New Masses; An Anthology of the Rebel Thirties – left on some stairs along the Trans Canada Trail on a gorgeous sunny day while hiking with the family… happily, about half an hour later I saw a colourful looking fellow by the beach at the bottom of the trail reading it intently and spoke briefly with him about this project.

Very glad to be back at this now that the weather is getting to be conductive to wild releases outside again, especially since yesterday I found a whole box I’d missed and spent the morning sorting and prepping to register/label a whole new batch.

54 down!1 month ago

I haven’t had a chance to release many books over the winter, but I’ve heard from a few more that have gone abroad… New Mexico, Colorado, Michigan, Honolulu… plus another found locally in a sky-train station on the other side of town. I’m looking forward to the days when it’s warm and dry out so I can leave them around willy nilly again. 3 months ago

Bookcrossing has been busy lately, with two of these being journaled this week! I haven’t done any November releases – the weather has been dodgy and I haven’t restocked the car bag (reminder to self), but at least the books already out there are making the rounds…

A Fonzie book I left outside of the Aquarium when we visited in August:

^{“I haven’t read this book yet as I’m still reading Winnie-the-Pooh but after that, this is next on my list. I found this book outside of the Vancouver Aquarium. After I read it, I’ll release it again.”}

The Burlesque book I leaned on the wall of the painted pedestrian tunnel in mid September:

^{“Drunkenly found this book on a bench. Decided to take it on vacation and leave it in a different country. Happy reading!“}

And the old Dizzy Gillespie bio I put on the porch at Ioco Village prior to Ghost Town Days in October:

^{“On a lovely walk through the “ghost” town of Ioco where I used to live, perched on one of the remaining heritage (although rater dilapidated and ready to fall to the ground) houses on the town-site I spotted this book. Happily curious, I picked it up and packed it into my suitcase. Last I saw it was perched on a shelf at Fleetwood’s (yes – Mick’s place) Restaurant, Front Street, Lahaina, Maui, waiting for another traveller to pick it up. Maybe Mick himself? Who knows? Good luck on your travels…”}

The last is one of my favorites that a stranger has journaled (the photo was taken by them when they left the book in Maui). So nice to hear something of these little journeys, especially months after releasing the books. Paulie would be so pleased… 6 months ago

More books left behind here and there: inside a historic milk house in Langley, at another lovely park, one has even made it as far as North Carolina… 9 months ago

A little book I left in a wooden mermaid’s tresses on Granville Island last weekend has now journeyed through two more sets of hands, going from Vancouver to Chicago, and from there to Michigan.

Today I hit 143 books registered – my IN box has shrunk considerably.
I’m so glad I’m doing this. 9 months ago

Yesterday I was joy-smacked to find the first of these has been caught and journaled!

^{“I found this book on 08/07/2012, one day after it was left at the suspension bridge on Buntzen Lake. The book was gathered from a picnic bench at the north end of Buntzen Lake. This book has intrigued me for some time so I am happy to have it. It is now on my bedside table. Soon, very soon, it will be set free once again. Bon Voyage A.J.liebling. Thanks Red-Ru!”}

Happy. 10 months ago

I’m now up to 120 registered and a dozen released, adding Burnaby, Crescent Beach and White Rock to places I’ve left books. I had a fun moment when I found a leader board in the member stats section and realized I was #43 (with 43 registered for the week) in the world.

We’re planning on packing a batch in the car to leave along the way when we go camping. 10 months ago

The kids and I went on a 3 hour wander today, a bag of books in the bottom of the stroller. I didn’t release everything I brought, but we had a lot of fun finding good spots (ie. we left Two Buddhist Books in Mahayana in the middle of a Zen garden, Born to Die: A Cop Killer’s Final Message under a rotating red light in a store window) for a number of them. Two were gone by the time we were on our way back. I made release notes when I got back and should have it down pat by our next time we head out with a batch. 10 months ago

As of this afternoon, I’ve registered and readied 110 books. I finished and posted the bio & memorial write up, I found the box of business cards (I’m tucking one of his inside each book until I run out), I’ve even run into a couple of 43ers there on the site (please PM me your screen-name if you’re a bookcrosser!) and found two local meet-up groups. The only thing I haven’t really done is add anything blatant to the covers, but the labels right inside are pretty self explanatory to anyone interested enough to pick up a book, and I can add something to the rest when I have it.

