Folks like Gubby, the fisherman, are the salt of the earth. Yeah, he's a bit crusty, and prefers to go out on his fishing boat, the Flounder, with only his cat, Puss, for company. His wife, Millie, worries that he doesn't eat enough fresh vegetables. But he enjoys meeting other fisherman at harbour while sheltering from storms or at the Chinese café where they gather for a meal paid for by their salmon sales.
Gubby is the creation of former fisherman, fine woodworking instructor and author Gary Kent, and the character appears in the book, Fishing with Gubby (Harbour Publishing).
It is an authentic account of one season in the life of a West Coast salmon fisherman and is illustrated by award-winning artist Kim La Fave.
It was supposed to be one day in the life of a fisherman, Kent told a full house at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre during an October book launch, but it grew. The two Roberts Creek residents worked on it for 12 years and the result is spectacular. Though it is intended as a children's story for ages five and up, it's also a good read for adults, especially those who can't tell a hoochie from a flasher (fish lures) and want to learn.
Two guys in their 20s, Kent and a friend, were sitting in a pub one day watching traffic in the harbour when they spontaneously decided to buy a fishing boat. Neither of them had any experience, and the first time they took the boat out they had to be towed off a sandbar. Ten years later it had become a career.
The book has an old-fashioned 1970s feel to it, a time when commercial fishing was big in B.C. and entire coastal villages were supported by this industry. It is peopled by the characters who hang out at wharves, like Dale, the guy who can never quite get his boat in the water before the season ends, and cousin Bergie who lives alone up the inlet and hunts moose.
The book includes a map of favourite fishing spots in the Strait of Georgia and Vancouver Island and offers an informative two-page description of all the parts of a 12-metre salmon troller like the Flounder.
Kent is a super storyteller, but the detailed work of La Fave is what makes this book sing. He has achieved renowned acclaim as a children's book illustrator, beginning with his Governor General's award for Amos's Sweater and continuing through his moody depictions in the acclaimed tale of a residential school boy, Shin-chi's Canoe.
Gubby's unique style is all the more special, given that La Fave recently opened a show of his other work at the Westwind Gallery in Gibsons and the feathery brush strokes on those paintings display a completely different aspect of the artist.
The hardcover Fishing with Gubby is available at local bookstores for $19.95.
