This week, I have been tracking the writing of Jim Lotz. I started at the Halifax Public Library with a list of his books – sixteen.
Lotz went to Manchester University to study Geography. I went to Birmingham University to study Geography. He came to Canada and spent time at the McGill Subarctic Research Laboratory (MSRL) in Schefferville, PQ in the late 50s. In the early 60s, I spent two summers at MSRL, conducting fieldwork on the Canadian Shield.
Jim’s career focused on Community Development. His life is described in the memoir, “Sharing the Journey”. In 1973, Jim, Pat, and his family moved to Halifax. They lived in the South End.
After reading the memoir, I picked up The Best Journey in the World: Adventures in Canada’s High Arctic at the Endless Shores Books in Bridgetown. It describes field research work on northern Ellesmere Island
My search took me to Schooner Books, owned by John Townsend on Inglis Street in Halifax. I was looking for Pilgrim Souls.
Instead, I found the following books. J and A. Gottfred’s, The Life of David Thompson, and Thomas Merton’s Zen and the Birds of Appetite.
Besides bookstores, we have explored Halifax. From the condo on Lower Water Street, we can walk past the dockyards to Point Pleasant Park. Returning to Spring Garden Road via Young and South Park, and stopped at the Bliss Caffeine Bar. Or taking a different route, we have ended up at Sobeys on Queen Street or at the Wired Monk coffee shop.
On our visits to medical services at the hospitals, we walked through the Halifax Public Gardens. At the Bookmark, we found a new book, The Halifax Public Gardens. The Creation, destruction and restoration of North America’s Finest Victorian Public Gardens.
We will miss these ‘geographies’ when we leave the city at the end of the month, and return to rural Paradise. Fortunately, we have stored many memories of life in Halifax. Either through direct experience or through the writing of Jim Lotz, and others.
Acknowledgments
Heather has shared the journey, finding interesting walks that challenge us, both physically and mentally. Edward added the graphics. Frank Fox suggested the visit to Schooner Books.
References
Jim Lotz, 2015, Sharing the Journey, Pottersfield Press via Nimbus Publishing
Jim Lotz, 2006, The Best Journey in the World: Adventures in Canada’s High Arctic, Pottersfield Press.
Jim Lotz, 2013, Pilgrim Souls, Formac Publishing
Schooner Books 5378 Inglis Street, Halifax.
J and A. Gottfred, 2007, The Life of David Thompson, Minuteman Press.
Thomas Merton, 1968, Zen and the Birds of Appetite, New Directions.
Robert Pace, Robert Salah and Peter Twohig, 2022, The Halifax Public Gardens: The Creation, Destruction and Restoration of North America’s Finest Victorian Public Gardens, Formac Press.
Postscript
Inside the book on David Thompson, I found ‘Surveying for Settlement’, an educational brochure published by the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors
Ernest Blair Experiment 