His children’s books have been nominated for the Governor’s General Award and he has written a two-volume history of Canada as well as involved in the production of the television series Canada: A People’s History. This evening he introduced his second novel Mount Pleasant by talking about the 1989 collapse of real estate prices and a life of debt confronted by the main character, Harry Salter, in his book. He read the except in which Harry was being persuaded by his real estate agent to purchase a property well over its value only to discover afterwards the woes of termites, lead pipes and leaking foundations. On top of that he also lost money by investing in an asbestos company. Gillmor wrote and read with a sense of dry humour which delighted his audience.