On March 31, 2010, James (Jamie) Galbraith passed away in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.   Jamie, born on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, was for nearly three decades, the face of Blackwells in North America.  He was a constant exhibitor at APLA, as well as other Canadian and American conferences.  He had come to Canada to take up a position in the public library in Newfoundland, and practiced in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, before joining the Blackwells team in the early ‘70s.   More than one generation of acquisitions librarians learned its trade from the traveling seminar called “the Blackwells suite” over which Jamie presided.  Jamie retired from Blackwells in 1999.

This year at APLA 2010, the exhibits will be opened by a piper in honour of the contribution that Jamie and other exhibitors have made to our conference, and continue to make.  In addition, friends of Jamie are invited to join a small celebration of Jamie’s contribution in the bar at the Hilton at 4:30, Friday, May 14^th.   There will be a celebratory toast, as a dram of his favourite spirit is drunk to his own great and generous spirit.  There will, no doubt, be stories.

The toast to Jamie is brought to you by his friends, including Gibson Library Connections, who remember.