I’m packing 5 to take with me the next time we go out (I aimed for Canadian authors, for Canada Day). I’m looking forward to getting started. Exciting. Cathartic. I’m ready. 10 months ago

I’m up to 70 books registered, labeled, journaled, and ready to go now. I ran out of labels yesterday and got another 100 today, which should hold me, unless I do all the chapbooks and zines. Jeez, where do you bookcross a massive leather bound dictionary? Might be fun to release downtown during Word on the Street.

I’ve been enjoying finding all the little bits and pieces stuck in the books, I’d say 90% of them have something interesting inside (bookmarks, cards, receipts, stickers, bookplates, business cards). The pic above is a bookplate stuck into a 1964 copy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He so loved sharing words… 10 months ago

Moving along smoothly, I have 43 (registered, labeled, and journaled, with cover photos added) ready to go out into the world and several more boxes sorted and ready to label. I also found two more full boxes in the storage room, so I’ll try to sort those ASAP.

I want to touch base with the lovely folks that took over the spoken word nights he started to see if they’d be into a mass release of his collected poetry/prose books there. Wondering about the chapbooks… some would be sturdy enough to travel, they might be fun to mail out far and wide.

Feeling lighter by the book. 11 months ago

I still need to write up a page with more information, but I now have a big package of the labels (they look so nice! Much clearer than in this picture) and have registered, labeled, and made journal entries for 3 books. Getting started was the hardest part, from here it should be a lot easier.

Thank-you for all the kind messages pertaining to this – working on it at last feels very right, very bright. He’d be pleased. 11 months ago

Something happened the other day that snatched my breath.

I’ve been going through boxes and boxes of Paul’s books for this, and every now and then I come across something I’d like to hang on to, to read before letting it go, and put it to the side. The Tin Drum by Günter Grass was one of these, and after I’d sorted another box, I picked it up and flipped it open to visualize a good spot for the BookCrossing label. There I found Paul’s familiar handwriting all down the first page.

Thinking it was a pre-gift dedication and hoping I knew the person so I could pass the book on to them, I read on to find the following:

“Hello to whomever found this book!

This is a quick note to let you know that I’ve registered this book at bookcrossing.com, a fantastical site that will allow me and you to follow the path of this book as we either pass it on to another person or leave it behind to be mysteriously found.

If you read this, or you’ve just found it and want to pass it on to someone else, please take the time to go to www.bookcrossing.com/061-180623 and enter a brief journal note on the book or the finding of it.

Hey – when you’re done with it, leave it on a bus or a bench or give it to a friend to enjoy – share the words!

Best,
T.Paul”

He had known all about BookCrossing. He thought it was wonderful, had an account there and had registered this very book with the site 10 years ago, meaning to leave it on a bus. I typed in the BCID and found the account, his bio, books he’d released, someone had even found and posted about one he’d left at a pub we used to go to – to talk and write and have pints. It’s funny he never told me about it, but he always had so much going on.

I’m still pretty stunned. I can’t begin to describe how this makes me feel, but I wanted to try – it’s as though he sent me a letter saying I’m doing exactly the right thing here. It sent a whole lot of residual grief packing and opened a very bright window. 11 months ago

I first mentioned wanting to do this project back in early 2008, but it was a hard thing to get started with. I’m finally moving forward one step at a time.

I now have 50 copies of the above label printed and will have them in my hands later this week.

• Reconnect with BookCrossing website, find membership info, log in √
• Gather required info, post intro and questions to forum √
• Design labels √
• Print labels √
• Sort books, separate ones to release - Started…
• Register books, get BCID numbers
• Fill out labels, add to books
• Add business cards (his) as bookmark, additional markers (spine?)
• Write memorial info to cut/paste
• Plan drop off (write café, re-check zones)
• Make journal/release notes
• Set them free!

^Exhaling.

^{(EDIT: Additional explanation here)}11 months ago