RETIRING ONE MINUTE, HEADING A NEW COMPANY A SECOND LATER -
THE LAST HOUR OF A TEACHING CAREER, WITH SON, A SCHOOL TOUR, AND A FEW TEARS OF FAREWELL
ANDREW WAS ONLY TWO AND A HALF MONTHS OLD, WHEN I TOOK OVER AS MR. MOM; SUZANNE HEADING OFF TO SCHOOL THAT MORNING IN SEPTEMBER, LOOKING BACK FREQUENTLY, AS SHE SLOWLY, AND I SUPPOSE REGRETFULLY, WALKED UP TANBARK HILL, IN BRACEBRIDGE, WORRIED HER HUSBAND WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE RESPONSIBILITY. TWENTY MINUTES AFTER SHE LEFT ME IN CHARGE, ANDREW BEGAN TO CHOKE ON HIS FORMULA, AND MY GOD, I WAS OUT OF MY MIND WITH FRIGHT. IN BETWEEN THE SELF DOUBT AND THE EMERGENCY SITUATION, I MANAGED TO CLEAR HIS AIRWAY, AND THE CRISIS HAD BEEN AVERTED. THERE WERE MANY MORE TO COME. I WASN'T THE IDEAL CANDIDATE TO BE A "MR. MOM," BECAUSE OF MY HARD-LIVING REPUTATION, AND TO SOME DEGREE, TRADITION. I DRANK TOO MUCH, HATED MY JOB, SO I DRANK MORE TO COMPENSATE. HERE I WAS THEN, SPENDING MY DAYTIME HOURS WITH THIS LITTLE FELLOW, WHO WE CALLED BOOGEN…..BUT WE HAVE NO IDEA WHY! IT JUST FIT. NOW I JUST CALL HIM BOOG, AT THE STORE, AND HE ALWAYS ANSWERS. I WORKED THE SAME WAY WITH SECOND SON, ROBERT, ALTHOUGH THIS TIME SUZANNE TOOK A FULL YEAR OFF. I HAVE ALWAYS FELT SHE WAS SHORT-CHANGED THE BOYS' EARLY YEARS. IT WAS JUST EASIER FOR ME TO WORK AS A MUSEUM MANAGER, ANTIQUE DEALER AND WRITER, FROM HOME BASE……AND WE NEEDED THE INCOME. SO WE WERE LIVING LIKE A MAJORITY OF OTHER CANADIANS. PAY CHEQUE TO PAY CHEQUE. WE DIDN'T LIVE A GLAMOROUS LIFESTYLE, BUT WE ENJOYED EACH OTHER'S COMPANY. WE ARE A CLOSE FAMILY, AT HOME, AND IN BUSINESS. WE STILL LIVE SALE TO SALE, CONTRACT TO CONTRACT, BUT GENERALLY, FOR SOME OF THE NON-TRADITIONAL METHODS WE HAD TO EMPLOY, TO GET FROM HERE TO THERE, THINGS HAVE WORKED OUT PRETTY WELL. NOW SUZANNE WILL GET A DAILY CHANCE TO BE WITH HER SONS A LITTLE LATER IN LIFE, TO ENJOY THIS SIDE OF THE FAMILY EXPERIENCE. WHAT SHE MISSED DURING THE DAY-TIME, OF THEIR CHILDHOOD, SHE'S GOING TO GET IN A MORE MATURE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WEE LADS……WHO STILL HAVE THE OCCASIONAL TANTRUM….LIKE DAD.
