{"id":58314,"date":"2019-06-03T10:37:19","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T14:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=58314"},"modified":"2019-06-03T10:59:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T14:59:34","slug":"book-captures-late-cartographers-passion-for-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2019\/06\/book-captures-late-cartographers-passion-for-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Book captures late cartographer\u2019s passion for history"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Alun Hughes passed away in 2013, he left behind a legacy \u2014 and a collection of rich historical research.<\/span><\/p>\n

Believing his work deserves much more than to collect dust on a shelf, his Brock Geography colleagues came together recently to create a book of his essays to share with new audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hughes\u2019 friends, colleagues, family members and supporters gathered to celebrate the release of the publication, <\/span>History Made in Niagara<\/span><\/em>, on Wednesday, May 29 at Pond Inlet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Alun Hughes.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although trained as a cartographer, Hughes had an enormous appetite for local history and wrote extensively on the geography and history of the Niagara region. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hughes was a longtime member of the Department of Geography. Former colleagues, Professors Mike Ripmeester and David Butz and retired cartographer Loris Gasparotto, compiled the essays and oversaw production of the book.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe assembled them into this volume to honour Alun\u2019s memory, and because we think they deserve a second life,\u201d said Ripmeester.<\/span><\/p>\n

That opinion was obviously shared by those who attended the launch of <\/span>History Made in Niagara <\/span><\/em>to purchase their own copies and hear the tributes to the author.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Pisaric, current Chair of Geography and Tourism Studies, considered Hughes both a colleague and a teacher, and credits Hughes for his own cartography skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

He noted Hughes\u2019 considerable contribution to the development of the department over his four-decade career, leading the transition of its program from traditional cartography methods to geomatics.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Sharron, Head of Brock\u2019s Archives and Special Collections, recalled his early days when Hughes, a well-known contrarian, would come into the library.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Ffion Hughes, daughter of the late Alun Hughes, thanked her father\u2019s former colleagues on behalf of the family for their work putting together a book in his name.<\/p><\/div>\n

At first, Sharron found Hughes intimidating. Later, the two became friends and Sharron would often consult Hughes as an authority on local history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hughes\u2019 wife, Joyce Little, donated his extensive files to the Brock library, \u201cso, in a sense, he is still our go-to guy,\u201d said Sharron.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ffion Hughes thanked her father\u2019s former colleagues on behalf of the family and shared memories of growing up in a house where \u201chistorical research doubled as child care.\u201d As a child, she often accompanied him on his field trips. Now studying history at McGill University, she admits to having \u201ccaught the history bug\u201d from her father.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope readers are left with a sense of our admiration for Alun\u2019s historical research, our appreciation of his efforts to present it in a lively and accessible form, and our affection for him as a colleague,\u201d said Ripmeester.<\/span><\/p>\n

The editors hope to see<\/span> History Made in Niagara<\/span><\/em> for sale in local bookstores soon. For now, the book is available for $35 by calling the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies at 905-688-5550 x3514 or x3484.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Alun Hughes passed away in 2013, he left behind a legacy \u2014 and a collection of rich historical research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":58315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,1,4,5,38],"tags":[1036,2701,7369,3059,5369,7919,6184,7969,4491,31],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58314"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58318,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58314\/revisions\/58318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}