 7 pm.
- Thursday, April 8, 2010. New Westminster Public Library, 716 Sixth Avenue, New Westminster. 7 pm.
- Friday, April 9, 2010. Sunshine Coast Natural History Society monthly meeting. Sechelt Arts Centre, 5714 Medusa St, Sechelt. 7:30 pm.
- Saturday, April 17, 2010. A “chorus of coast writers,” including Andrew, will read and talk at a fundraiser for the Sechelt Arts Centre. 5714 Medusa St, Sechelt. 7 pm.
- Thursday, April 22, 2010. Chapters bookstore, 788 Robson Street, Vancouver. 3 pm.
In other news, Raincoast Place Names was proclaimed the “2009 SeaWaves Magazine Book of the Year.” SeaWaves Magazine is a North Vancouver-based internet publication: “your most complete source for naval news from around the world.” Click here for the SeaWaves website and here for the SeaWaves review of Raincoast Place Names. A brief review also appeared in the April 2010 online edition of Canadian Geographic magazine.
Victoria’s Times Colonist calls Raincoast Place Names “one of the most important books about British Columbia published this century.”
Date of Post: November 9, 2009
Wow, I’m blushing. Dave Obee’s review of The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names appeared in the November 8, 2009, issue of the Times Colonist newspaper. “Scott’s work represents a huge step forward in what we know,” he wrote. “It makes for fascinating reading, and it will be used as a key reference for years to come—if not decades.” Click here for the full text of the review.
Raincoast Place Names hits BC bestseller list
Date of Post: October 15, 2009
The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names first appeared on the BC bestseller list in October 2009 and stayed there, with a couple of exception, until mid-May (25 weeks).
- October 11 to October 24: #5
- October 25 to November 7: #7
- November 22 to December 19: #9
- December 20 to February 6, 2010: #8
- February 7 to February 20: #9
- February 21 to February 27: #10
- February 28 to March 6: #9
- March 7 to March 13: #8
- March 14 to March 27: #4
- March 28 to April 3: #6
- April 4 to April 10: #7
- May 2 to May 8: #7
- May 9 to May 15: #10
Media coverage of The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names
Date of Post: September 15, 2009
- Andrew was on CBC Radio One’s “Almanac” show (690 AM) on Friday, September 25. He also appeared on Fanny Kiefer’s “Studio 4″ (Shaw TV) on Friday, November 6.
- Reviews of Raincoast Place Names appeared in October in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach News, Comox Valley Record, Delta Optimist, Tofino Times, Campbell River Mirror, Harbour City Star, Nanaimo Daily News and Nanaimo News Bulletin.
- Alan Woodland reviewed the book in November in the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Times. November reviews also ran in RV Times and the Sechelt Coast Reporter. Additional coverage appeared in April 2010 in the Tri-City News and the New Westminster Record.
- A 25-minute interview with Andrew by Joseph Planta can now be heard online at “The Commentary.”
- Sunshine Coast poet and novelist Theresa Kishkan has reviewed Raincoast Place Names in the November 2009 issue of Pender Harbour’s Harbour Spiel. While the entire issue is downloadable in PDF, it’s rather a large file, so I’ve just linked to the Spiel homepage. The review is on pages 48 and 49.
- Dave Obee reviewed the book in the November 8, 2009, issue of the Victoria Times Colonist. See above for a link to the review. Stephanie Gould’s Vancouver Sun review appeared in the November 14 issue. Click here for the full Sun review.
Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names publicity campaign
Date of Post: September 15, 2009
Here is the publicity campaign schedule (now completed) for Andrew Scott’s latest book, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names.
- Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Sechelt book launch at the Sechelt Arts Centre. 7:30-9 pm.
- Saturday, September 26, 2009. Book signing at Bluewater Books, Madeira Park, Pender Harbour. 1 to 3 pm.
- Wednesday, October 14. Parksville. Signing at Mulberry Bush Bookstore (102-280 E Island Hwy), 11 am.
- Thursday, October 15. Nanaimo. Talk, slideshow at Nanaimo Harbourfront Library (90 Commercial St), 6:30 pm.
- Friday, October 16. Courtenay. Book signing at Blue Heron Books (1775 Comox Ave), 2 pm.
- Saturday, October 17. Campbell River. Talk & slideshow at Campbell River Museum (470 Island Hwy), 1 pm
- Sunday, October 18. Victoria. Talk & slideshow at Maritime Museum of BC (28 Bastion Square), 2 pm.
- Saturday, October 24. Vancouver. Talk & slideshow at Vancouver Maritime Museum (1905 Ogden Ave), 2 pm.
Raincoast Place Names announcement
Date of Post: July 5, 2009
Andrew Scott’s latest book, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia, will be published by Harbour in October 2009.
7 x 10, 664 pages, cloth, maps, illustrations, charts, colour photographs $49.95 October 2009
For more information, visit the Raincoast Place Names page.
The People’s Water now in print
Date of Post: April 1, 2009
Co-authors Andrew Scott and Daniel Bouman are pleased to announce the April 2009 publication of The People’s Water: The Fight for the Sunshine Coast’s Drinking Watersheds.
68 pages, full colour, maps, photographs, bibliography, $20. Published by the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association. All proceeds go the SCCA.
For more information, visit the People’s Water page.