ANDREW SPENT THE LAST HOUR OF THE LAST DAY WITH HIS MOM, AT SCHOOL, AND TOGETHER THEY WALKED THE HALLS AND VISITED THE CLASSROOMS THEY USED TO OCCUPY, ONE AS A TEACHER, THE OTHER AS THE DUTIFUL STUDENT. THEY WENT TO SEE THE STAGE IN THE CAFETERIA WHERE THEY USED TO PERFORM….MOM AS A CONCERT SUPERVISOR, ANDREW AND ROBERT PLAYING WITH THEIR BAND CHUMS, FOR EVENING COFFEE HOUSES AND BATTLES OF THE BANDS. THEIR MUSIC CAREERS BEGAN IN EARNEST, AT GRAVENHURST PUBLIC SCHOOL. ROBERT EVEN WON THE GORDON SLOAN MUSIC AWARD WHICH WAS A TREMENDOUS HONOR….KNOWING THE REPUTATION OF THIS TALENTED CITIZEN, WELL ENTRENCHED IN TOWN HISTORY. ANDREW AND SUZANNE DAWDLED HERE AND THERE, AND TALKED TO SOME TEACHER ASSOCIATES, AND STAFF FRIENDS, MAKING THEIR WAY SLOWLY BACK TO THE LIBRARY, WHERE SHE FOUND HER SANCTUARY……SURROUNDED BY BOOKS AND THOSE STUDENTS WHO LOVED TO READ. IT WAS HOLLOW TODAY, EXCEPT FOR SUZANNE AND ANDREW, BOTH RELUCTANT TO TURN OUT THAT DOOR, FOR THE LAST TIME, THEN HAVING TO TURN IN THE KEYS TO THE OFFICE. WHEN IT CAME TIME TO SWITCH-OFF THE LIGHTS, AND CARRY-ON DOWN THE HALL, I AM SURE SHE WAS COUNTING THE FOOTFALL, MEASURING WHAT SHE HAD TAKEN FOR GRANTED, AS THE ENTRY AND THEN EXIT, OF EACH DAY, OF EVERY WEEK, EACH SEMESTER, NEVER THINKING ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE, ON AN AFTERNOON LIKE THIS……WHEN THESE STEPS WERE ONE WAY ONLY.
ANDREW ARRIVED IN THE SHOP, CARRYING A THRIVING TOMATO PLANT, GIVEN TO HIS MOTHER AS A KIND, PARTING GIFT, BY A TEACHER COLLEAGUE. SUZANNE CAME INTO THE ROOM A FEW MOMENTS LATER, HOLDING TWO BAGS OF HER CREATURE COMFORTS SHE KEPT ON HER LIBRARY DESK, WITH A SMILE I HAVE SEEN MANY TIMES, IN OUR MARRIED LIFE…… THAT COULD NEVER QUITE MASK THE SADNESS BENEATH; AND SOON THE SMILE COLLAPSED INTO A GENTLE, QUIET SOBBING, NOT JUST ABOUT LEAVING THE TEACHING PROFESSION…..BUT THAT A PART OF HER LIFE, AND OUR LIVES, HAS SO ABRUPTLY BECOME AN IMPRINT OF FAMILY HISTORY…..WHEREAS, IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN A WORK IN PROGRESS. I FEEL BAD FOR SUZANNE, BECAUSE I KNOW HOW MISERABLE I WAS, AFTER LEAVING THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY. IT TOOK A LONG TIME TO ADJUST, AND SUZANNE KNOWS BETTER. I NEVER FULLY ADJUSTED. AS SHE LOVED HER JOB, HER COLLEAGUES AND STUDENTS, FOR THE PAST 31 YEARS, THIS IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH ONE TO GET PAST…..BUT IT'S WHY WE HAVE INITIATED HER OWN BUSINESS…….TO RUN SIDE BY SIDE HER BOYS' BUSINESSES, ONLY A BLOCK FROM THE SCHOOL…..WHERE I'M SURE SHE WILL WIND UP, AT LUNCHES IN THE FUTURE…..TO WIND-DOWN, ON HER TERMS, FROM A LIFE LIVED FULLY AS AN EDUCATOR.
