Bill Clearihue wrote: "James A. Munro (Jim) and his first wife, Alice (recent Nobel Prize for Literature), met as Western University students in London, Ontario. After twelve years working at Eaton's Department Store, where one of his jobs was writing ads for the bargain basement, Jim and Alice Munro ignored advice that there was “no money in books” and opened his first little shop on Victoria's Yates Street, in September, 1963. "We actually did over $100.00 the first day and were thrilled.” Munro bought a large, stately building from the Royal Bank in 1984 that had been for sale for some time. “Nobody wanted a used bank building, but to me it looked like a library.” It had been “hideously modernized,” he says, and he undertook a massive renovation, restoring the spectacular ceiling and adding stained glass windows.“I always had visions of grandeur,” he says. “Containing 6,000 square feet, everyone found it incredulous that we had a building this big. Bank vaults became storage areas and Munro’s second wife, created largescale wall hangings representing literary works ranging from Alice in Wonderland to War and Peace. Jim's bookstore business, which received a boost with the rise of the credit card, grew steadily until the arrival of Chapters and eBooks, but with downsizing this iconic book store has survived." His obituary staed "After graduating from the University of Western Ontario in 1951, he married Alice Laidlaw. The couple moved to Vancouver, BC, where they had two daughters, and for 12 years he worked at the T. Eaton Company. In 1963 the family moved to Victoria, where, with Alice's help, Jim was able to realize his long held dream of opening a bookstore. Soon they had another daughter. Jim worked tirelessly to build the business and created a mecca for book lovers. He was also a strong supporter of his wife Alice Munro's writing career. After their divorce, he married artist Carole Sabiston. In 1984 he "bought the bank", a heritage Royal Bank building, for his greatly expanded enterprise. Over the years, the store drew international attention as one of the world's best and most beautiful bookstores. " |