Many years ago, a man named David Beers worked at the Vancouver Sun. He created a section for the newspaper called The Mix. It was exactly that, an eclectic mix of writing, with a beautifully designed layout. People bought the paper just to read The Mix. When David left, Jim Sutherland took over as editor of that section. I was working on an article at the time and on the recommendation of Eve Johnson, a friend who was the food columnist, I sent it to him. It was called “Oh Shit,” and took place in the compost garden where I worked. Jim began to publish a lot of my articles in The Mix, and well, those articles became the Diary.
As for David Beers, he went on to create The Tyee, a very popular on-line magazine with the tag line: BC’s home for news, culture and solutions. He published a series of articles written by a Vancouver couple about their one year experiment with eating only local food. Authors Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon got a book deal and well, The 100 Mile Diet became a best seller. The Tyee continues to do great articles on food related topics, thanks to Colleen Kimmett.
Today, The Tyee is featuring a chapter of my new ebook, it’s the one on bananas and they’re publishing it in two parts, second half tomorrow. They’ve called it Secrets of the Banana with a great teaser: Not the forbidden fruit, but equally sinister. Part one of my journey into the republic. The amazing work of Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa, a local performance artist who is an integral part of this chapter, is also included.
If you haven’t visited The Tyee before, be prepared to get hooked.