My Godfather – Dr. Pierre Taschereau

I was thrilled recently to finally track down my Godfather through the internet.  One small article written by Dalhousie University students mentioned his name with no contact info, but it was a start.  Finally an obscure directory listing gave his phone number.

I confess that for a while I did not search further.  Originally I tried to track him down with the help of my mother, and we were able to find his parents still alive and well.  So I relayed a message to Pierre via his parents that I wanted to write and publish the children’s tale he had told me 35 years earlier.  I was given Pierre’s blessing by his parents who relayed that he would be happy to have me write the story.  Nevertheless, we never actually spoke and many years went by before the book was published.

The story always impressed me. The images and adventures were still vivid after all those years.  Finally I was inspired to write the story and embarked on a long journey to write, illustrate and publish the book.  As I had a full time job and led an active life, I worked very part-time to accomplish the end product.  It took several years before I finally decided the route I would need to take was to self-publish.

The learning curve was immense, but I was determined not to give up regardless of minor funding, time constraints and a general non-comprehension of the work involved.  In other words, I had no idea what I was doing!

I started with the characters and searched for someone to bring them to life in illustrations. I met a lady online from England who was introduced to me through our church circle.  Her ability to capture the exact character and essential insouciance of the goblins was terrific.  She sent me a couple of sample drawings and I was closed immediately to use her for the book.  The exchange rate for GB Pounds at the time was very high, so essentially that was the most expensive part of the book, but one I never regret.

My Graphic Designer had never designed a book before, but with over 20 years in the field of Graphic Arts, she had no problems figuring it out.   We went through a couple of sizing changes, and in the end found the perfect fit.

I published the book officially in January 2013.  Then I promptly went off to do some personal studies that kept me busy until May.  By the end of May I was working again part time for 4 different companies which meant more than full time overall.  Now here we are in November and I have only begun to re-visit the book.

The first thing I did was to search for my Godfather again.  Success!  I tracked him down and we spoke for the first time at the end of October.  It was so exciting and rewarding to speak to him again after all those years.  His voice still sounded the same with that soothing story-telling canter.

I was also given the backstory, to the original goblin story, by Pierre himself. He told me many wonderful things about my father, and many other young boys and children who were privileged to hear Pierre tell them his imaginative tales. I am truly impressed by the care and attention that Pierre gave to any child he met. The impression he left was always positive and inspirational. During a time period and place where many abuses of children occurred, I am very pleased to know that my father was a friend of his and he was able to enjoy the company and indelible influence of Pierre.

The vivid imagination and story weaving ability of Pierre shine through in this first tale in the adventure series of the The Great Bobbin and Hobbin.