Collecting Stamps Would Have Been More Fun

This unique exchange of letters between literary icon Sinclair Ross and several prominent writers, publishers, agents, and editors asks why many Canadian artists, especially those in western provinces, spent a lifetime struggling for recognition and remuneration. Featuring exchanges with Earle Birney, Margaret Laurence, and Margaret Atwood, among others, this collection exposes the conditions of cultural work in Canada for much of the twentieth century. This vivid, often moving, selection of professional and personal letters, plus the only formal interview Ross ever gave, provides a valuable resource for those engaged with the history of publishing in Canada, as well as for those with an interest in Canadian literature.

The peculiar struggles of Canadian authors are writ large in the letters of Sinclair Ross.

Bonus Book: HOME SECURITYDo you have a partially filled stamp album stored away at the back of the closet just gathering dust? Was it a gift from a favorite aunt or grandparent that seemed like a good idea when you were 12? Has that album always remained a "someday" thing? Maybe it is something that you are always going to do "someday" when you have time. Well, drag that dusty album out of the closet because "someday" is here.Chances are you are just like the rest of us these days. Stressed out and stretched thin. No time for fun, leisure or recreation. Let me tell you that Stamp Collecting can be good for your health and well being!That's not a joke. It's the truth. Read every book or article on stress and a common denominator is to find a relaxing past time. Well, getting caught up in the enthusiasm of collecting stamps can be just what the doctor ordered.There is no better hobby to help you relax and tune out the daily stress factors than collecting stamps. That dusty album combined with our "The Stamp Collecting Guide" can provide you with hours of fun and relaxation either by yourself or teaming up with a friend.In fact, you couldn't find a better hobby to share with a child or another loved one. Re-capturing the excitement you felt when that family member first introduced you to the hobby and sharing those feelings with your own child is priceless.There is quite a bit of information that you need to know to begin your hobby and "The Stamp Collecting Guide" has everything you need to sharpen your skills.Having the correct information right at your fingertips will give you a successful launch of your new hobby.Just take a look at what's inside:Learning the LingoYour First Stamp AlbumWhat Are The Different Types of Stamps?Basic Tools a Stamp Collector NeedsWhere to Get StampsWhat Are the Different Methods for Collecting Stamps?How to Soak, Sort, Identify and Mount StampsHow to Judge the Condition and Grading of StampsShould You Collect U.S. Stamps or International StampsWhat Are Rare Stamps and How to Spot ThemWho Are Some Famous Collectors?How to Spot a Fake or ForgeryWhat Are Expert CertificatesWhat Are Special StampsStamp Investing - All About the MarketWritten in plain English "The Stamp Collecting Guide will help answer all the questions you may have in order to make an intelligent decision about whether to purse this worthwhile hobby.The purpose of our guide is to give you an over view of stamp collecting as well as provide you with information about the different steps you need to take to get started. So, why do you need "The Stamp Collecting Guide?" Because it gives you what you need to know!Thousands of people may be stamp collectors. However, they may not be getting the best deals on obtaining stamps. Or worse yet, they may be getting ripped off or defrauded. Learning how to detect fake stamps is an important step in the process of growing your collection.If you are a new hobbyist trying to figure out what stamps to buy and sorting out the difference between commemorative and special stamps, "The Stamp Collecting Guide" is just what you need to learn all the ins and outs of your new hobby.Regardless of your motivation and goals, creating a hobby requires commitment talent and above all else - knowledge! "The Stamp Collecting Guide" has the answers you need. Grab your copy today and start collecting tonightTag: stamp collecting book, stamp collecting books and supplies, stamp collecting cards, stamp collecting for beginners, stamp collecting for dummies, stamp collecting for kids, stamp collecting for kids in books, stamp collecting guide, stamp collecting price guide, stamp collecting reference books

I. As a Pastime. ccording to the authorities, the central idea of a pastime is "that it is so positively agreeable that it lets time slip by unnoticed; as, to turn work into pastime." And recreation is described as "that sort of play or agreeable occupation which refreshes the tired person, making him as good as new." Stamp collectors may fairly claim that their hobby serves the double purpose of a pastime and a recreation. As a pastime, it certainly makes time pass most agreeably; for the true student of the postal issues of the world, it turns work into a pastime. As a recreation, it is of such an engrossing character that it may be relied upon to afford the pleasant diversion from business worries that so many tired mental workers need nowadays. For nearly half a century it has maintained unbroken its hold as one of the most popular of all forms of relaxation, and its popularity extends to all classes and to all countries. But this very devotion of stamp collectors to their hobby has puzzled and excited the uninitiated. The ordinary individual, especially the man who has no soul for a hobby of any kind, regards it as a passing fancy, a harmless craze, a fashion that must have its day and disappear, sooner or later. But the passing fancy has endured for nearly half a century, the harmless craze still serves its useful purpose, and the fashion has acquired such a permanence as to convince most people that it has come to stay. Of all pastimes, and of all the forms of recreation, not one can claim more lifelong devotees than this same stamp collecting. And where is another pastime with such international ramifications? In every civilised country, in every city, and in every town of any importance, the wide world over, thoughtful men and women are to be found formed into sociable groups, or societies, quietly and pleasantly enjoying themselves in the harmless and enduring pursuit of stamp collecting. There must be some reason for this popularity, this devotion of all classes to a pursuit, this unbroken record of progress. It cannot be satisfactorily accounted for as a passing fancy or fashion. It has too long stood the test of years to be so easily explained away. Fancies and fashions come and go, but stamp collecting flourishes from decade to decade. Princes and peers, merchants and members of Parliament, solicitors and barristers, schoolboys and octogenarians, all follow this postal Pied Piper of Hamelin, "Grave old plodders, gay young friskers, Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins," all bent upon the pursuit of this pleasure-yielding hobby. Why is it? Whence comes the fascination? To the unprejudiced inquirer the reply is simple. To the leisured man it affords a stimulating occupation, with a spice of competition; to the busy professional man it yields the delight of a recreative change; to the studious, an inexhaustible scope for profitable research; to the old, the sociability of a pursuit popular with old and young alike; to the young, a hobby prolific of novelty, and one, moreover, that harmonises with school studies in historical and geographical directions; to the money maker, an opening for occasional speculation; and to all, a satisfying combination of a safe investment and a pleasure-yielding study. Old postage stamps-bits of paper, as they are contemptuously called by some people-may have no intrinsic value, but they are, nevertheless, rich in memories of history and of art; they link the past with the present; they mark the march of empires and the federation of states, the rise and fall of dynasties, and the peaceful extension of postal communication between the peoples of the world; and, some day in the distant future, they may celebrate even yet more important victories of peace.