From bench to busking, No Judgment and other Busking Stories (Caitlin Press $24) follows former criminal lawyer and BC provincial court judge Philip Seagram as he leaves his career and busks his way across Canada. Seagram decided it was time for a life change when he realized he had been so consumed by work that he had been unaware of his son’s university graduation. In 2022, after several years of internal turmoil that mirrored the chaos of the country, Covid, heat domes, fires and floods, Seagram headed out for an eight-week adventure that took him across the country. He visited major cities, busking on sidewalks, connecting with strangers through music and documenting his experiences.

In addition to being a lawyer and judge, Philip Seagram has lived and worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the Okanagan/Similkameen and the West Kootenay. Now a late-blooming singer-songwriter, writer and cross-country ski instructor, he lives with his wife, two horses, a dog and a cat on a small acreage near Nelson.

BOOKS

No Judgment and other Busking Stories(Caitlin Press, 2025) $24 9781773861616

[BCBW 2025]