Thanks to B.C. BookWorld for being the first media outlet to take my book seriously. Everyone told me there was no way I could sell a book about Peace River libraries; I'm happy to report otherwise. This spring my son and I landed at Grande Prairie, rented a car and went on a tour to visit public libraries and sell Book Guy: A Librarian in the Peace. It was awesome. I spoke eight times in four days. A CBC Daybreak North interview caught me in pajamas at 06:41 in the home of a library supporter in Dawson Creek. The mayor gave us a book and we made the front page of the Alaska Highway News ("Book Guy Returns";). We also had radio and TV interviews at Dawson Creek and Chetwynd, apple strudel at Tomslake, and by Fort St. John, we ran out of books. At Hudson's Hope, 15 people signed up and paid for books I promised to send later. Best of all I got a thrill of happiness meeting men and women I hadn't seen for some 30 or 40 years since I provided the mobile library service. The Peace River people have changed over the years, but their hearts have not.
I salute them.
Howard Overend
Salmon Arm
[BCBW AUTUMN 2002]