A BRIEF HISTORY OF BOOK DISCUSSION IN

CALGARY AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE BANFF

BOOK DISCUSSION WEEKEND

From Great Books to the Banff Weekend

and other Gatherings of Readers

There seem to have been two starting points for book discussion in Calgary and

the Banff Book Discussion Weekend. In 1953, Brian Thompson started a group called

"Background Books." Brian was a young fellow in the oil business but his love of

reading led him to start a book discussion group. The group met at the Central Library

and various homes to discuss variety of complete selections including novels and

nonfiction works.

The second discussion group started with Mac Coleman, Assistant Librarian at

the Calgary Public Library. As Librarian in Brandon, Manitoba, Mac had led Great Books

Foundation groups and he brought his love of reading and discussion of great literature

to Calgary. He had long know of another Mac--Mac Moir, as a fellow writer when both

moved to Calgary, they met and became fast friends. Of course, Calgary Mac joined

Brandon Mac's Great Book Discussion Group. The first meeting of this group was held

at the Allied Arts Centre and later moved to the University of Calgary. It was this group

which eventually turned its registration work over to the Calgary Board of Education in

the early 70s.

The group's program was accepted as a "course" by the Continuing Education

Division of the Calgary Public School Board, who then handled publicity, registration and

meeting rooms for a small fee from each member. Classrooms in Western Canada and

Viscount Bennett high schools were used most. Other groups met for a year or two in

Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth High Schools, largely because of their

location. But these groups died in a year or two, some members re-joining the Viscount

Bennett group, which lasted well into the 80's.  The Continuing Education Division named the course "Books in Conversation." It was felt that the name "Great Books

Discussion Group" might be somewhat intimidating to some potential new members.

Continuing Education gave the group the basic administrative help needed but did not

advise or limit the group in any way. Reading selections were purchased in sets from

the Great Books Foundation in Chicago. This Foundation is still in existence and has

expanded into Great Books Discussion groups for children as well as continuing their

provision of book sets for discussion by adults. Some members of this group over the

years were, Drake Shelton, Leila Robertson, Jean Greig, Victor Minz, Pat Collett, Herta

Przeczek, Clive Cardinal, Ad and Helen Chetin, Mary Asp, Aileen Cartwright, Ursula and

Briggita Beckedorf, Charlotte Rich, Marj and Mac Moir, Muriel Naylor, Jennifer

Peddlesden, Art and Ethel Balfour, Marge Crilly, Howard Gretton, Lee van Stelten, Helen

Walker, Iris Mitchill, Barbara Cook, Anne MacDonald, Ernie Ludby Jack and Mary Anne

Sparks, Jack and Margie Long (and many, many others...) According to Art Balfour,

there were a lot of American oilmen’s wives who were members for short periods while

their husbands were posted in Calgary. And in those early years there were a higher

proportion of male members than are found in book discussion groups today.

And how did the weekend in Banff evolve? One person recalled that Mac Coleman got

the University of Calgary interested in doing a weekend discussion. This was most likely the

result of input from Art and Ethel Balfour who had belonged to a Great Books Group in Buffalo

NW where they had a spring book seminar each year. The idea caught on and the first Banff

Book Discussion Weekend was scheduled for the last weekend in May, 1961 at the Banff School

of Fine Arts, fondly known as the BS of FA. Thanks to Enid Green who has attended the Book

Weekend for many years, there is a very good archive of old brochures and memorabilia. The

earliest record of the any of the books discussed is 1964. That year participants read The Fall

by Camus, Fear and Trembling and Sickness unto Death by Kirkegaard, and The Creative Mind

by Bergson, and St. Joan by GB Shaw. The books ranged in price from $0.65 to a high of $1.85

each and registration for the weekend was $3.00! At that time, the Banff Centre did not have,

as they now do, a nice lounge and bar where participants could relax and socialize after the

evening discussion groups. In those days, thirsty registrants would retire to the Ladies Section

of the Cascade Hotel beer parlour for a recap of the evenings deliberations and an uncapping of

the evenings libations.