I HAVE LIVED THE LIFE OF A TEACHER'S SPOUSE. IT HAS BEEN A PRIVILEGED EXISTENCE IN MANY WAYS, BUT IN MANY OTHERS, IT HAS BEEN A BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY THAT SHE HAS BROUGHT HOME, EVERY DAY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP……..AND LAMENTED ABOUT CONSTANTLY, THROUGH OUR OFF-TIME TOGETHER. SHE HAS WORRIED ABOUT A LOT OF STUDENTS, OVER THE YEARS, AND SPENT A LOT OF PERSONAL TIME, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WAYS TO HELP THEM DEAL WITH PERSONAL CRISIS. IT'S NOT PART OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION, YET IT IS ANYWAY. JUST ASK A TEACHER WHETHER THEY CAN LEAVE THEIR JOB AT THE SCHOOL, WHEN THEY GO HOME AT NIGHT. FOR SUZANNE, SHE THRIVED ON HELPING AT-RISK KIDS, GET AN EVEN BREAK, AND THAT INCLUDED GIVING HER LUNCH AWAY, TO KIDS THAT DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING IN THEIR LUNCH BAGS. BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE LUNCH BAGS IN THE FIRST PLACE, OR MONEY TO BUY ANYTHING AT THE CAFETERIA. SHE NEVER SAID MUCH ABOUT THIS, BUT SHE'D BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS. SHE USED TO TUCK A FEW EXTRA PORTIONS IN HER LUNCH, LIKE BANANAS, THINKING ONE OF HER STUDENTS MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD BREAKFAST THAT DAY. SUZANNE WASN'T EXCEPTIONAL. SHE WAS A CARING TEACHER, AS SHE HAD BEEN MENTORED BY CARING TEACHERS WHEN SHE WAS STARTING OUT. YOU FOLLOWED PROTOCOL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND THEN YOU FOLLOWED YOUR INSTINCTS……ABOUT WHEN TO INTERVENE, TO STAVE OFF CRISIS. SUZANNE KNEW HOW AND WHEN TO REACT, BUT NOT BECAUSE THE HANDBOOK TOLD HER HOW TO PROCEED.
I CAN'T TELL YOU, HOW MANY TIMES, WE ARE STOPPED IN GROCERY STORES, SHOPPING MALLS, WALKING ON THE MAIN STREET, OR IN A PARK, BY FORMER STUDENTS, WISHING TO TALK WITH MY WIFE ABOUT WHAT SHE MEANT TO THEM…..BACK IN SCHOOL DAYS. SHE NEVER BRUSHES THEM OFF, AND IT'S KIND OF FUNNY TO WATCH THE HUGE, HULKING LADS, BLUSHING AS THEY GREET HER, "HELLO MRS. CURRIE, IT'S ME BILLY…..REMEMBER ME?" SHE REMEMBERS EVERYONE. SUZANNE HAD GREAT AFFECTION, AS A TEACHER, FOR PRINCIPAL JACK PUNTIS, WHO HAD THE AMAZING ABILITY TO MEMORIZE THE NAMES OF HIS STUDENTS……WHICH AT BRACEBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL REPRESENTED ABOUT 900. SO SHE ADOPTED THE SAME ATTITUDE…..THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR HER STUDENTS……AND SHE MEMORIZED THEIR NAMES. AS THE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN, IT COULD BE UPWARDS OF 400 STUDENTS. THEY LIKED THE FACT SHE TOOK AN INTEREST IN THEM, AND WAS SO RESPECTFUL, SHE ALWAYS CALLED THEM BY THEIR FIRST NAMES.
WE HAD A NICE DINNER OUT THIS EVENING, AND REMINISCED ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS……RELATED TO TEACHING AND FAMILY REARING. WE BOTH AGREED IT HAS BEEN AN AMAZING ADVENTURE FOR ALL OF US……AND THAT WE WOULD NEVER FORGET THE INFLUENCES SUZANNE'S TEACHING CAREER, HAD ON ALL OF US, FOR SO LONG. NOW SHE'S GOT A BUSINESS TO RUN…..AND A FAMILY TO ENJOY…..AND A HUSBAND TO SEND ON ERRANDS.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING THIS BLOG TODAY…….WHICH IS ADMITTEDLY A LITTLE ON THE MELANCHOLY SIDE. SHE'S MAKING THE COOKIE DOUGH FOR FRIDAY BAKING, WHICH OF COURSE, PROVIDES THE DESERT FOR OUR REGULARS, AND FRED SCHULZ, ON SATURDAYS.
