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Searching for Serafim : the life and legacy of Serafim "Joe" Fortes / Ruby Smith Díaz.
Van Pelt Library GV838.F67 S65 2025
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Smith Díaz, Ruby, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Fortes, Joe, 1863-1922.
- Fortes, Joe.
- Lifeguards--British Columbia--Vancouver--Biography.
- Lifeguards.
- Racism against Black people--British Columbia--Vancouver--History.
- Racism against Black people.
- Vancouver (B.C.)--Biography.
- Vancouver (B.C.).
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- 142 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Vancouver : Arsenal Pulp Press, [2025]
- Summary:
- "Searching for Serafim is a layered exploration of the life of Vancouver's first lifeguard, Serafim "Joe" Fortes. A Trinidad native who arrived on the shores of Canada in 1885, Fortes was heralded as a hero in Vancouver for saving dozens of people from drowning, and his funeral drew the largest crowd ever recorded in the city's history. Since his passing, Fortes has been commemorated with a Canada Post-issued stamp and local buildings named in his honour. Yet, little has been discussed about how he navigated an openly white supremacist society as an Afro Latino man. In Searching for Serafim, author Ruby Smith Díaz seeks to unravel the complicated legacy of a local legend to learn more about who Fortes was as a person. She draws from city archives and historical documents to form an insightful critique of the role that colonial settlerism and anti-Black racism played in Fortes's publicized story and reconstructs his life from over a century ago through a contemporary Black perspective, weaving poetry and personal reflections alongside archival research. The result is a moving and thought-provoking book about displacement, identity, and dignity. Searching for Serafim conjures a new side to one of Vancouver's most beloved--and misunderstood--public figures."-- Provided by publisher.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Smith Díaz, Ruby. Searching for Serafim.
- ISBN:
- 9781551529752
- 1551529750
- OCLC:
- 1450753942
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