This has got to be the longest break in my blog in a while. Not only have I been busy here, installing new shelving, but a cable problem knocked me offline between late night Friday and early morning Sunday and, by then, I was on the road to Toronto for my launch.
Which went very well, I must say. I’d like to thank the good folks at Nicholas Hoare Booksellers for once again providing a wonderful venue, and I’d like to thank Mike Filey, whose expertise and passion made this into an extra special event. I read for about fifteen minutes from a couple of sections from The Young City, then Mike had the floor for fifteen minutes. He showed off his copy of the City of Toronto business directory, circa 1884, and he talked about the importance of remembering and preserving Toronto’s history, and how frustratingly inept we were at that. It was a speech that struck a chord with the audience, I believe. We got a number of questions relating to the history of Toronto, and then I closed the set with a brief reading from later in the book. Then it was over to the autograph table to sign copies of both our books (Mike had recently released, through Dundurn, a nice hardcover entitled Toronto: the Way We Were, which was full of pictures of old Toronto, and his insightful commentary).
I think about fifteen or sixteen people turned up, braving some bad weather and icy streets to hear us speak, and the bookstore sold a number of copies of both our books. I’d like to thank everybody who showed up to this event, especially Dusko, Martin, Cameron, Helene, Marina, Mahtab, Milton — the list goes on too long, and I apologize in advance for the people I’ve left off of it.
A number of people from Dundurn were also there, including Erin Winzer, our publicist, who was kind enough to take pictures, which I’ve enclosed below:
 | Mike Filey speaks to the audience, holding his City Directory from 1884. |
 | I sign copies of The Young City. |
 | Mike signs copies of Toronto: The Way We Were. |
 | The Signing Table |
 | The authors together. |
Now it’s over to Waterloo, this Saturday at 2 p.m.