FAMI LY
B etween its Spring Garden Road and Queen Street locations--not to mention its Charlottetown Seaport Market pop- up boutique--it’s likely most Maritime bookworms are acquainted with Bookmark. Even those who haven’t visited in person may have purchased some Canadian classic from Bookmark’s online shop. Others may have read pieces in Atlantic Books Today and The Guardian discussing the remarkable PEI-based bookseller. Just shy of 50 years in business, Bookmark--owned by the MacDonalds, Dan and Marlene, and originally established by the late Rodney Jones--may be most Islanders’ favourite bookstore. That’s impressive, considering PEI’s longstanding literary prestige (the province has been a wellspring for writers, and a literary tourism hotspot, as far back as Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables). Find Your Summer Reads on Bookmark’s Shelves Words by Rebecca Spinner Photos: LaVie in Pictures
► (L_R) Marlene MacDonald, Lori Cheverie, Dan, Adam Florian
Perhaps the foremost clue to Bookmark’s legacy is its clientele’s enthusiastic praise.
“Bookmark is very important to the Island’s literary community,” says Pam Borden (who signs off as “one of Bookmark’s biggest fans”). She singles out its history of nurturing “new local literary talent,” calling the shop’s willingness to facilitate literary tour events “a true indication of Bookmark’s influence on PEI.” “Its excellent collection of books for sale helps explain Islanders to ourselves, and to those ‘from away,’” Borden says. “I would recommend Bookmark to everyone.”
Customer Don Patton patronized Bookmark even before becoming an Islander. “I liked the Halifax Bookmark, so when
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www.pei-living.ca SUMMER 2018
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