For a number of years, starting in 1978, the University sent along to Banff a

Professor from the Department of English to speak on one of the Books. Speakers over

the years included Dr. Clive Cardinal, Dr. Bill Blackburn, Dr. James Black, Mr. Barry Isaac,

Dr. Victor Ramraj, Dr. Janis Svilpis, Dr. John Sayre Martin, and other professors whose

interest was relative to one of the books discussed. Later, organizers decided to invite

the author of one of the books being discussed. The first author to speak at the Banff

Weekend was the late Lauralee ( L R ) Wright in 1987. Other authors have been Aritha

van Hirk, Rosemary Nixon, Hiromi Gotto, Peter Oliva, Marilyn Halvorsen, Gail Anderson-

Dargatz, Lorna Crozier, Bill Richardson, Fred Stenson, Shannon Cowan, Sandra Birdsell

2003, Roberta Rees 2004, Catherine Simmons-Niven 2005 ( who was accompanied on

guitar, at her reading by her sister), Alistair McLeod 2006, Sid Marty 2007, Sharon

Butalla 2008, and Marina Endicott in 2009.

1995 was the final year for support of the weekend by the University of Calgary.

For 1996 the weekend would either sink or swim, depending on volunteers to take over

the duties of registration and coordination with the Banff Centre. Luckily a group of

stalwart volunteers took over, with Janis Goll taking the helm as chairman for that first

year. Registrations for 1997 were modest, but the following year showed a much

greater number, especially people from small centres around Alberta and BC. 1998

registrations were higher yet at 81 participants probably due the increasing popularity

of book discussion groups and the Internet site created by Bill Peddlesden with help

from Janis Goll whose U of C contact eliminated the cost. This site was visited in 1997-

1998 by over 200 people. Today the site is located at

www.banffbookdiscussionweekend.ca .  A link to the Chat Cafe Internet site held

by the Calgary Public Library also increased visibility of the Banff Book Discussion

Weekend in 1999 (since discontinued) as has the recent partnership with the Banff

Centre, which, starting in 1999 took over arrangements for the author speakers. 1999

was the first year that the Book Weekend got national coverage on the radio. Due to

the CBC strike, the noon hour program was being broadcast from Toronto. Luckily an email

press release for the event caught the eye of the program host, David Stephens,

and he interviewed Jennifer Peddlesden for about 10 minutes in March 1999 about the

weekend and its history.

The process for choosing the books has changed a great deal over the years.

Initially the selections were picked by the Department of Extension, in 1964 that was

under RS Chapman, Supervisor. Later a group of regulars would meet over a bottle of

wine and hash out the four selections. Today the process is much more democratic—

and much more complicated. From a “long list” of selections put forward by

participants, a “short list” of 8-10 is selected by volunteer readers. The “short list” is

posted during the weekend and participants vote on their four favourite books. In most

cases, these four become the selections for the following year. At least one book

chosen is usually a “classic”, and at least one by a Canadian author. The choice of a

Canadian selection often depends on whether the author would be able to attend to

speak on the book. It seems that Canadian literature is very popular so there are often

several Canadian books on the reading list. Although cumbersome, this method

engages more people in the process and has given readers a feeling of ownership in the

Banff Book Discussion Weekend—especially if they do not live near enough to be on the

organizing committee

The discussion format has changed little since 1961. Leaders or Facilitators

volunteer to keep the discussion on track, and the number of volunteers needed

depends on the registration. Groups of 10-12 people are randomly chosen for each

discussion group. One seldom sees the same people at each of the four discussions so

this makes each discussion a unique opportunity to meet many of the other

participants. Although the BBDW has been housed in other buildings at the Centre,

most of the time the groups are in classrooms in Donald Cameron Hall. The discussion

rooms have beautiful views out over the valley and this gorgeous vista adds to the

atmosphere of camaraderie and inquiry. Questions are prepared by the Leaders and in

the same manner used by the Great Books Foundation, the group seeks for the author’s

meaning and intent in the book through these questions. In 1979 moderator training

sessions were held in May in Calgary—but these were not popular, so Friday evening

Leaders are given a short seminar on the leadership process, and are also provided with

sample questions. Jennifer Peddlesden has led this seminar for a number of years, but a

new format ( see below under special events) replaced it in 2005. Discussion of books

are held Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. The

visiting author usually speaks on Saturday with a public lecture at the Banff Centre, and

on Sunday to the participants following discussion of his/her novel.

