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Our very own Chuck Davis, whose lifelong love affair with the history of the Vancouver area has won him the sobriquet, "Mr. Vancouver," will be given the 17th Annual George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award, British Columbia's highest literary honour, at a special event attended by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson Thursday, Oct. 14.

"I am looking forward to this more than just about anything I can think of, past or present," said Davis. He joins such earlier recipients as Eric Nicol, Jane Rule, Barry Broadfoot, P.K.Page, Audrey Thomas, Jack Hodgins and Alice Munro. Each winner is honoured with a paving stone in the Vancouver Library's Walk of Fame. "I have often walked past those names cast in stone outside the library and compared my own achievements very unfavourably to theirs, so this feels particularly wonderful," said Davis. "In fact it kind of chokes me up."

Davis is in the midst of writing The History of Metropolitan Vancouver, which he describes as "a big, fact-filled and nicely readable book" on the history of Vancouver.
The 74-year-old has worked as an author, newspaper columnist, radio announcer and TV producer since getting his start at the Canadian Army radio station in West Germany after joining the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in 1953.

His first book, a guide to Vancouver, was published in 1973 and the more famous The Vancouver Book was published in 1976, followed by The Greater Vancouver Book in 1997. He has also written histories of North Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, radio station CKNW, among others. His current work remains unfinished and will need a co-author to finish it as Davis was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The award, sponsored by Pacific BookWorld News Society, Vancouver Public Library and the City of Vancouver, will be presented by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson at the Harbour Centre in downtown Vancouver at 7:30 p.m. You can RSVP at www.sfu.ca/reserve. More information on the award can be found at http://www.georgewoodcock.com/.

Labels: HISTORY, PEOPLE

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