Signs of a new library: Trustees and an official stand in front of a sign announcing plans for a new purpose-built Cranbrook Public Library, circa 1969/70.

Cranbrook Public Library’s centennial

From a small reading room in 1906, Cranbrook rented space for its first official public library in 1925. Here we excerpt a new book about the library’s first one hundred years.

“In 1906, 100 books were deposited into a second-floor room in the Watts Block, right above Mighton’s Tobacco Store (currently Hush Home Furnishing on Baker Street). It was simply called the “Free Reading Room.” FULL STORY

Why we really eat

“Science is an art, and we are complex human beings and emotional beings. I wrote The Hunger Code to bridge… FULL STORY

Ain’t goin’ to Vietnam

“Manny Meyer, an aspiring musician whose father had a career in the military, could not see the point of the… FULL STORY

The beat of Julian Brave NoiseCat

“Marketed as genre-defying, Julian NoiseCat weaves memoir, traditional stories and reportage into an unconventional whole. I found myself reading it… FULL STORY

The cool kids

“By 1957, a Maclean’s magazine article on ‘The Scramble for the Teen-Age Dollar’ explained that retailers and advertisers were ‘out-hustling… FULL STORY

No map, just instinct

“When I am in an unusual or uncertain situation, I am supremely present. All other thoughts drop away—only the present… FULL STORY

Pipeline, goldrush and hummingbird

“But I was not prepared for what I saw. There were chain-link fences and signs that read: Any person who… FULL STORY

Hear me roar

“I believed with every fibre of my being that Medicare was a sacred trust, that we couldn’t go back to… FULL STORY

Teenage blues

“Each new generation brings fresh challenges the last one didn’t see, demanding new looks at new concerns. Cell phones, new… FULL STORY

A Faustian bargain

“One workday [Colin] meets a solitary being, ‘tall and cadaverous and dressed in a three-piece suit the colour of dried… FULL STORY

Go west young man

“[The story] is a historical artefact centred on a pivotal year in Canadian history and in a broader transformative decade,… FULL STORY

Race for the news

“[Daniel] Craig’s greatest legacy may be that he introduced journalistic standards: he wanted fact-based, objective reporting.”—reviewer, Mark Forsythe on a… FULL STORY

The light that remains

“After arriving at the airport or Greyhound terminal I would find my way to a hotel or motel room downtown… FULL STORY

The street’s music

“DeCroo’s photos have spotlit a Vancouver that’s about something more than unlimited growth and runaway commerce.”—Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight senior… FULL STORY

Salmon River Valley, 1968

“Honest in the bone, [the story] unfolds with the mastery of a wise, seasoned storyteller that your gut tells you… FULL STORY

Mothers & daughters

“People who are damaged can’t make good choices, or rarely. Crystal [the novel’s main protagonist] has passed on the damage… FULL STORY

Huckleberry pies & salmon stew

“The learning on the boat was a slow, immersive process,” says Alan Haig-Brown, adding “university was an intense rush of… FULL STORY

Grandma’s curried bologna

Mia is now in secondary school dealing with the loss of her white best friend. In the midst of balancing… FULL STORY

Beautiful “Brutish” Columbia

As industrial logging of old growth forests continues amidst protests, Christine Lowther bears witness to the blockade over thirty years… FULL STORY

Surviving Mystery Mountain

The Mundays wrote stories about their discoveries that were published across the country, setting off a national craze to conquer… FULL STORY

Beiser wins Balsillie Prize

“Veteran journalist and author Vince Beiser (left) wins the prestigious $70,000 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for his book, Power Metal.” FULL STORY