VANCOUVER - Chuck Davis, the man who produced the definitive guide to Vancouver, along with 14 other books, has died from lung cancer at age 75.

His wife, Edna said he died early Saturday morning before 6 a.m., in an e-mail. When contacted at home, she declined to talk about her husband just yet.

"I'm just not prepared for that right now," she said.

She said the family plans to have a memorial and celebration of his life in about two months.

Tributes to the highly respected historian and author poured in Saturday, as friends called to talk about the enormous contribution he made to Vancouver.

"Chuck gave so much as a selfless civil servant. He was like a civil servant. He was gathering all this information not for his own self but for the sake of society," said Alan Twigg, publisher of BC Bookworld.

"The city had this incredible resource that he gave his life to and he did it as a self-sacrifice."

Paul Whitney, city librarian at the Vancouver Public Library, who knew Davis for several decades, said he was a well-known figure at the library who will be sadly missed by staff.

"He was just a walking encyclopedia. He was a gentle, extroverted, really friendly guy who loved libraries and he always knew everybody in the libraries and he was the ideal user because we would learn from him as well as him learning for us."

For longtime friend and civic historian John Atkin, it was Davis's unwavering passion for unearthing rare tidbits from the library archives on Vancouver's history that he will remember the most.

"You'd bump into him in the archives and he would be super exited about finding a Vancouver Board of Trade minute from the 1890s," he said.

"It was just amazing being around someone who is genuinely enthused about the city all the time. There was never really a point where he said, 'Damn, I hate Vancouver.' He genuinely got off on the city. "

Davis announced he had incurable lung cancer in September and had only weeks to live.

A self-taught intellectual, Davis was in the midst of writing The History of Metropolitan Vancouver, which he described as "a big, fact-filled and nicely readable book" on the history of Vancouver. He had also created a website of the same title that covered everything from Bowen Island east to Langley.

Apparently, he also played a mean game of Scrabble.

In October, Davis was honoured with the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes an outstanding literary career in B.C. Shortly after it was announced that he would receive the award, Davis said: "I am looking forward to this more than just about anything I can think of, past or present."

"We were so glad we got to give him the award before he died," said Whitby. "He was really touched and in terms of my memories of Chuck it'll be seeing him on that evening getting to shake his hand for one last time."

The Vancouver library had just finished putting the plaque with the award in the pavement at the north plaza on Friday.

"The hope was that he would come down and we would have a chance to bring him down with his family so he could see it."

On Saturday, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson issued a statement offering condolences to his friends and family and praised the legacy of Davis's accomplishments.

"His work as a broadcaster, educator and prolific author instilled a sense of local history and heritage in our citizens. Chuck showed why our past is so important and brought it to life in so many different ways," he said.

"His wide-eyed curiosity for all things Vancouver led to him being described as our city's 'collective memory' - and I can't think of a more apt term for him."

Not only did Davis dedicate his life to own writing, but according to his friends he spent countless hours helping others with their work.

Atkin lamented that he'll miss swapping e-mails about historical facts, sometimes as late as 2 a.m.., while another colleague Gord Lansdell, creator of Northwest Broadcasters, said they would often meet up at the library to discuss work.

"He was extremely helpful to me with my writing of radio history, and it was he who suggested I start the Vancouver Broadcasters website to help with contacts," he said.

Born in Winnipeg in 1935, Davis worked as an author, newspaper columnist, radio announcer and TV producer since getting his start at the Canadian Army radio station in West Germany after joining the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in 1953, he wrote in his official biography for the bcradiohistory.com website.

His first newspaper story - on how to construct crossword puzzles - appeared in The Vancouver Sun in 1966.

His first book, a guide to Vancouver, was published in 1973 and The Vancouver Book was published in 1976.

According to Twigg, his subsequent book The Greater Vancouver Book, published in 1997, was a financial disaster. But even that didn't stop him from taking on another massive project with The History of Metropolitan Vancouver.

"He paid a price for his altruism," said Twigg. "But what a great contribution."

Davis is survived by his wife Edna, whom he married in 1965, and their daughter Stephanie.

ticrawford@vancouversun.com

To listen to Chuck Davis talk about his life in radio, click here to go to bcradiohistory.com and follow the main link.