Finally...The Gothic Line has arrived...

Four years, 3 books (an Italian Translation of one) and the end of a series that tries to do justice to the Men who fought in Italy during the Second World War.  From the boot in Sicily to the Rivers of Ravenna these three guide books allow you to trace the footsteps of the D-day dodgers. After a long and arduous process, what Eric McGeer referred to as death by a thousand cuts, I have, in my hands, a final copy of The Canadian Battlefields in Italy: The Gothic Line and the Battle of the Rivers.  

Almost a month and half after the first round of proofing it's really great... who am I kidding, it's a massive relief to hold a copy straight off the presses and not see anything major out of place.

The table of contents matches, the colour looks great, the photos look crisp and I don't think we could have done a more thorough editing job on this manuscript.

With the printed version in my hands, this brings an end to the series that started 4 years ago when Terry Copp asked if I'd be willing to try my hand at design and working with Eric McGeer to produce The Canadian Battlefields in Italy: Ortona and the Liri Valley.

It's been an epic journey.  The series introduced me to the world of publishing and I've now been apart of seeing more than a dozen books through the process, including 8 this year.  I'm certainly thankful to the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Centre for providing me the opportunity to act as the publications manager.  The role has allowed me to combine two of my passions - History and Photography/Design - in a way that is exceptionally fullfilling.

I've saved the last part of this blog for Eric.  Eric McGeer holds a PhD in Byzantine History from the Université de Montréal.  He is an accomplished scholar and can work in so many languages your head would spin.  But what makes Eric so remarkable is his personality.  He is the most genuine man I've ever met in my life and I grew up on the East Coast of Canada.  I would never have known any of his accomplishments if I hadn't watched them come to the fore over the years.  While we were working on the first Italian guidebook it became apparent through the stories I would press him for that the way he managed his way around the remote countryside where the Canadians fought was by chatting with the locals.  When he published Words of Valediction, I asked if he had a translator for the various Greek and Latin inscriptions.  Shyly he conceded that he was fluent.  Just the other day we stumbled across a German language website and, though it should have come as no surprise, I was shocked to see him give me a translation in no time including nuance.  The languages are but one aspect of many but perhaps the easiest way to understand his modesty and intellect.  I've also had the opportunity to watch his young family grow.  After young Sarah came along, we started to meet in Toronto a little more.  Since then Colin has also joined Eric and Sylvia and I can look back with fondness on the times that I've spent building blocks and sharing snacks with the two little ones as Eric proofed the text/design.

For us the journey does not seem to be over as it looks like we have another project in the wings.  I really hope we find the way to get this to publication so that Eric and I can work together again and we can spend a few more evenings together with his growing family.