[Libri] David Bourbeau

Sat Apr 19 17:23:24 EDT 2003

Jim—

Please post this text from a recent newspaper article about David Bourbeau. I 
think your readers may be interested in knowing about David's condition.

Best wishes, Daniel

Daniel E. Kelm
The Wide Awake Garage
Garage Annex School
One Cottage Street #5
Room 5-4
Easthampton, MA 01027

413-527-8044  voice
413-529-0071  fax
Foliotrope at aol.com
www.GarageAnnexSchool.com

Artists create book for ailing friend 

04/17/2003

By FRED CONTRADA  Staff writer 

NORTHAMPTON - The call went out to bibliophiles in February: It was time to 
honor David Bourbeau. 

In a matter of weeks, some 50 area book artists came together to create a 
masterpiece for their teacher, colleague and friend in a literary tradition 
its recipient is uniquely qualified to appreciate. After devoting a lifetime 
to books, Bourbeau has his own Festschrift. 

Bourbeau, 61, a Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School trustee and 
longtime stanchion of the local bookbinding community, underwent surgery 
earlier this month for a rare form of cancer. Doctors at the Lahey Clinic in 
Burlington removed more than 20 pounds of cancerous growth along with his 
spleen, adrenal gland and one kidney. 

Bourbeau is still in the medical center's intensive care unit awaiting 
further surgery, but he entered the hospital knowing that he has made his 
mark on his peers as surely as his Thistle Bindery trademark stamped his own 
works. 

As Easthampton book artist Daniel Kelm explains it, a Festschrift is a 
compilation of homages given usually to scholars and writers to celebrate a 
lifetime of work. The term comes from the German words "fest"(celebration) 
and "schrift" (writing). 

"David is a great guy," Kelm said, "and when I heard about the cancer I felt 
I wanted to do something for him." 

Kelm began to e-mail Bourbeau's friends and colleagues and the project came 
together quickly. 

The result is a compendium of the bookmaking talent in the Pioneer Valley, 
much of it nurtured by Bourbeau. With fountain pen and letter press, the 
contributors created a 46-page work of art with Bourbeau as their subject. 

There is gold leaf and wonderfully marbled paper and 36-point Saphir type 
with festival figures. One page features a poem veiled in see-through cloth, 
another an elaborate envelope that contains a message to Bourbeau. The covers 
are intricate wood carvings done by longtime Bourbeau friend Kristina Madsen. 

Bourbeau, a Holyoke native, started out as a painter but turned to leather 
work after moving to Northampton in 1965. His love for books eventually won 
him over, and he opened The Thistle Bindery on Main Street, moving it to 
Easthampton and then to Florence. His studio became a mecca for artists the 
world over who fashion works of art out of paper, ink and letter presses. 

A Rabelesian figure with an infectious love of good food, Bourbeau produced 
many notable books of his own, including a 1-inch-by-3-inch book of poems by 
Horace and a $2,000-per-copy edition of Emily Dickinson's poems that opens 
like an accordion. In 1997, he was commissioned to create a book to 
accommodate the artwork of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, a noted 
calligrapher. 

The tributes to Bourbeau in his Festschrift include poems, photographs and 
reminiscences. He is called "a big man with arms flung wide," "Booboo" and "a 
stately Epicurean figure." He is depicted "eating pie and cream puffs" and 
having "a beautiful chancery hand." One friend calls him "the most generous 
man I have ever met." 

The Festschrift was delivered into Bourbeau's hands at his studio April 2, 
shortly before his most recent operation, with his wife, Marie, and his 
daughter, Anja, by his side. "He was just blown away," said Kelm. 

Associates say Bourbeau is battling his cancer with the same spirit he brings 
to his art and to his advocacy of Smith Vocational. He was elected to a 
position on the school's board of trustees in 1997, amid a period of turmoil 
over the operation of its farm, and applied his artisan's sensibilities to 
the school's mission. 

"He is the true spirit of a trustee of this place," said Superintendent Frank 
R. Llamas. "He loves this place, and the kids sense it when he comes here to 
visit." 

Those who know Bourbeau do not rule out his presence at future trustees 
meetings. "He's planning to survive this," said Joe Blumenthal, owner of 
Downtown Sounds and a longtime friend. "He's had a remarkably upbeat 
attitude, and he's determined to do his best to beat this thing." 

Kelm is adamant that the Festschrift is a celebration of Bourbeau's life, not 
a memorial. Bourbeau brought the book with him to show his surgeon before his 
operation. It is currently on display at R. Michelson Galleries on Main 
Street. 

"It would be great if he could just be healed immediately," Kelm said, "but 
it did what we wanted it to do. It boosted his spirits."

Fred Contrada can be reached at fcontrada at repub.com