Feature book: New Release

Just released, The Violin Teacher by the late Marjorie Devine is the life story of Guelph violin teacher and piper William Thain, told through his daily journals from 1901-1958

The book will appeal to history and music buffs alike as William Thain’s long and rich life, and local Guelph and Toronto as well as national and world events unfold in his short daily musings handwritten in his journals. 

“William Thain’s first-person account of a life lived, in music, moving pictures, and major events, told over six-decades is keenly transcribed by Marjorie Devine, who sensed in the worn leather bindings, a rare opportunity to know a person, in their own words, and to know a place, the way that they knew it.

In this volume, Devine preserves Thain’s voice and provides local historians with a curated story of his life in Guelph, between 1898 and 1958. Devine is owed a debt of gratitude for her dedication in transcribing it.” – Dawn Owen, Curator, Guelph Museums

Devine, who passed away in Etobicoke on Feb 22, 2022, worked on the final stages of her book while in palliative care. She was a retired teacher who taught high school throughout Etobicoke for 33 years, was an active member of the Etobicoke Chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW), a Meals on Wheels and Dorothy Ley Hospice volunteer, and past president of a group of occasional Etobicoke teachers for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and formidable blood donor.

Devine also wrote the memoir Irma in 1993, about her Estonian-Canadian friend, Irma Kalmet, that was also released in an Estonian edition.

Limited edition copy book available by contacting carol@caroldevine.org $40 (postage additional). Free pick up and delivery in Toronto and Etobicoke neighbourhoods. 464 pages with colour images

Marjorie Devine’s The Violin Teacher news

The Violin Teacher is now available to borrow or purchase at the Iroquois Falls Public Library, thank you Diane Gagnon! Marjorie first taught highschool in Iroquois Falls in the late 1950s before meeting the love of her life, Thomas (Mickey) Devine. She then taught school in Tokyo, Japan and across Southern Ontario, and returned again to Iroquois Falls with her family and teaching again where she supply taught highschool and was an avid library user.

The Violin Teacher at Guelph Book Bash Nov 5, 2023

Join Carol and Michael Devine, Marjorie’s children at the Guelph Book bash representing their late mother’s new book.

The Guelph Book Bash Festival is an annual celebration of the books published by Guelph and area authors over the previous year. The event is presented by Vocamus Writers Community.

This year, it will be held on Sunday November 5, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM, at the Guelph Farmers' Market.

Guelph Book Launch of The Violin Teacher

Guelph Museums, Oct 1, 2022. Featuring Dawn Owen, Curator, Guelph Museums, Carol Devine, editor and Tyler Bridge, Guelph Pipe Master

Review by Elinor FilIion

I finished reading the Violin Teacher Today. i eventually became quite fond of Mr. Thain and was very pleased when he developed a soft spot for cats! Without a doubt, the fact that I’d played the violin in my youth was helpful as I read. I’m familar with the parts of the instruments, with much of the music he enjoyed, and with the violinists he heard play at Massey Hall or on the radio. People in or from Guelph will recognize names and events in local history. All readers will appreciate his frequent comments on the cost of things, and what he had to say about world events. (And most readers will share my wish that he’d had adjectives other than “fine” in his vocabulary to describe dinners and conversations he’d enjoyed!)