Vancouver as you’ve never seen it in new book

A new photography book collects some of wildest images ever taken of Vancouver. Flower power, Greenpeace, gay rights, Wreck Beach, the Gastown Riot – it’s all between the covers of Vancouver in the Seventies.

You can be part of the excitement this Friday, Oct. 14, when the Fox Cabaret (2321 Main St.) hosts an official book launch upstairs in its Projection Room. Guests will enjoy themed cocktails, a seventies dress competition, and mingling with some of the people behind the book, all while grooving to a soundtrack of 70s tunes. The event is from 7 – 10 p.m.; no cover.

Beginning today, Oct. 13 and until Feb. 26 2017, many of the photos will be on display at the Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut St.). Or you can just pick up a copy of the tome, from publisher Greystone Books, through your favourite bookseller.

Here’s a little more of what to expect.

For one thing, its full title is Vancouver in the Seventies: Photos from a Decade that Changed the City. In all, the book collects 149 photos taken from the Vancouver Sun’s archives.

Sun staffers Shelley Fralic and Kate Bird put the book together. Bird helped manage the photograph collection at the Vancouver Sun and its sister paper Province for 25 years, while Fralic is one of the paper’s most dedicated journalists. Author/graphic artist Douglas Coupland, a Vancouver booster from way back, provides a forward.

From the press release: “As Vancouver in the Seventies shows, the 70s was a decade of immense change for Vancouver—a time of protest, political upheaval, economic boom, and cultural evolution. Through it all, the Vancouver Sun’s award-winning photographers chronicled the city’s metamorphosis, shooting more than 4,500 photo assignments each year, without missing a beat. These images capture pivotal moments in this dynamic city’s history, including the founding of Greenpeace, the wide-eyed innocence of five-year-old Justin Trudeau, and the amazing film career of Chief Dan George.”