Edwin Varney - 1999

Malcolm Parry Editor at Vancouver Magazine -  June 1974 to December 1987 and August 1989 to September 1990.

Those dates above are important not only for Parry who is now one of the last of the surviving and authentic journalists (he works for the Vancouver Sun) but also important, I firmly believe for this city and by extension to me.

To me because I have a huge filing system of many cabinets with slides, negatives and photographs of many of the people of this city since I started working for Vancouver Magazine in 1977 who either lived here or passed through.

The reason of this is that Parry (and I have written about his very subject before many times) had an office at Vancouver Magazine during his tenure there that I liken to Ukraine. Ukraine is a country with few mountains that might have blocked the passing of invaders in many years and centuries past.

Parry’s office always had its door open and people came and went to see him unencumbered.

Since for many years I was the photographer du jour (at Vancouver Magazine) every day my files reflect that Parry open door.

In one most important way former Georgia Straight Editor Charles Campbell had that Parry open-door and equally important Campbell had his ears and eyes open to all kinds of ideas from would-be contributors.

The colour photograph of artist Ed Varney (whose birthday is today) I took for Vancouver Magazine when Rick Staehling was the art director.

The second Georgia Straight tear sheet is unusual (or at the very least unusual in the world of magazine and newspaper journalism in Vancouver today) in that Campbell was keen on my idea to combine my photograph of Edwin Varney with  his art work.

As for Varney I wish him a happy birthday today and hope that he does not give up the ghost on culture and art as our city needs people like him.