A Day in St Andrews

The Old Courthouse, St Andrews, New Brunswick

I made a whirlwind road trip to St. Andrews, New Brunswick, where we held a very successful launch for our new book St. Andrews Architecture. I left the Annapolis Valley at dawn on Friday loaded with as many books as we’d been able to finish on Thursday. I drove my pick-up in a long arch around the Bay of Fundy, making numerous quick stops along the way to visit writers, artists and family. I ended up in St. Andrews around 9:30 that evening. Where I ended up, to be exact, was the terrace of the storied Algonquin Hotel, sitting in the cool salt-sea air with a glass of scotch in my hand, in the company of a couple of New Brunswick’s most creative minds, toasting the success of their book.


Thaddeus Holownia and John Leroux in the dock. The charge: attentive engagement with their community and their respective art forms. The verdict: Guilty!

The launch on Saturday was a great success. Hosted by the The Nature Trust of New Brunswick, the event was held at the Old Courthouse on Fredrick Street. It seemed like half the town showed up. John and Thaddeus both spoke well, John being emotionally overwhelmed at a few points as he spoke about the town, its people and its astonishing buildings. When I saw that people were buying books by the fist-full I realized that the 170 or so books I’d delivered would certainly sell out – and they did. The event ended with Thaddeus making a group photograph using his old-timey view camera.


Thaddeus Holownia makes a group portrait with his large format veiw camera

I had an excellent time. It’s always gratifying to see many months of hard work come to such a successful result and authors and artists being celebrated by their community. But I was anxious to get back to my lumber pile at home and to the stacks of books yet to complete in the printshop.

ANDREW STEEVES ¶ PRINTER & PUBLISHER