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Saying goodbye to Chapters in downtown Montreal



So here, in a single image, is what we're losing. OK, fair enough: here is what, as a Canadian writer, I'm losing. Sheena took this shot of Our Hero at Chapters in downtown Montreal last November. Faithful readers will recall the VIA-Rail, Cross-Canada, Ocean-to-Ocean, Book-Tour Extravaganza? Montreal provided highlights, notably a fantastic
books-and-breakfast event organized by Paragraphe bookstore, the best in the city, and one of the best in the entire country. But also I signed books at Indigo and here at Chapters, on Ste. Catherine Street at Stanley. Now we learn (see link below) that this 35,000 square-foot store will close on October 4. And about that I feel sad. Obviously, if this had happened last year, I would have signed (and sold) none of the books pictured here. But also: check out the second photo. I apologize for not recalling the name of this Chapters staffer. But I tell you this: he was wonderful. He raced around the store collecting copies of 50 Canadians, and piled them neatly,  and provided a pen . . . all with enthusiasm and great good cheer. For me, he provided a classic bricks-and-mortar moment.  Some people knock the chains. But I, for one, feel sorry to say goodbye to this particular Chapters.
Ken McGoogan
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Before turning mainly to books about arctic exploration and Canadian history, Ken McGoogan worked for two decades as a journalist at major dailies in Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal. He teaches creative nonfiction writing through the University of Toronto and in the MFA program at King’s College in Halifax. Ken served as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, has written recently for Canada’s History, Canadian Geographic, and Maclean’s, and sails with Adventure Canada as a resource historian. Based in Toronto, he has given talks and presentations across Canada, from Dawson City to Dartmouth, and in places as different as Edinburgh, Melbourne, and Hobart.