Mushrooms of British Columbia, the latest handbook from Royal BC Museum Books, is now available in many BC book outlets. This new 500-page, all-colour volume features illustrated, in-depth looks at 350 of BC's most common mushrooms. For most of its first year of publication it was the#1 bestseller on the rankings list maintained by the Association of Book Publishers of BC.
The 2022 BC mushroom season has begun! Authors Andy and Kem will be part of over 15 public events during the next two months. See a list of these happenings under the Events tab. Lobster mushroom, Hypomyces lactifluorum, found by Angelica Save in Metchosin in August, 2022 (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/131839751)
Children's educator and songwriter Rosie Emery recently released a song, Funky Fungi. She was inspired by some recent books on mycorrhizal fungi.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFZE9heZOio
Metchosin Foundations's new fundraiser, a boxed set of 36 mushroom art cards, are now available. Text on the back of the cards is by Andy and Kem, adapted (with permission) from Mushrooms of British Columbia. Here's an article about the cards by one of the artists, Dana Nygard, published in the The Westshore. More information on the cards can be found on the Metchosin Biodiversity site.
The BC Museum travelling exhibit on BC's Marvellous Mushrooms, which is based on the box essays in Mushroom of British Columbia, is at the Okanagan Heritage Museum in Kelowna until May 23.
January brought a rare display of hair ice to Metchosin. Did you know that a fungi was involved? Read the Metchosin Muse article by Kem Luther (click on article to read)
The BC travelling exhibit on "BC's Marevellous Mushrooms" is at the Cowichan Valley Museum until March. Reports in the Chemainus Valley Courier and the Cowichan Valley Citizen.
The new BC mushroom book has proved to be too popular--the first printing sold out in a few weeks. A new printing was deleyed by COVID supply chain and labour issues. The new printing is now done! Bookstores across BC are being quickly restocked. The Royal BC Museum Shop has lots of copies.
BC Museum is releasing a video in its This Week in History series about its new travelling exhibit on mushrooms. The CHEK news report from November 15, 2021 contains the video. The panels of the display, which is currently at the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, can be seen in this report.
A good article (Guardian, 11 Nov 2021) by a writer who really knows the subject that she is writing about.
The book Mushrooms of British Columbia has been joined by a sister production from the Royal BC Museum. A new museum travelling exhibit on "BC's Marvellous Mushrooms" is now available for exhibitors to lease. The exhibit is currently on display at the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary. The installation features 16 large colour panels and 3 exhibit boxes. The panels were authored by Andy MacKinnon and Kem Luther. Much of the content in the panels is based on material from the Mushrooms of British Columbia, especially the book's box essays. Dr. Cara Gibson, Executive Director of the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, stands in front of the new BC Museum travelling exhibit The initial panel of the exhibit introduces the display, emphasizing the many ways that mushrooms are important to the people of BC. Halfway through the exhibit, one of the panels takes the reader on a tour of the major mushroom groups. Some views of the panels in the travelling exhibit. Two of the exhibit boxes have lifesize models of 10 of BC's best edible…