National Network for Equitable Library Service

The office of lieutenant governor has been a constant in British Columbia from the province's colonial beginnings to the modern era. Originally tasked with selecting the province's premier, giving royal assent to provincial legislation, and invested with the power to dismiss governments, the role of the Crown's representative has continually evolved to meet the needs of society. Today the office's constitutional powers largely focus on community functions, but the role of lieutenant governor is more than ceremonial.

Up until the 1930s, Refuge Cove was one of the most remote places on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Tucked into Clayoquot Sound, it sheltered boats from Pacific storms and its hot springs provided welcome relief for anyone waiting for bad weather to pass. In spite of its natural wonders, the cove was undeveloped and transiently populated. But everything changed in 1933, when supply boat operator Ivan Clarke saw a business opportunity. At the age of thirty, Clarke pre-empted land in Refuge Cove and started a general store/trading post out of a large canvas tent.

Deeply personal yet incredibly witty. This memoir about Grant Lawrence's relationship with hockey passes back and forth between tales of his life and a fascinating history of hockey, complete with lively anecdotes about the many colorful characters of the NHL. Through Lawrence's early life, he struggled with the idea of hockey. An undersized child who wore thick glasses and knee-braces, he understood what it was like to be in the attack zone of the hockey-obsessed jocks at his school. For Lawrence, bullying and the violent game of hockey seemed to go hand-in-hand.

Former RCMP Sergeant Charlie Scheideman, author of Policing the Fringe: The Curious Life of a Small-Town Mountie, is back with the same wry humour and a new collection of incredible stories drawn from his twenty-seven years of patrolling the small communities of the interior of British Columbia. These new adventures have him re-polishing his boots and relaying untold tales, such as the lone officer who takes on three legendary hard-fighting drunks—earning him the respect of the citizens of Prince George including the louts he single-handedly flattened.

For more than two decades, Hilary Peach worked as a transient welder, and one of the only women, in the Boilermakers Union. Distilled from a vast cache of journals, notes, and keen observations, Thick Skin follows Peach from the West Coast shipyards and pulp mills of British Columbia, through the Alberta tar sands and the Ontario rust belt, to the colossal power generating stations of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

The pelt of a dog named "Mutton" languished in a drawer at the Smithsonian for 150 years until it was discovered, almost accidentally, by an amateur archivist. This book tells Mutton's story and explores what it can teach us about Coast Salish Woolly Dogs and their cultural significance. Until now, there has been very little written about the enigmatic Coast Salish Woolly Dog, or sqʷmeyʔ in the Hul'q'umi'num language.

Past the End of the Road recounts a free-range adolescence in mid-century Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island, at a time when with no roads south, the town was only connected to the rest of the island by air and sea—and the Union steamship was the main mode of travel to and from the sleepy logging village. Michel Drouin's frank and humorous memoir recounts the freedom of his childhood in midcentury Port Hardy.

While studying art in London, Emily Carr seriously undermined her health and was sent to a sanatorium for a complete rest cure. Bridling at the hospital’s rules, which prohibited excitement of any kind, the always rebellious Carr proceeded to make friends, raise birds, and cause trouble. In words and enchanting sketches, Carr presents a funny, poignant account of her 18-month convalescence.

Evangelical pastor, talk-show host, politician. Pentecostal Preacher Woman explores the life of the Reverend Bernice Gerard (1923–2008), one of the most influential spiritual figures of twentieth-century British Columbia, whose complicated blend of social conservatism and social compassion has lessons for our polarized times. Coming out of a difficult childhood, Gerard was attracted to Pentecostalism's emphasis on direct personal experience of God and the use of spiritual gifts, and she became a widely travelled international evangelist.

Retired fishery officer Randy Nelson's first love was catching poachers. That obsession, plus a devious mind and enthusiasm for marathon running, spelled big trouble for law-breaking fishermen. Thirty-five years in the field (and stream) netted a gold mine of stories with hair-raising tales of grizzly bear attacks, angry axe-wielding, rock-throwing, shotgun-blasting fishermen and high-speed chases on dirt roads and through bush. Poachers, Polluters and Politics provides a rare glimpse into the lives of DFO officers and the communities in which they live.