A few photographs of the John Glassco Soirée, held late last month at the
Writers' Chapel of Montreal's
St James the Apostle Anglican Church. All images and captions come courtesy of the fine folks at
the Argo Bookshop, sponsors of the event.
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| Reverend Robert Camara started us off with a few opening remarks. |
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Michael Gnarowski, a good friend of John Glassco, followed Robert Camara with anecdotes about his old friend. A personal favourite was the recipe for one of Glassco's favoured summer drinks, the 'Glassco special':
1 part gin
1 part sparkling water
1 part orange juice
& sugar to taste |
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| Judy Nesbitt spoke as a direct bloodline connection to Glassco. Before she spoke at the event about her Uncle Buffy, at the bar, she passed around the oldest photographs of the Glassco family. |
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| One of our two featured speakers was Brian Busby, author of A Gentleman of Pleasure, enlightening us with facts and factoids, details and illuminations on Glassco's life and work. |
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| Our other featured speaker was Carmine Starnino, who had edited John Glassco and the Other Montreal, a selection of poems. He had taken the side of interrogator and interviewer for the evening, posing questions to Busby about the contexts and underpinnings of Glassco's work. |
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| Last, but certainly not least, Bryan Sentes would season Carmine and Brian's conversation about Glassco by reading excerpts and poems: specifically, the poems "The Rural Mail" & "Brummel at Calais", with excerpts from The English Governess/Harriet Marwood, Governess, and the first three paragraphs of Memoirs of Montparnasse. |
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| Argo co-owners Jesse Eckerlin and Meaghan Acosta at the book table. |
It seems such a cliché, but there truly was something magical about the evening. I offer my thanks, once again, to
the Argo Bookshop for sponsoring the event. Anyone looking for copies of
A Gentleman of Pleasure,
John Glassco and the Other Montreal and
Memoirs of Montparnasse need look no further.