BOOKSELLERS HAVE BEEN ALLIES FOR HISTORIANS AND AUTHORS SINCE THE BEGINNING
THE TOM THOMSON MYSTERY COMES TO A THE NEIGHBORHOOD OLD BOOK DEALER
IN 2013 IT'S INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO FIND A CANADIAN ARTIST HISTORIAN / BIOGRAPHER, OR COLD-CASE SLEUTH, WHO HASN'T ADOPTED THE "MURDER" EXPLANATION, FOR THE DEATH OF LANDSCAPE ARTIST, TOM THOMSON, IN ALGONQUIN PARK'S CANOE LAKE, IN JULY OF 1917. FROM 1917, ON TO THE LATE 1990'S, MOST RESEARCHERS BELIEVED IN WHAT THE CHIEF CORONER HAD RULED, THAT JULY EVENING AT CANOE LAKE. THOMSON DIED THE RESULT OF ACCIDENTAL DROWNING, WHILE TRAVERSING CANOE LAKE FROM WHERE HE HAD BEEN LODGING, IN THE TINY INHABITATION KNOWN AS MOWAT, SPECIFICALLY AT SHANNON FRASER'S MOWAT LODGE. CERTAINLY INTO THE LATE 1990'S, THOSE BELIEVING HIS DEATH WAS THE RESULT OF FOUL PLAY, WERE SERIOUSLY OUT-NUMBERED BY THOSE WHO FELT THE ARTIST HAD PROBABLY BEEN PEEING OVER THE SIDE OF THE CANOE, (AFTER TOO MUCH BOOZE) AND SIMPLY TOPPLED INTO THE WATER……HITTING HIS HEAD ON THE GUNNEL, ON THE WAY DOWN. THUS, BEING KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS, HE HAD NO WAY OF SWIMMING OUT OF THE JAWS OF FATE.
TODAY, THERE ARE FAR MORE HISTORIANS AND RESEARCHERS, CONNECTED WITH THE THOMSON STORY, WHO ARE OF THE OPPOSITE OPINION. THE LATEST BOOKS OUT, AND ARTICLES ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING HIS DEATH, POINT TO FOUL PLAY AS THE ONLY REASON, THE TALENTED ARTIST DIDN'T LIVE ON, TO PAINT MANY MORE AMAZING LANDSCAPES. YET EVEN AS THE INQUEST WAS BEING HELD, MINUS THE BODY (THOMSON HAD ALREADY BEEN BURIED BEFORE THE CORONER COULD ARRIVE FROM NORTH BAY), THERE WERE REPORTEDLY MANY IN ATTENDANCE, WHO DID NOT AGREE WITH THE OFFICIAL FINDING. THEY KNEW THOMSON AS A MORE COLORFUL, AGGRESSIVE PERSON, AND RECOGNIZED HE HAD ADVERSARIES IN THE CANOE LAKE COMMUNITY. FOR WHATEVER REASON, AND IT WAS PROBABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SMALL-COMMUNITY LOYALTIES, THE CORONER, DR. RAINEY, DIDN'T RECEIVE ONE RESPONSE WHEN HE ASKED IF ANY ONE IN THAT ROOM, HAD REASON TO CONTRADICT THE FINDINGS, AND THE THEORY OF ACCIDENTAL DROWNING. SO WHILE THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS, ONLY DAYS AFTER HIS DEATH, THAT THOMSON HAD BEEN MURDERED, IT WOULD BE ALMOST A DECADE BEFORE ANY OF THESE CONCERNS WERE EXPRESSED, TO SOMEONE WHO COULD TAKE IT FURTHER THAN GENERAL CONVERSATION.
WHILE WORKING ON A BIOGRAPHY OF THOMSON, WELL KNOWN CANADIAN WRITER AND RESEARCHER, BLODWEN DAVIES, BEGAN FINDING SOME DISCREPANCY IN THE STORY OF THOMSON'S FINAL HOURS. IT ACTUALLY BECAME SO GLARING, THAT THE THOUGHT PROBABLY CROSSED HER MIND, ABOUT WHY THESE RESIDENTS AND FORMER ASSOCIATES HAD NOT RAISED THE CONCERN TO THE CORONER, WHEN THEY HAD THE CHANCE. WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE PROTECTING? KEEP IN MIND, MANY IN THAT ROOM WERE CONSIDERED THOMSON'S FRIENDS. IT IS REPORTED THEY WERE MUMBLING ABOUT MURDER AMONGST THEMSELVES, MINUTES AFTER THE CORONER ENDED THE INQUEST.
