Don Stewart on MacLeod's, his iconic Vancouver bookshop
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Don Stewart is the proprietor of MacLeod\\u2019s Books\\xa0at 455 West Pender Street in downtown Vancouver, a shop famed for its magnificent piles of books, wide selection and narrow aisles.\\xa0Stewart bought MacLeod\'s Books\\xa0in 1973 from Van Andruss\\xa0who\'d bought it from\\xa0Don MacLeod a few years after it\\xa0opened in\\xa01964.\\xa0He moved the business into larger premises in 1981 only to see the place burn down the next year - so he had to start again from scratch.\\xa0
Ironically, for the\\xa0past ten years he\'s had to contend\\xa0with Vancouver Fire Department regulations in order just to keep his doors open. Instructed to reduce the number of books in his shop,\\xa0\\u200bhis only options have been to stuff\\xa0\\u200bthings in\\xa0storage and sell\\u200b\\xa0as much as he can. Recent zealousness exhibited by the VFD may well be connected in part to the rapaciousness of area developers. Contrary to current rumours the shop will not be closing.\\xa0 \\xa0
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I met with Don in the stacks of his shop to talk about his career in bookselling, about homelessness, British Columbia as rich terrain for all manner of book culture, legendary West Coast booksellers Stephen McIntyre and Bill Hoffer, socialism, and anarchy, among other things.\\xa0
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