44 — Wednesday, January 2, 1991 — North Shore News

books ‘Now!

Appreciating the early
days of British Columbia

LL BRITISH Colum-

bians owe a tremen-

dous debt to a 24-
year-old German emigrant
who arrived here in 1894.

Over the course of the next 50
years, Leonard Frank would re-
cord some 50,000 photographic
images of Canada’s most magniti-
cent province, justly earning a
reputation as one of the greatest
photographers of his time.

During that half-century, Frank
trained his camera lens on virtually
every facet of B.C., snapping im-
ages of pioneers, loggers, fish-
ermen, natives and much more. In
the process, he created an unsur-
passed visual record of British
Columbia for his own and future
generations.

Now, over 200 of those striking
duotones are available in Cyril
Leonoff’s An Enterprising Life
(Talonbooks; 176 pp.; $39.95), a
superb biography and mini-ex-
position of some of the
photographer's finest work.

An Enterprising Life is just one of
the several excellent titles released
by B.C. publishers recently, books
that enrich the present by pro-
viding us with a heightened ap-
preciation of the province’s early
‘days.

in Steel Rails and Iron Men
(Whitecap; 165 pp.; $34.95),
author Barrie Sanford has captured
the romance and danger of the
past with his lavishly illustrated
history of what is still trumpeted as
one of the most difficult rail
engineering feats in the world: the
construction of the Kettle Valley
Railway over (and through) some
of southern B.C.’s most spec-
tacular and daunting terrain.

This isn’t the first book on the
KVR to appear in this column.
Readers may remember Beth Hill’s
Exploring the Keftle Valley
Railway (Polestar; 108 pp.; $10.95)
which was favorably reviewed
here several months ago.

Where Hill's title was a great lit-
tle guide to hiking and otherwise
enjoying the now-abandoned KVR
right of way, Sanford’s Steel Rails
and iron Men paints an awe-
inspiring picture of the railway’s
creation.

Together, these two books leave
no doubi that a magnificent histor-
ical resource can and must be
preserved for posterity, a plea
eloquently and forcefully implicit
in both works.

Steel Rails and Iron Men isn't the
only new book on winter

- publishing lists with a railroading
theme: lan Baird’s Canadian
Pacific Railway Stations in Brit-

MIKE
STEELE

book review

ish Columbia (108 pp.; $16.95),
from Victoria-oased Orca Book
Publishers, casts a fond eye on the
province's rail resources with .
some 70-odd black-and-white
photographs of CP architecture.

Harbour Publishing's latest addi-
tion to B.C. lore is Helen Dawe’s
Sechelt, a history of the Sunshine
Coast community now rapidly ap-
proaching its 100th anniversary of
non-native settlement.

Dawe, descended from the first
white family of pioneers in
Sechelt, was an enthusiastic
booster and historian of the area
until her death in 1983.

Sechelt is therefore not only a
history of the community but also
a gentle testament to the efforts of
one of Sechelt’s proudest
residents.

Merritt’s Sonotek Publishing is
on a roll. Coquihalla Country is
the third title from this smail
publishing house to appear in this
column in the last year, following
Widow Smith of Spence’s
Bridge and Exploring The Nicola
Valley.

Coquihalla Country ($14.95) is a
must-have guide for hikers, anglers
and anyone else with a love for
backwoods B.C. exploration. Its
176 pages are packed with
photographs and maps of an area
blessed with an abundance of
wildlife and breathtaking scenery.

Author Murphy Shewchuk has
done an especially fine job on this
guidebook, furnishing readers with
everything from details on the
flora and fauna of the region to
accurate and weill-explained direc-
tions for hiking and cross-country
skiing opportunities.

Alas, there’s good and bad in
every publishing season and C.}.
Yorath’s Where Terranes Collide
(Orca; 231 pp.; $29.95 hard-
cover/$14.95 paperback) is an ex-
ample of both.