DAVIES WAS SO DISTURBED BY WHAT SHE WAS HEARING, THAT SHE GATHERED UP THE CONTENT OF THE STORIES, AND APPROACHED THE ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE, ASKING THEM TO RE-OPEN THE COLD CASE. AFTER A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION, THE MATTER WAS RULED A NON-STARTER. NOT FOR DAVIES, BUT AS FAR AS THE OFFICIAL PROVINCIAL STAND…..IT WAS GOING TO REMAIN AS ACCIDENTAL DROWNING. SHE WAS PRETTY MUCH AWARE THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ROAD BLOCKS BEING ERECTED TO STOP THIS FROM GAINING MOMENTUM. THIS HAS BEEN A CONTINUING ISSUE IN THE INVESTIGATION OF JUST HOW TOM THOMSON DIED. IT IS KNOWN THERE WERE HIGH RANKING PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS WHO REFUSED OUTRIGHTLY TO RE-OPEN THE CASE, EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS COMPELLING EVIDENCE OF MURDER. BUT HERE IS WHERE A BOOKSELLER ENTERS THE HISTORY BOOKS, ON THE THOMSON FILE.
DORA HOOD MEETS AUTHOR BLODWEN DAVIES
"Fame came, as everyone knows, to Sir Fredrick Banting, at a very young age," wrote Toronto Bookseller, Dora Hood, in her 1958 biography, "The Side Door - Twenty-six Years In My Book Room," published by the Ryerson Press. "With the perfecting of the discovery of insulin by him, in association with Dr. C.H. Best, he emerged from the sheltered life of the laboratory into the turmoil of publicity. When I met him this phase, so overwhelming to one of his nature, had passed and he, through his new friends, the artists of the Group of Seven had discovered another talent. He reveled in his ability to paint the wild scenery of Northern Ontario and Quebec and this led him to begin his collection of books on exploration. I believe he was happier then than at any time in his short life." (Banting was more than a proficient painter, and his works today sell for many thousands of dollars, at fine art auctions in Canada)
She notes that, "Among the friends who influenced his taste was Miss Blodwen Davies. At that time, about the early 1930's, she had won a reputation as a writer collecting material for a life of Tom Thomson, the artist who had lately met a tragic end in the northern woods. Many years after Miss Davies told me Banting had helped her theory of how Thomson met his death. Together these two interesting persons visited the Book Room. They generally came in the evening when they had plenty of time to examine the bookshelves. His taste for first editions of fur trader journals, such as Hearne was expensive, but he wisely did not deny himself this extravagance.
"He had an ambition to study and perhaps later write a paper on Indian medicine and remedies. I doubt, however, that he ever got beyond the desire. Miss Davies' interest in artists and local history led her to other shelves and between these two brilliant personalities I was kept on my toes and enjoyed my evenings. Once Banting asked me to see his collection and to give him some advice as to how he should proceed. We spent an interesting hour in his studio-study-library, and alas, that was the last time we were to meet. With the breakup of his first marriage and his home life, he ceased to collect Canadiana. Had he lived through the war I feel sure he would have returned to the interests of this happy period of his life. Dr. Lloyd Stevenson, in his biography of Banting, refers to his visits to the Book Room. Thus is this small business immortalized."
It is more than just an old rumor that Blodwen Davies was part of the marital issues at this time.
The theory that Blodwen Davies and Dr. Banting had been examining, in regards to Thomson, was that he had most likely met with foul play, and that accidental drowning could not explain all the circumstances of his mysterious disappearance at mid-day on a calm lake, on a waterway he had traversed many hundreds of times. In later years, Judge William Little would use her theory, in the 1950's, and arrange an informal (without proper permission from the Park Authority) exhumation of the allegedly empty Mowat gravesite. It has been documented that Thomson's body had been moved from the Mowat plot, to a family gravesite in Leith, Ontario, as arranged by his brother George Thomson, and Tom's girlfriend, Winnie Trainer of Huntsville. Judge Little, of course, found that the empty grave was still occupied. There were skeletal remains found in what appeared to be the same coffin that had been afforded Thomson in July 1917. The name plate hadn't been inscribed, due to the fact the funeral had occurred quickly because of the decomposition of the body. An undertaker, by the name of Churchill, had been hired to move the body, but there have been many doubts about what was in the metal shipping casket, taken from Canoe Lake by train. Most likely enough Algonquin soil to make it seem a body was inside. In the early 1970's, Judge Little wrote the book, "The Tom Thomson Mystery," based in part of the suspicions raised initially by Davies, and Banting in the 1930's. A CBC documentary was aired on the allegations made by Judge Little, and once again, Blodwen Davies was mentioned in the film, as one who had suspicions Thomson had been murdered.
