Celebrating Winnipeg's "Mosaic Village"

An exciting new book about Winnipeg's North End will be launched in the spring of 2010, just in time for the centennial reunion of St. John's High School.

The Mosaic Village: A History of Winnipeg's North End will be a nostalgic stroll through the decades as it visits the places and people that have made the North End the most storied part of Winnipeg, including tributes to dozens of notable North Enders, ranging from Burton Cummings, Morley Meredith, and Monty Hall to David Orlikow, Slaw Rebchuk, and Joe Zuken.

Beginning with the hopes and dreams of families who came to Canada in search of new lives more than a century ago, The Mosaic Village will recount the stories of generations of North Enders who grew up on Burrows and Boyd, Stella and St. Johns; who shopped at Oretzki's, Gunn's, and Kern-Hill; who strolled along Main Street, McGregor, and Selkirk Avenue; who joined their friends at the College, the Deluxe, and the Palace.

Drawing on interviews with more than a hundred current and former North Enders and extensively illustrated with photos (many of them never published before), The Mosaic Village will evoke the flavour of perogies and kubasa, of bagels and rye bread, of Kelekis hot dogs and Oscar's corned beef sandwiches. Revive the fun of hanging out at Connie's, "The It," and Eddy's Place and revisit school days at Luxton and Lansdowne, David Livingstone and Dufferin, Isaac Newton and St. John's.

Published by Great Plains Publications, The Mosaic Village is written by Russ Gourluck, the best-selling author of A Store Like No Other: Eaton's of Winnipeg, Going Downtown: A History of Winnipeg's Portage Avenue, and Picturing Manitoba: Legacies of The Winnipeg Tribune. Both A Store Like No Other and Going Downtown have become Canadian best sellers and received the Margaret McWilliams Award for popular history from the Manitoba Historical Society.

Prior to pursuing a life-long interest in writing, Russ enjoyed a 33-year career as a teacher and administrator in the Evergreen, Seven Oaks, and Lord Selkirk School Divisions. He has Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and Master of Education degrees from the University of Manitoba.