
A South Okanagan photographer and writer is sharing his love of the local region with a new book of area landscapes, landmarks, communities and history.
“A Landscape Like No Other: South Okanagan, Similkameen & Boundary Country” by Richard McGuire is a paperback coffee table book with 47 full-page colour photographs and bite-sized text descriptions.
“Many Canadians and people outside Canada have no idea such a special corner of Canada exists,” McGuire said in a news release.
“We have semi-arid, desert-like landscapes with plants and animals not found anywhere else in Canada. We have grasslands, ponderosa pine forests, blue lakes, vineyards and orchards. Even jagged rock formations and mountains with alpine tundra.”
McGuire said he first fell in love with the region when he picked cherries in the Okanagan one summer in the 1970s.
He moved to Osoyoos in 2012 to take a position as photographer, reporter and subsequently editor of the Osoyoos Times, a precursor to the Times Chronicle.
“The book includes some of my most popular photos from the past 12 years as well as a number of new ones I’ve never displayed before,” McGuire said.
The South Okanagan portion celebrates the communities of Osoyoos, Oliver, Okanagan Falls and Kaleden.
While Penticton and other communities to the north were omitted because McGuire said their character is quite different, he may be including them in a future book.
"There are introductory sections on Similkameen and the Boundary Country, which are less populated than the Okanagan, but have rich mining and railway histories from around the turn of the last century."
McGuire soft launched his book at the indoor Market on Main on Saturday, April 13 at the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos.
It will also be available at his booth during the Saturday Osoyoos Farmers’ Market from May to October next to Osoyoos Town Hall.
Launch events and plans to sell it through local retailers will be announced at a later date.
