Last month's wake themed book launch party for Graham Roumieu's newest book Bigfoot: I Not Dead was a spectacular success. The concept of a wake clearly resonated with people as The Gladstone Hotel management estimated the crowd at well over 250, which is about a hundred over capacity.
Each of the 'eulogists' did a wonderful job. Much like a real wake, their testimonials contradicted one another with five eulogists presenting five bigfoots; Douglas Bell's intellectual, Sean Cullen's zen master, Jeremy Keehn's clandestine lover, Damian Rogers's soulful hipster bassist, Nathan Whitlock's philanderer and Michael Winter's practical joker. Tim Beresford, the host, was hilarious and the acoustic guitar "candle in the wind" was the perfect choice to end evening.
Although a good portion of the crowd had a copy of Bigfoot: I Not Dead under their arm as they walked in, an astonishing 79 additional copies were sold that night. We hope Graham's inspired inscription for the Bigfoot poster - "buy book at Pages or me kill you" - will drive sales for months to come.
Thanks to Pages Books and Magazines, The Walrus, Penguin and The Gladstone Hotel for a wonderful event and please check out the pics of the evening if you missed the fun.
All photos courtesy of Chris Reed. Thanks, Chris!
Damian Rogers
Douglas Bell
Graham Roumieu
Michael Winter
Nathan Whitlock
Sean Cullen
Tim Beresford