A Victoria bookseller and a Gabriola Island actor and teacher are among 86 new appointments to the Order of Canada, the office of Gov. Gen. David Johnston has announced.
Jim Munro, 85, owner of Munro’s Books on Government Street, was named a member of the order “for his vital championship of countless Canadian writers and for his sustained community engagement as an independent bookseller,” the citation said.
Munro said that he was “pleased and dumbfounded” at news of the award.
He acknowledged that over the years he has supported the arts, “but a lot of this happened a long time ago,” Munro said.
In September 2013, Munro’s Books celebrated its 50th anniversary. It has been in a classic old bank building for more than three decades.
The bookstore hosts many events highlighting local authors and their work.
Munro’s former wife, Alice Munro, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 for her deft short-story craftmanship.
Membership in the Order of Canada was also awarded to Antony Holland of Gabriola Island, who was honoured for his achievements as an actor and teacher, and for founding Langara College’s Studio 58 to cultivate the next generation of Canadian performers. Born in Britain, Holland came to Canada in 1957.
Holland appeared in the movies McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), The Accused (1988) and Narrow Margin (1990).
At 94, he is reportedly the oldest working lead actor in Canada.
Holland has been recognized with numerous awards of excellence and has been inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame.
He said the honour was unexpected. “When they first phoned me, I said: ‘I think you made a mistake. I’m a West Coast actor and I direct and perform in B.C. — it’s usually the Toronto guys who get this stuff.’ ”
Holland still performs on stage and this weekend will kick off a new show with highlights from previous productions.
Performing “is good for my health because I get energized when I do it,” Holland said.
Resiliency is an important quality in working actors, Holland said. “I’ve managed to go around the obstacles rather than push through them.”
At Studio 58, Holland said, he did nothing more than gave young actors opportunities to succeed.
“As for acting, you’ve either got it in your genes or you haven’t,” Holland said.
Other appointees include filmmaker David Cronenberg, astronaut Chris Hadfield and comedian Rick Mercer.
