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Life Enjoyed: The Appeal of Biography Collections
- Article from:
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Feliciter
- Article date:
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May 1, 2008
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright Canada Library Association 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Several years ago, an old woman died in a big house in Vancouver's exclusive Shaughnessy neighbourhood. She had no surviving family and nobody whom one could describe as a close friend. Her acquaintances included her gardener, the woman from Meals on Wheels and her lawyer, who made an inventory of her property for the purpose of dispersing it.
There were bits and pieces of shabby furniture from the 1950s, an ancient TV and an unsigned drawing of John A. Macdonald in a Victorian oak frame. There was an empty birdcage. A cupboard in the basement contained thousands of clothes hangers, a picnic basket full of cobwebs, and the dried-out carcass of a mouse.
What amazed the lawyer were the books. ...