The Annual Yosef Wosk - Friends of Special Collections - Alcuin Society Lecture was held at Simon Fraser University, Harbourside, on November 25, 2006. A long period of planning went into the event, which included the production of a series of limited edition broadside tributes to Jim Rimmer.

The weather was ominous and it started to snow around 5:30 p.m. I managed to arrive at S.F.U. early, and found the theatre surprisingly empty, although 250 people were expected to attend. Stragglers began to arrive in greater numbers, and at 7:45 the theatre was packed with enough letterati to begin.

Eric Swannick, SFU Special Collections, gave a brief introduction and handed the podium over to Robert Bringhurst. Although Bringhurst had been asked to talk about Jim Rimmer, he said that he had been "in a tragic frame of mind recently" and spoke about the history of the Monotype machine. The early Monotype fonts - produced beginning in 1900 - were "like the names of churches", he said, a record of "generations of artistic achievement", and that the remaining machines are cared for by "a few people shouldering the responsibility."

Dick Kouwenhoven of Hemlock Printers spoke of his own apprenticeship in typography and printing in Delft, a Dutch town with "a history of brewing beer and printing bibles". He mentioned the "unique wiring" in Jim's studio, suggesting it should be "a training school for electrical inspectors", and closed with thanks to Jim from the employees at Hemlock.

During the first two speeches, a powerpoint presentation was being projected onto a huge screen behind the speakers. Annoyingly, the screen went blank every 10 seconds and then presented the same image again. At 8:12 a woman went up on stage and turned it off.

Eric introduced the next speaker, Charles van Sandwyk. Charles noted that he had first met Jim at the Circle Craft fair when it was held at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. At art school, Charles showed some of his block prints to Jim after "pressing" them in a woodworking vise. Jim told him that "presses are for pressing, why don't you drive the car over it?" Charles had his mother drive over his wood blocks to make prints, but recalled that "linocuts worked best" in this process.

Charles got to know Jim better at Capilano College as his first year typography instructor - a "fabulous teacher" and a "generous man, where everybody got an A". Charles noted with an emotional surge that "he takes his cues from no-one, Jim is Jim, and that's why we love him."

This set the tone for Denise Carson Wilde, the owner of Paper-Ya on Granville Island, to take the stage, although she commented that she had immediately said "no" when asked to speak at Rimmerfest. She met Jim in 1979 at Cobblestone Press, and later worked with Jim in a storefront studio on East Hastings Street where they "displayed broadsheets in a window for winos to enjoy." Jim had a large collection of printing equipment by this time, including the Jones Lightning Jobber, and had "screws and bolts and grease everywhere."

Jim's lighter side came to the fore one day, when he told Denise that the W.C.B. had come by and would shut the place down if a "personal protective device" was not worn. Presenting her with a modified hard hat liner to wear, she fell for the gag. She said emotionally that Jim had a "huge impact" on her, the prank notwithstanding, and gave him a hug on the way back to her seat.

At this point, the microphones were opened to the floor, and a number of equally impassioned speakers gave Jim their thanks. Peter Haas was first up, giving heartfelt thanks to Jim for training him in letterpress after a major accident. Fred Forster and a colleague from Capilano College were next and read from a list of comments that Cap students had written after visiting Jim's New Westminster studio. Jim's impact on the students was clear, and comments included:
     "the first thing that struck me about Jim Rimmer's place was the smell"
     "what is this place where time stops?"
     "a typographic cowboy lives here."
     "the basement is quite dangerous, though"
     "that morning started something in me that was nothing short of a revolution."

The last comment demonstrates the enormous impact that Jim has had on many people over a long period of time, particularly students, an impact that will continue to evolve and support letterpress for years to come.

Ann Cowan, Director of the SFU Downtown Campus, spoke about the evolution of the university's writing programme over the years, from "when we had letraset, and that was exciting." Jim introduced to them the "magical world of making an impression."

Ryan Mah, another student influenced by Jim, told a story about one of Jim's typecasting machines shooting streams of hot lead when a part jiggled loose, and how Jim would stick a finger in a pot of molten lead to impress the ladies. John Robertson from the Royal B.C. Museum spoke affectionately about working with Jim.

Crispin Elsted of Barbarian Press related a story about an Italian who referred to Jim Rimmer as "magic man" Giovanni Rimmer, then brought Jim on stage to present him with the portfolio of broadsides. Rimmer humbly thanked his parents, and stated that "I don't know what I've done to deserve this."

Alcuin Society Director Jim Rainer gave thanks to all who had spoken or contributed. Eric Swannick declared the event closed, and the reception began. An excellent table of food and drink was available, and the buzz of conversation rose as old friends re-united, acquaintances were refreshed, and new friends made.

Jim published a keepsake for Rimmerfest, which was freely available during the event but disappeared quickly. After a very interesting and moving evening, it was out into the snowy Vancouver night.