NEW GLASGOW - The author of “The Mill: Fifty Years of Pulp and Protest” wasn’t happy when she found out Coles at the Highland Square Mall cancelled a public signing of her book.
But writer and investigative journalist Joan Baxter said she accepts what happened.
Baxter confirmed the book signing was cancelled, noting that she’d rather not cause problems for staff at the store and mall by holding an event that may lead to trouble.
“I personally covered wars in Africa, so I’m not afraid of anything – but I didn’t want to cause problems for them,” said Baxter.
Although Coles talked about rescheduling the signing, “that means you get an alternate date, and that didn’t happen. So it was cancelled,” said Baxter.
Baxter wrote to Coles, indicating that if they felt there was a level of threat serious enough to cancel a book signing, “whatever it was that prompted them to cancel should be reported to the police.”
The fact that the bookstore and the company are getting the brunt of the public anger is something that troubles Baxter, who believes that the anger “should be directed at the perpetrators of the campaign of threats there was.”
The controversy that arose at the New Glasgow Coles was a far cry from the comparatively quieter scene that took place at the book signing in Baxter’s own hometown, in Truro, where she signed copies of her book on Saturday.
“Absolutely nothing happened (in Truro) – in fact, it was so slow,” said Baxter. “There was only one call from one person, and that was one person saying the wouldn’t come back to the bookstore, if I was going to be signing books there – it was very minor.”
Attempts to contact staff at Coles were unsuccessful before press deadline.
