Every once in a while an email from David Ellis arrives in my inbox.
It鈥檚 plain, simple with no fanfare or hard sell. It鈥檚 just a list of obscure, rare historical books about the communities that make up the Sea to Sky Corridor 鈥� with a few maps occasionally thrown in for good measure.
A title, author, and year 鈥� that鈥檚 it.
Maybe it was because I had never heard of most of these books or maybe it was something about the humbleness of this list in an era of flashy marketing, but for whatever reason, on a recent Friday it caught my eye and I wondered, 鈥淲ho is this guy? And where did he find all these books?鈥�
So, I called him up to find out more about books like The Whistler Hostel Hiking Book from 1979, 1971鈥檚 Beyond Garibaldi, and the 1965 copy of A Climber鈥檚 Guide to the Coastal Ranges of B.C.
鈥淚 used to go to Whistler myself as a boy with my family and I got the books then,鈥� the 69-year-old Vancouver resident says. 鈥淚 gathered them and kept buying 鈥� I kept buying all this Whistler stuff and then I bought the 麻豆社国产stuff. My dad had a big section of local history. I鈥檝e got histories for the whole of B.C.鈥�
Ellis inherited his book business 鈥� which consists of a specially constructed van and somewhere in the realm of 30,000 books 鈥� from his father after Bill Ellis died in 2002.
Since then 鈥� moreso in his younger years 鈥� Ellis would load up the van with books that were relevant to a particular region and drive to those communities around B.C., Alberta, and beyond and try to sell them.
He has no internet or social media presence; rather, it鈥檚 about connecting with people and matching them with the right books, he says.
鈥淔or 23 years, I would go away in the spring for a month and the fall for a month,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been to Yellowknife, all over B.C. I had it all figured out 鈥� I was the roving bookseller.鈥�
Increasingly, though, schools and museums have had smaller budgets for books, he says. The best market he鈥檚 found in recent years has been Indigenous communities that are keen to piece together parts of their history lost to colonization.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very interested in history. A lot of it was taken away from them with residential schools. There鈥檚 a strong need now,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more the First Nations that drive this business now. They want [the books] at their schools, but the families want them too.鈥�
While it鈥檚 been a fulfilling career, Ellis says he鈥檚 now hoping to sell the business to the right buyer.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking for a buyer for this romantic business in which you go see these interesting people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty interesting business. If you keep at it and you鈥檙e disciplined, you鈥檒l make a living at it. And I鈥檓 looking for that person who wants to do it 鈥� travel all over and meet these folks.鈥�
The one attribute Ellis has 鈥� which is evident within 10 minutes of talking to him 鈥� that others might not is his deep knowledge of local history and, of course, his relationship with the massive book collection.
On the Whistler front, Ellis has tales of travelling to town before the highway was built, impressing Myrtle Philip as a teen when he retrieved a trap line hidden in the mountains, and catching massive trout in Alta Lake.
There鈥檚 a book that applies to each memory too: many on the PGE rail line, a trio of novels (that I had no idea existed) penned by Alex Philip, and even a map that traces the local First Nations鈥� trail past Alta, Alpha and Nita Lakes before the railway.
鈥淚 have [the books] all by region,鈥� Ellis says. 鈥淲histler is two shelves, 麻豆社国产First Nations, climbing books, Dick Culbert books, and the Loomers are all in one section. When I go for a trip, I go to that section. It鈥檚 all organized. You have to be well organized and you have to know them. I鈥檒l have to make a tape recording for the person who buys the business.鈥�
If you鈥檙e interested in the books or the business, email Ellis at [email protected].
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