Earlier this year, former publisher-turned-author Douglas Gibson donated the rights to have his latest book GREAT SCOTS: Celebrating Canadian Writers with Links to Scotland published by the Scottish Studies Foundation to be used as a fundraiser for the Scottish Studies program at the University of Guelph. We are excited to have received the first batch of books from the printer, all of which have been carefully inscribed by Doug. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes from Doug's research and his career in publishing. It features 35 writers with links to Scotland, from Sir Alexander Mackenzie to Joseph Boyden, and is illustrated by co-author Anthony Jenkins who served as editorial cartoonist, caricaturist and writer with the Globe and Mail for four decades. To obtain your copy of this captivating new book, see information below.

"What do Alexander Mackenzie, Robert Service, and Margaret Atwood have in common with L.M. Montgomery, Mavis Gallant, and Hugh MacLennan? If you have a pretty good idea, it's probably because of the lifework of Douglas Gibson, the legendary ex-publisher who put together this celebration of Scottish Canadian writers. Yes, the above figures are all linked to both Scotland and Canada, and all have contributed to the unrivalled Scottish tradition of Canadian writing. Great Scots is at once a labour of love and a career capstone." KEN McGOOGAN, author of How the Scots Invented Canada.

"Doug Gibson takes us on a chatty and conversational ramble through Canadian history and literature, and his own successful career as a publisher, in this engaging volume that will make every Scots Canadian chest swell with pride." CHARLOTTE GRAY, author of The Promise of Canada.

Douglas Gibson proudly signing the first batch of his new book

This very personal book, often involving Canadian authors that Gibson knew well, is a lively and important one. It is striking that several of the writers featured, like Sir Alexander Mackenzie and John Galt, wrote important books set in Canada, long before Canada existed as a country. Douglas Gibson's career as a Scot — raised in Ayrshire, educated at St. Andrews,and the winner of a scholarship that brought him to Yale, then to Canada in 1967 — has led him to an astonishing 40-year career as a major Canadian Publisher and eventually a proud member of the Order of Canada.

Anthony Jenkins, born Canadian, in Toronto, served as editorial cartoonist, caricaturist and writer with The Globe and Mail for four decades, while visiting 83 countries during his leaves of absence. His distinctive style of portraiture values the beauty of the line itself, in addition to its capturing a likeness. As a result, the 35 portraits he has created to introduce each chapter of Great Scots make the book a superb collection of very memorable art.

Beautifully designed by Gibson's old friend, the legendary Kong Njo, this major book will delight readers of Canadian Literature at its best.


ORDERING INFORMATION

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