Dr. Yorath, a research geologist
with the Geological Survey of
Canada since 1967, had a great
idea when he tackled this expla-
nation of how massive, continental
plates have thrust untold millions
of cubic metres of rock thousands
of feet above sea level to form the
mountains of B.C. and the rest of
the western Americas. But Where

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WINTER WHITE

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Terranes Collide could as easily
have been titled Sometimes A
Great Motion.

Yorath approaches his subject
with passion, humor, undeniable
expertise and the valid belief that
this is a fascinating story which
deserves telling.

The problem is that his geologi-
cal explanations require constant
reference to some sort of visual
examples and these are notably
absent in the text.

Without such aids details merely
blur together, numbing the reader
to all sensations but one of pro-
found regret.

Coming Up

Next week we'll be looking at
the impact of greed, politica!
myopia and corporate destruction
of one of the world’s greatest and
most imperilled natural resources:
the rainforests.

Please join me for a disturbing
exploration-in-print of this con-
troversial topic in ‘‘Clear-cuts
Forever.”

around town

AROUND TOWN, the North
Shore News’ entertainment
listing, is a free service provided
for North Shore and Vancouver
cultural events. Deadline is the
Friday prior to the Wednesday
issue you request. Only written in-
formation is accepted. The News
will do its best to ensure the items
appear in the paper, but space
constraints may limit the number
of submissions printed. North
Shore events are given priority.

North shore

Presentation House Theatre: Deep
Cove Stage Society presents its annual
Christmas pantomime, Tom, The
Piper's Son. Starring Ken Turner and a
lively cast of local actors. To Jan. 5. at 8
p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee Jan. 5. -
Tickets $8/6. Available at Deep Cove
Gallery or at the door. Info: 986-1351
or 929-6764.

Elsewhere

Arts Club, Granville {sland Stage:
Fair Game. The inside story on the
perils of power. Written by North
Shore playwright Karen Wikberg and
directed by North Shore resident
Susan Astley. To Jan. 5. Showtimes:
Mon.-Tues. 8 p.m.; Wed.-Fri. 8:30

a

‘NEWS photo Nell Lucente

SUDASI GARDNER hangs her hand-painted quilt at the North
Shore Arts Commission office. Sudasi and over 60 emerging
and established painters, sculptors, architects and designers
have transformed Lower Lonsdale store fronts for First Night
Art Walk:30 Window Views. North Vancouver's first annua! art
walk, a discovery tour of the visual arts, ends Jan. 5. Phone

980-3559 for information.

p.m.; Sat. 6&9:30 p.m.; Wed. 2/15
p.m. matinee.

Speed-The-Plow by David Mamet, star-
ting Jay Brazeau. Opens fan. 18.
Revue Stage, Granville tsland: David
King’s zany musical, Maniac Bride. The
Matrimonial Musical. Through January.
Mon.-Tues. 8 p.m.; Wed.- Frit. 8:30
p.m.; Sat. 6 and 9 p.m.; Wed. 2/1 mat-
inee 5 p.m. Info: 687-1644.

Seymour Street Stage: The Necessary
Steps, By Morris Panych. An absurd _
love story about two people trying to
find truth and happiness in a senseless
world. Opens jan. 11 (Previews Jan.5).
Showtime: Mon-Tues., 8 p.m.; Wed-
Fri., 8:30 p.m.; Sat., 6 and 9 p.m.

— Monday performances at all Arts
Club theatres now 2/1.

Vancouver Playhouse: Michel
Tremblay's Hosanna. The Man Who
Would be Queen of the Nile, starring
John Moffat. Jan. 2-26 at 8 p.m. Tickets:
873-3311. .

The Metropolitan Cooperative
Theatre Society: Goldilocks and the
Three Bears, A Christmas plantomime.
Jan. 3-5 at 7 p.m. Tickets: 266-7191.

Back Alley Theatre, 751 Thurlow:
Comedy and improv. Mon. and Thurs.
8 p.m.; Fri. 8 and 11 p.m.; Sat. 7, 9 and
li p.m. Res: 688-7013.

North Shore
Centennial Theatze: Italy in Canada

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