[BCMA] PRESS RELEASE for award winning book about Trail BC's famous rock walls

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

PRESS RELEASE 

 

From

 

The Rock Wall Project Entusiastico Society

1454 Neilson Street

Trail BC  V1R 3Y9

Ph:  250-364-2488

Email:  therockwallproject at telus.net

 

SUBJECT:

Book:  Set in Stone - A history of Trail's Rock Walls

Award winning book ready for Christmas!

 

Trail, BC's rock walls are no longer a secret! This Kootenay city is becoming celebrated for these granite treasures, numbering in the hundreds. No need to be from Trail to appreciate these quality support structures, including numerous stone stairwells, that terrace and connect the narrow winding streets and varied West and East Trail neighbourhoods in this striking hilly community.

 

Immigrant European stonemasons and construction crews bequeathed this unique cultural legacy during three distinct building eras, from the 1920s - 1960s.  Their painstaking work has been meticulously documented and stunningly photographed in the art-history coffee table book, Set in Stone ~ A History of Trail's Rock Walls. 

 

Set in Stone garnered a 2008 B.C. Lieutenant Governor's honourable mention award for historical writing. "[It's] one of the most lavish local history books ever published," states historian Greg Nesteroff in his review for British Columbia History-Vol. 42 No. 2. 

 

Warm biographies and affectionate anecdotes pay tribute to the many builders in this narrative of community building and survival in the face of adversity. With full colour and archival photographs, Set in Stone guides the reader through six distinct areas of the city, beginning with The Gulch, Trail's original Italian neighbourhood, and ending across the Columbia River in stone laden Gyro Park. Residential maps begin each section. The reader can even learn how to erect split river rock and dry-stacked stone walls.

 

"What a masterpiece!" remarks New York resident, Pepper Mandoli. "The book is an absolute treasure for all of us born and raised in our town and especially for its remembrance of the wonderful artisans who worked so hard to give us and our town this unique beauty." 

 

Trail's Nola Landucci notes, "[The society's] poetic enthusiasm fills the little spaces of this tome like "snow in summer" tucked into the crannies of the walls themselves."  

 

Produced by The Rock Wall Project Entusiastico Society in 2008, the first 750 copies sold out in one month. The high demand for the book prompted the society to order a second printing. The book will not disappoint.

 

The finely designed, high quality, sewn-bound publication is built to last generations.  It makes a compelling addition to any library as it extends beyond a simply home-town  book. Karin Just from Victoria writes, "[It is] a tribute to survivors of extreme circumstances whose stories shine with personal integrity and celebrate the strength of family and community."  

 

Canada's national historic magazine, "The Beaver", will tell the story of The Rock Wall Project and Set in Stone in the December-January issue.

 

A 10-route walking tour brochure, "Trail's Rock Walls ~ A Walking Tour Adventure", is included with each book. Take the Lasagna Loop or the Tortellini Trek to come face to face with these rugged beauties. Brochure in hand, you will delight in their extraordinary crafting and will almost feel the intensive back-breaking labour of the men as they hauled, split, shaped, and placed each stone from nearby quarries, often with primitive hand tools. Perhaps you'll even hear the clank of a sledgehammer striking a chisel. 

 

For more information, we invite you to search the title on the internet or contact the society at  therockwallproject at telus.net or telephone 250-263-2488.

 

 

 






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