tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post383722223647187898..comments2023-11-16T20:09:07.427-05:00Comments on Chumley & Pepys On Books: Montreal Book Shops No. 3: Nebula (and William Gibson and Sting)ralph mackayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15758060032139481984noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post-64433171089357533782012-12-28T03:32:22.764-05:002012-12-28T03:32:22.764-05:00A rare photo of Peter Black and "Nova Norm&qu...A rare photo of Peter Black and "Nova Norm" taken inside Nova:<br />http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=380320458726108&set=o.67826981966&type=1&theaterAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356413253578996637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post-34627680134856424162012-08-02T23:47:08.365-04:002012-08-02T23:47:08.365-04:00Nova was a great little store and Peter Black was ...Nova was a great little store and Peter Black was a great, laid-back, decent guy.<br />Tall, thin, with long hair and Jesus facial hair, always in t-shirt and jeans, he struck me as a sci-fi / fantasy hippie.<br /><br />I recall Miss Dunn, likely long-deceased, who owned the Readmore Paperback, speaking of him in glowing terms.<br /><br />He had a lockable wooden chest, that he covered and used as a seat that held some very special comics.<br /><br />I was at the Crescent St store late one day, the last customer when 2 chaps he was very friendly with showed up to make a buy and he opened it up and, if I recall correctly, one of them bought Silver Surfer #1.<br /><br />Being quite young back then, I was never as friendly with him as I was later with Lee and the gang at Komico but I have some great memories of hours spent at Nova.MarkMorinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post-61484118986525905732012-07-03T15:39:32.722-04:002012-07-03T15:39:32.722-04:00I use to work for at Nova back in the Belgo years,...I use to work for at Nova back in the Belgo years,(I was often referred to as Norm from Nova). I left the store around 1991/92 and moved to Vancouver. at the time that I worked there the store was on the second floor facing St Catherine st. many a times we would lose a ping pong ball out the window, (yes Nova was the only comic book store to have a ping pong table in use as a ping pong table). I do know that Nova had moved to the rear facing part of the building a year after I left. when I returned in the late 90s, Nova was gone. I heard a few rumors of the store being move out to the west Island, yet I found no trace of it. all I could hope for is that peter and his wife Joni moved on. I will say that, in its time Nova was the best store to shop at and was the city's most popular comic book artist hang out. Nova had hosted 5 Novacons in store with no charge admittance and always had regulars like Geof Isherwood and Bernie Mirault coming in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post-18346105294945423792010-09-23T16:27:00.275-04:002010-09-23T16:27:00.275-04:00I remember Nova Books when they first opened on Cr...I remember Nova Books when they first opened on Crescent. Peter Black stocked books, but he also stocked comics. He had commercial comics, and a consistent selection of undergrounds as well. I spent many hours in that shop as a teenager. In fact, I spent so much time there, one day when I was short Peter said I could pay for the comic when I came back the next day. I've always wondered what happened to Mr. Black. In its day, Nova was a terrific place to spend time in.geinikankanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02211174237615154668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post-60277834500737637052010-02-10T12:33:12.671-05:002010-02-10T12:33:12.671-05:00Thanks for the comment. My little pieces about Mo...Thanks for the comment. My little pieces about Montreal Bookshops are mainly personal recollections, not history, but I do enjoy learning about them. Thanks for the comment and info.ralph mackayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15758060032139481984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31547074.post-90612953080869509742010-02-10T00:56:22.665-05:002010-02-10T00:56:22.665-05:00When Nebula opened, they were actually on Sherbroo...When Nebula opened, they were actually on Sherbrooke Street, in that block west of Guy. You had to walk up stairs to get there, though I recall they were inside. That would have been 1989 or 90.<br /><br />They were not Montreal's first science fiction bookstore. That honor goes to "Nova" that opened in 1977 or 78 on Crescent Street below St. Catherine. The owner was Peter Black, no relation, who had previously worked at Classics. It was quite novel at the time, all those SF books and I don't recall anything but books It was also a time when there was fair success in the field, so a lot of classic material was being published along with the new, and there were quite a few autobiographical books coming out. And just barely at the point where novelizations of science fiction movies and TV began to take off.<br /><br />It was a one man operation, I remember going in there one day and being the only customer, and he quietly asked me if I'd mind leaving, so he could go for a meal while the place wasn't busy.<br /><br />Nova lasted into the eighties, but I'm hazy about it. I can't remember when they moved from Crescent, or if there was a second location. All I remember is that it eventually was in the Belgo Building at 372 St. Catherine Street and it was all or mostly comic books.<br /><br /> MichaelMichael Blackhttp://www.pubnix.net/~mblack/books.htmlnoreply@blogger.com