Longtime Nanaimo bookseller and community leader Thora Howell is launching her first cookbook, "Around a Protection Island Table: A Cookbook Celebrating Community". The retired owner of The Bookstore on Bastion, which she operated with her husband, Jerry, for more than 30 years, will celebrate the cookbook release at a fundraising event on the first night of the Commercial Street Night Market. Known for her deep involvement in Nanaimo’s literary life, Howell also helped found the Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival in 1986; many remember the gatherings she hosted on Protection Island, where her cooking brought people together.
=0D=0A=The cookbook features more than 100 recipes, from comfort food to Asian and Middle Eastern dishes, including vegetarian and gluten-free options, along with stories and photographs of Protection Island. It also includes a guest chapter by ethnobotanist Dr. Nancy J. Turner and photography by Jim MacQuarrie. The launch event will offer refreshments, a cookbook signing, and an opportunity to meet the author. All proceeds from sales at the event will support the Protection Island Lions Club.
DTSTART:20260618 DTEND:20260619 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR