Serge Alternês, co-author of Live Souls: Citizens and Volunteers of Civil War Spain, will sign copies of his book during a meet-and-greet at Black Bond Books in Ladner on Sunday, July 17.
Live Souls features the memoir of Alternês' father, Alec Wainman, a medical volunteer during the Spanish Civil War, along with 210 of his photographs. The photographs - many of which have never been seen before - were long thought to be lost but were recovered in excellent condition.
Alternês was born and raised in Vancouver, and completed his degree at UBC. Discovering the missing collection of his father's photos after years of searching, he was determined to bring them and his father's story to the public.
"In Spain, following the Franco dictatorship and the amnesty law, much of the history of the Civil War and the Spanish Republic still remains largely buried," says Alternês. "Live Souls was made to preserve this memory."
He explains how in the spring of 1975, Wainman was contacted to publish 200 photographs from his collection of 1,650 photographs of Civil War Spain. He then sent the complete collection of negatives to London, England, for a forthcoming book on the International Brigades. Unfortunately, publication never happened. At that point, however, Wainman started writing his own memoirs, which are now published in Live Souls.
Alternês says in 2013 he was able to contact a person who had corresponded with his father about the publication of the photographs.
"Again, by chance, she had rescued Alec's photo collection from the home of a retired, and since deceased, Soho publisher, and had stored and preserved the collection in a suitcase," he says.
Alternês currently divides his time between Vancouver and Europe in the promotion of Live Souls and exhibitions of this photo collection.
In light of this year marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, he will also discuss Vancouver's important connections to the war and explain how these events transformed social awareness, the arts and medicine in the Western world. The book signing event goes from 1 to 3 p.m. For more information about the event, contact Black Bond Books (5251 Ladner Trunk Rd.) at 604-946-6677. Call Ronsdale Press at 604-738-4688 for queries about the book.
