Vancouver, March 17, 2008 - The ABPBC is pleased to recognize The Heritage Group with the 2008 Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award for bringing together a group of companies to create a unique enterprise that publishes regionally strong, wonderfully eclectic titles; maximizes their niche market potential with a strong distribution system and an acute eye for the details of business; and a strong commitment to the community of publishers in BC and Canada.

Rodger and Pat Touchie were not unknown to the publishing industry when they purchased Heritage House Publishing from Art Downs in 1995. Rodger was a published author and Pat was Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Self-Counsel Press and an equity partner in their US division. What the industry didn't realize then was that this dynamic couple would not simply build on the character and success of Heritage House Publishing to create a viable regional publishing enterprise, but that this enterprise would evolve by 2002 into a group of affiliated companies each with its own editorial niche enhanced by a creative joint marketing and distribution program. The Heritage Group now consists of Heritage House Publishing with Rodger at its helm; Touchwood Editions, (formerly known as Horsdal & Schubart) and its new subsidiary Brindle & Glass led by Pat Touchie and Associate Publisher, Ruth Linka while Rocky Mountain Books, located in Surrey and Calgary has Don Gorman as its publisher.

While the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award goes to The Heritage Group, it is important to recognize the company's beginnings with Art Downs who, a writer himself, was utterly committed to providing local authors with an opportunity to tell BC stories. He was gruff and outspoken, shy and unpretentious but contributed enormously to our understanding of our province. Rodger Touchie remembers the negotiations that led to their taking over ownership of the company: "Fittingly for an old Cariboo writer there was some dickerin' and horse trading,"; he says. "Art could put a burr under your saddle but he wanted to hand the reins to someone he trusted and we established a mutual respect pretty darn quick. Like Gray Campbell and Jim Douglas he was one of our industry elders and I think he would be very proud of this award.";

The Touchies' keen eye for niche markets have created lists of award-winning new titles, re-releases of BC classics, fresh views on Canadian figures, art books and a mysteries series. With more emphasis on book design and contemporary subjects along with the old, the Touchies have revived a moribund company, and in fact, have made it a thriving business enterprise. Along the way they have also made a huge commitment to the publishing community. Rodger was president of the ABPBC as we negotiated the crucially important Book Publishers Tax Credit and currently is Vice President of the Association of Canadian Publishers. In recent years Pat has sat on the ABPBC board and Professional Writing Advisory Council at the University of Victoria. Their enthusiasm and plain good sense have contributed significantly to the success of these organizations.

For all of these reasons, the ABPBC is pleased to present The Heritage Group with an award that acknowledges an active book publishing company that has, in recent times, earned the respect and applause of the community of publishers for a specific publishing project, an extraordinary contribution to the BC publishing community, and/or its extended commitment to excellence in publishing.

The Jim Douglas Award was established in the name of the founder, in 1970, of J.J. Douglas, which later became Douglas & McIntyre, now the largest English-language publishing company outside Ontario. As a publisher, Jim Douglas' company represented editorial excellence, marketing savvy, and confidence that regionally developed titles had a place in the international market. With a philosophy to publish for backlist, he developed a strong regional, national, and international list that included many important First Nations titles, guidebooks and histories and which later also included educational titles. The combination of business acumen and passion for the making and selling of books has inspired many publishers who followed him. Jim Douglas will present The Heritage Group with their award at a dinner in their honour March 20th, 2008. The Gray Campbell Award for Distinguished Service will be presented to Dr. Rowland Lorimer of SFU's Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing at the same event.