James P. Delgado provides a fascinating look at San Francisco’s waterfront during the gold rush years. He draws on excavations of buried ships and collapsed buildings to recreate San Francisco’s unique maritime landscape and its rapid growth between approximately 1849 and 1856 from a small village of a few hundred people to a global trading hub with thousands of citizens.

The “forest of masts” that made up the harbour was a floating economy of ships and wharves that carried goods from the far corners of the world. San Francisco rapidly became the principal American port on the Pacific Ocean.

Although the waterfront of that day is long gone to our eyes, it’s still there as a buried archaeological resource. A series of catastrophic fires, landfills, and urban development has resulted in a number of ships, wharves, and other infrastructure of the era being buried beneath modern streets. This treasure trove of information was uncovered during downtown construction and is mined by Delgado in Gold Rush Port. An earlier version of the book was Delgado’s PhD dissertation at SFU.

Delgado is the president of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. His previous books include Lost Warships: An Archaeological Tour of War at Sea; Across the Top of the World: The Quest for the Northwest Passage; and the British Museum’s Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology.

Hawaiians in Early B.C.
River of Gold is the second historical novel by Susan Dobbie (BA’93), taking up where the earlier When Eagles Call left off. It again features Hawaiian labourers Kimo Kanui and Moku Mu’olelo who have ended their contract with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Fort Langley and are off to the Cariboo gold fields.

Award Winning
Business professor Dave Thomas wins the R. Wayne Pace HRD Book of the Year Award for Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts, 2nd ed. Thomas is the author of seven books and numerous articles on cross-cultural interaction in organizational settings.

From Millwright to Author
Oliver Neubert (BA’95), who earned his SFU degree while working full time as a fabrication shop foreman, is writing four books in a children’s series. The first, Chantel’s Quest: The Golden Sword, came out in 2008; the second, Chantel’s Quest: The Enchanted Medallion was released in May. <www.oliverneubert.com>

Take Their Advice
Dan Hare (BA’91) chronicles interviews from more than 300 seniors for Regrets, They’ve Had A Few: Practical Wisdom from the Aged. He includes practical insights, plus a number of top-10 lists: regrets, reasons for happiness, and secrets to a happy marriage. Hare also performs with dance band March Hare. <www.danhare.com>

Greek Treat
Annabel Lyon’s (BA’94) first novel, The Golden Mean, chronicles the seven years Aristotle spent tutoring Alexander the Great. Lyon has also written The Best Thing for You (nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize), Oxygen, and Saturday Night Function.

Knit Wit
Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti documents the new worldwide guerilla-art phenomenon. The book, by publishing student Leanne Prain and knitting aficionada Mandy Moore, is the result of a project by master of publishing students at SFU’s Vancouver campus.
<www.sfukc.viviti.com> aq