From Rolf Maurer, Publisher at New Star Books: Around 1 o’clock on the early, early morning of March 7, New Star’s office at 18th and Commercial Street in East Vancouver was hit by an arson attack. Some sort of Molotov cocktail device was, um, introduced into the office environment, causing minor fire damage but leading to significant water damage.
Nobody was hurt. The modern age being what it was, most of the press’s operations fit onto a couple of data sticks; the setback should be temporary. The tip-of-the-iceberg of our inventory was destroyed; but with a single exception, no title suffered the destruction of its entire stock. The exception is the 5th printing of Debbie: An Epic, by Lisa Robertson, which has just attained “ultra rare” status.
It will take us a few days to properly assess the damage, and if, and how, it might effect our operations. But we will survive this.
Many thanks to all of you who have called or e-mailed to express concern, support, outrage, &c.