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Vogler launches Features book at Black's

Whistler Features, a new book by Stephen Vogler, will be hitting the book stores this weekend. "It’s the best of six years of writing about Whistler," Vogler says.

Whistler Features, a new book by Stephen Vogler, will be hitting the book stores this weekend.

"It’s the best of six years of writing about Whistler," Vogler says. "They’re different takes on the valley – everything from a dog’s view of our town to a look at sports as religion and the Whistler arts scene in terms of bacterial culture."

The 16 feature stories were first published in Pique Newsmagazine between 1994 and 2000 and two of them were broadcast on CBC Radio’s Definitely Not the Opera program out of Winnipeg.

The stories are witty and insightful, and taken together, offer a rounded if somewhat quirky view of Whistler which Vogler believes will appeal to both locals and visitors.

"I’m looking forward to getting it out on the shelves," he says. "I’ve been slowly working on it for the better part of year, and for the last two months it’s taken over my life. Lots of 3 a.m. mornings and a few all-nighters. I’ve had to put lots of different hats on for the project – writer, publisher, editor, designer and now publicist."

Whistler Features contains 16 full-page artworks by local artist Christina Nick and Whistler ex-patriate Hugh Kearney who now lives in New York.

"I really have to thank the artists," Vogler says. "Their work says as much about Whistler as the writing, and it rounds out the book, giving it more of a coffee table appeal."

As well as the full-page artworks, there are about 65 small images throughout the pages, many of them culled from the sketch books of Nick.

"I also had a lot of help with the design from people like Charlie Doyle and Kevin Raffler of Real World Media. I discovered that Whistler has a little Silicon Valley going on down in Function Junction – I had no idea there were so many graphic design and computer businesses down there," says Vogler.

The launch party is this Sunday, Dec. 17th at Gaitors in the Shoestring Lodge at 6 p.m. There will be some appetizers and Okanagan Springs is putting up some refreshments for the first arrivals. The book will be going at the special local’s reduced rate of $20 at the launch. It will also be available at Armchair books, Bestsellers and various galleries throughout the valley.