Special Events - In 1986 a 25th anniversary celebration was held. Pictures show Jean

Greig and Drake Shelton cutting the special cake provided by the University. Leila

Robertson was also honoured for her many years of leading and organizing the book

weekend under both Ron Cole and Al Holt of the University of Calgary.

In 2001 the 40th Anniversary was celebrated by giving every participant a book bag, a

souvenir pin and souvenir bookmark. The book bags were organized by Kathryn Sloan.

Souvenir book marks been printed every year since then.

In 2003 the group incorporated with the Province of Alberta, under the guidance of

Sandi Churchill who led the group through the intricacies of forming a society.

In 2005 Jennifer wrote a skit “ The Three Little Pigs; a lighthearted look at how not to

run your book discussion!” which was performed on Friday evening, by Beth Lipsett,

Sandi Churchill, Janis Goll, and Marg Gillis. The group enacted a scene from a book

discussion group where participants tried to discuss The Three Little Pigs, but got it all

wrong! Wonderful costumes provided by the participants, and spontaneous one-liners

had the audience laughing and enjoying their lesson. The skit was reprised in 2006 to an

equally pleased audience.

In 2008 participants coped with the Banff Centre’s construction around Donald Cameron

Hall amid three days of rain and low cloud, and mud. We climbed to the shiny new

dining room over the Sally Borden Building, but everyone missed the round tables, the

white table-cloths and the ambience of a big friendly room with its amazing high ceiling

and all that natural wood. I guess we will get used to the stainless steel. Luckily the

mountain view is maintained. In 2008, a committee was struck to look into celebrations

for the 50th Anniversary in 2011. Beth Lipsett volunteered to take this on. Much work

went on during 2009 to select a special guest author for the 50th Anniversary Year. It

was with much excitement that in the spring of 2010 Sandra Gulland, author of the

Josephine B Trilogy accepted with pleasure, the invitation to attend in May 2011. Her

most recent book is Mistress of the Sun. This exciting news was made public on CKUA

Radio on May 28th when Kathleen Renne of Arts Alive interviewed Jen Peddlesden,

BBDW Historian.

Sadly, in 2008, the Banff Book and Art Den closed. Everyone who had frequented

this excellent privately owned bookstore was saddened to hear that competition from

the big box bookstores had, for the most part, caused this demise. Where would we all

go on the Saturday afternoon to check out new reads?

Over the years one person, the Chair of the Banff Book Discussion Weekend, has

had to organize volunteers, oversee the selection of books and make sure there are

leaders for the discussion sessions. This job has not changed much since the first

discussion weekend. Over the past few years, volunteer positions have been designated

for Facilitator Coordinator ( this person organizes group facilitators), and Banff Centre

Liaison ( coordinates all dealings with Banff Centre) which lessened the Chairperson’s

load to some extent. Some of those who have chaired the weekend over the many years

have been; Larry Hobson, Janis Goll, Leila Robertson, Marjorie Taylor, Janet Gill, Jennifer

Peddlesden, Bill Peddlesden, Charlotte Rich, Kathryn Sloan, Wendy Simpson, Lisa

(Jacobson) Llewellyn, Jane Paul ( whose position as Member at Large had her filling in

for Lisa spring 2008 on the birth of Lisa’s little boy Sean on April 23rd ). Jane willingly and

capably has been Chair again in 2009 and 2010. And of course, there may be others

whom I may have missed. Unfortunately, records are incomplete, so the names of some

very worthy chairpeople are missing.

Written by Jennifer Peddlesden, with help from Drake Shelton, Charlotte Rich, Marj

Moir, Art Balfour, and the Thursday Afternoon Book Discussion Group.

First edition, March 1999

Updated March 2000

Updated March 2002

Updated May 2007

Updated May 2008

Updated May 2009

Updated May 2010