Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 9th 2006, 3:12pm By queenseyes

Last night marked a grand occasion that's sole purpose was to celebrate the city's gardens. Guests arrived at the Larkin House to meet the team that took on the task of publishing the GardenWalk Buffalo book, and by evening's end 180 copies had been sold. The story of the GardenWalk Buffalo book goes far beyond what most people might imagine. In recent years Canisius College Press had disbanded, which meant that many local authors no longer had that particular resource to print the shortlist of Buffalo-related titles. It also meant that Jim Charlier (bottom left), President of the Garden Walk and designer of its book, needed a publisher. When Marti Gorman (Buffalo Old Home Week organizer and publisher) moved back into town she contacted Joe Bieron (bottom right - former publisher of Canisius College Press), and the two joined forces as principles of a newly formed Buffalo Heritage Unlimited.

Canisius College gladly handed off the rights to such books as Buffalo Memories: Gone but not Forgotten and Beautiful Buffalo: Preserving a City. The newfound publishing business was also at the right place and the right time to tackle the GardenWalk Buffalo project. Now that there was a publisher, the team set to work on production. Elizabeth Licata (top middle) was brought on board as the wordsmith, and Don Zinteck took care of the photography. The task was time consuming, but after countless accounts of urban green-thumbs and twenty gigs of photos, Jim Charlier set to work on designing the beauty. And the book is stunning... not just for Buffalo, but for the world. It showcases the imaginative beauty of our city's gardens in a light that only Garden Walk aficionados are familiar with.

Last evening,Aeos crowd was alive with people discussing the raging success of the book, and the production team was in awe at the response. "We published 5000 books and pre-sold $7000 (worth) before it even went to press," Marti Gorman told me. "The first run might not make it to Thanksgiving." Joe Bieron added, "I've never seen a book unveiling event like it. Even when Classic Buffalo came out people didn't react like this. There are a lot of garden lovers out there." And Jim Charlier was just as proud, "It's not just Buffalo. We're seeing interest from big bookstores that see it for its overall content, not just the Buffalo reference."

Intermingling with the crowd last evening were a handful of gardeners whose works were featured in the book. Two of those master gardeners were John Crawford (top left) and Scott Washburn (top right), who were extremely proud that their garden appeared on the front cover of the book. Their backyard represents the dedication and talent that goes into each and every one of the gardens featured on the pages. The book is now circulating throughout Buffalo, and one of the stores that I know is stocking it is one of Allentown's newest floral boutiques - Martin Kemp Designs @ 68 (68 Allen). Elizabeth told me (last night) that she was going to make sure that '68' was stocked immediately, so stop on by on your way home today to pick up a copy which includes a DVD produced by Cheryl Jackson and Brian Milbrand. Call ahead to reserve your copy 716-884-7700. Martin Kemp Designs @ 68 is located on Allen next to Fiddleheads (corner of Franklin). Martin's own garden is also featured in the book.