I met Bill in the spring of 1975. I was working at Westgate Books in
Saskatoon, and he came through on a scouting trip, travelling home to
Vancouver from the Winnipeg Book Sale. We spoke briefly, and I told him of
my plan to open a bookshop, perhaps in Vancouver. He was encouraging, and
told me to come and see him when I got out there. I visited his shop on a trip
to the west coast later that year, hung around for a few days, and we became
friends.
We moved to Vancouver and opened our shop in 1976, located
on West 10th Avenue, near the UBC gates, just 2 blocks east of Bill's shop,
and a block from his apartment. I learned much about the antiquarian book
trade during the next couple of years, mainly from spending time at Bill's
shop, and going out book scouting with him. He was always forthcoming
with information and advice, and a river of interesting books coursed through
his shop. We shared other interests; playing pinball, movies, travelling. It was
because of Bill that I first visited Berkeley, and met his friend Peter Howard at
Serendipity Books. I moved east to Toronto in 1980, but we stayed in touch,
and would take the occasional trip together. We scouted for books in England
a couple of times, and hung around together at California Book Fairs.
At times we had our differences, even some drastic falling-outs, but basically we
remained friends through the years.
Bill moved to Moscow about 6 years ago, and he seemed happy there. He was married to Masha, a Russian woman with two children, and was occupying himself learning the language, scouting for books, and collecting folk art. He became ill with lung cancer, discovered just a few weeks ago, and he came back to Victoria to stay with his parents, and to attempt a cure. He was on an intensive program of vitamin therapy, and we all hoped for the best. Sadly, his condition worsened, and he died at about 3 AM on the morning of Sunday, September 28, 1997.
Bill was a brilliant man, a great bookseller, and as good a friend as I have ever had. We miss him terribly.
William Matthews
September 29, 1997