Norma Lundberg on A Different Drummer Books

By Norma Lundberg

Movers & Shakers: In the mid-1980s Richard Bachmann took the store over from Al Cummings, who founded it in 1970. In 1998, the store was named Bookseller of the Year by the Canadian Booksellers Association, and in 2007 Bachmann won the Jack Award for excellence in book promotion. Visitors have written in their blogs of their delight with the store “made possible through the genius of the proprietor, Mr. Richard Bachmann, a warm, witty, and very knowledgeable gentleman indeed. He is a man who cares about books, literature, publishing, and of course independent bookstores. And most especially, he cares about his customers.” (http://storms.typepad.com/booklust/2005/06/independent_rea.html) Richard Bachmann retired in February 2010, selling the business to longtime employee Ian Elliot, who is himself well known to publishers and customers, and passionate about continuing the Different Drummer tradition. The original “mover and shaker” however is none other than Henry David Thoreau, for his words in Walden: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
 

Brief history: A Different Drummer Books is an admirable independent bookshop with a distinct and welcoming personality, well known in Canada’s bookselling and bookbuying community and much loved by its devoted customers, which includes writers among the readers who frequent it. Located in downtown Burlington, Ontario, in a renovated brick house (circa 1910), it is surrounded by a beautiful garden, fragrant with roses and lavender in summer. The store’s poetry section is extensive and there’s an excellent selection of fiction, criticism, philosophy, and almost every other subject. A Different Drummer is renowned for the author readings they host, and for their special order service that brings books from virtually every part of the globe. The store’s reputation for being the epitome of an independent bookshop is sterling. Approach this excellent bookshop taking time to admire the grounds. Although Richard Bachmann has now retired, he continues to tend the garden and remains a guiding spirit in support of independent bookselling in Burlington’s, and Canada’s, literary community.

Highlights of venue: The bookstore staff is conversant in current Canadian poetry and fills orders for books with enthusiasm and interest. In the neighbourhood there is an excellent artisanal bakery cafe (Pane Fresco) to nourish hungry book hunters, and a nearby source of superb freshly made in-house Belgian chocolates (Casteleyn), as well as a gourmet shop (The Grinning Gourmand) for even more bodily sustenance. You can visit the superlative Burlington Art Centre too, just a five-minue walk from the bookstore, overlooking Lake Ontario. Burlington is on Toronto’s doorstep, a quick getaway from the Big City to a fine general bookstore with a good poetry section and an atmosphere inspiring book conversation with the staff and other book lovers who come to browse and buy. It’s a 50-minute ride on the GO train from Union Station, with tea or coffee in hand, light reading (as in grams—there will be a heavier bag with books, bread, chocolate, cheese, on the return trip) or the ever-present notebook for drafting a poem. A ten-minute bus trip south on Brant Street takes you to Caroline Street, which crosses Locust Street and is within sight of the bookstore.

Of special interest to poets: A Different Drummer Books maintains a high regard for poets and includes poetry readings among the many events they host. I’ve had the good fortune to hear both Lorna Crozier and Dionne Brand read at the store to a packed audience with a lively question period afterward. There is always something of note in the poetry section, with staff tuned in to new collections: Wanting to fill a lacuna in my own poetry library, I recently telephoned the store about books nominated for the 2010 Griffin Poetry Prize, a couple of days after the announcement of the short-listed poets, and all titles were in stock.