Ever more books are written about Thomson and his demise, and most theories today, shine an adverse light on Mowat hotelier, Shannon Fraser, as being the one most likely to have killed Thomson. It is believed that a drunken fight broke out between the two men, at the Mowat Lodge, over an outstanding amount of money owing to Thomson, and the bigger man, Fraser, had knocked the artist to the floor, where he hit his head on a fire grate……knocking him unconscious. There is a scenario discussed amongst Thomson historians, that Fraser and his wife loaded Thomson's body in a canoe, towed it with a rowboat out into Canoe Lake after midnight, and dumped the body and set the canoe adrift. It is also suggested they had lashed a weight to his legs with fishing line, but the action of the waves on the rocks below, severed the body from the anchor. The bottom line. It's much easier to put forward the "murder" theory today, than it was in Blodwen Davies' day, when she was scorned for suggesting it, and the same held, much later for Judge Little…..yet both books today still serve as reference for a host of Thomson books.
The author of the bookseller's biography, Dora Hood, wrote, "Occasionally during my busy years in the Book Room I thought it might be worthwhile to record my experiences. But beyond keeping a brief diary for a few months of the requests of my callers, I made no effort. Two years after I retired, Mr. Stewart Wallace, who succeeded me in the business, suggested that I write a book on the subject of buying and selling Canadian books. By then I had begun to miss the stimulation and excitement of my book work and decided to try my hand at authorship. I had my letter files, and many of my old customers were still coming into the Book Room or buying by mail from the catalogues, and it was therefore not difficult to recall incidents of my former occupations. As more than one third of my life had been devoted to books and collectors it was chiefly a matter of selection, which proved quite a formidable task. Many of my collectors came to have a talk (while in Montreal) and I thoroughly enjoyed it, for I am convinced, that by and large, book collectors are among the most delightful people one can meet."
She writes, "My decision to retire came about as swiftly and easily as had my determination to be a bookseller. I was seated as usual at the large table in my office surrounded by piles of books, and was about to take up my pencil to trace the words 'Catolgue 47,' when suddenly the thought came, 'You've done this long enough. Why not do something else in what remains of your life?' The business was still flourishing, and until that moment I was conducting it with as much interest and vigor as I had from the beginning, but the incentive was now lacking. My two children were married, and I began to realize that I must seek companionship outside my house and work. I was anxious, too, to give more time to the work for the deaf. I had been partially deaf myself for many years and was intensely interested in what is now known as the Canadian Hearing Society, and had been a member of the board for some time. On my retirement I was able to act for three years as President of the Toronto Women's Auxiliary of this society.
"As I looked back over the years, I knew how fortunate I had been. Although not endowed with unlimited strength, my health had been remarkably good. I had not made a fortune but I had been free from financial crises and had no bad debts, which speaks well for book buyers as a class. i had customers all over the free world who honored me with their business and those whom I met in my office were highly intelligent and nearly all of them friendly. But like the 'folios and quartos,' there seemed no rest for the bookseller as long as his door remained open and his telephone connected."
She notes in conclusion, "All beginnings must have endings. But it seemed unthinkable and above impossible simply to bring the business to an end. I began to look for a successor. Once again, with very little effort on my part, events were favorable, and I was able to pass the business on to the one person I knew who would more than do it justice. The name has been carried on and the quarters remain the same. An old customer returning would scarcely notice any change except that now a well known and scholarly man sits at the office table. Dr. Stewart Wallace, on his retirement in 1954, after thirty years of distinguished work as Librarian of the University of Toronto, has become owner and proprietor of the Book Room."
"Never again shall I feel as pleasant a glow of accomplishment as I did in bygone years on reading such letters as - 'Dear Mrs. Hood: Last night I spent a very pleasant hour perusing your fine catalogue. I have all your catalogues and treasure them as the most important series of Canadiana offering that have been issued. I would like to purchase any of the following that are still unsold…..yours sincerely, F.C.K."
You can search for this book, by visiting the Advanced Book Exchange collective of old book dealers, and typing in the author and title. Suzanne and I buy books from the ABE with confidence, so I can heartily recommend their wonderful service to bibliophiles around the world.
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