------ Jeremy Mercer
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Jeremy Mercer is a Canadian author, journalist, and translator.
He worked as a crime reporter for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper until 1999 and likes to believe he played a fundamental role in the country's legalisation of marijuana for medical purposes. During this same time, he wrote two true-ish crime novels; the first was made into a film, the second was nominated for a literary prize of some repute.
After moving to Paris prior to the millenium, Mercer lived at the infamous Shakespeare and Company bookstore for five months. This experience was the basis for his memoir Time Was Soft There (St. Martin's Press, New York), also known as Books, Baguettes & Bedbugs (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London). In Paris, he was also a founder of the Kilometer Zero Project, an arts collective that published magazines, produced theatre, and organized performances in Paris, London, Brooklyn, Marseille, and Beijing.
Mercer has recently been exploring the question of the death penalty. This will culminate with publication of his book examining the case of the last man executed in France (When the Guillotine Fell, St. Martin's) in 2008. On the same theme, he has also translated Robert Badinter's L'Abolition into English (Abolition: One Man's Battle Against the Death Penalty, Northeastern University Press, 2008). Abolition is the inside story of how the death penalty was abolished in France, written by the lawyer who dedicated a decade of his life to the cause.
Mercer currently lives in Marseille, France where he is beginning research on his next subject.
Praise for his work :
"Jeremy Mercer's tale of George Whitman and his beloved bookstore is a book of revelations, for it tells the hard-to-discover true story of George's life."
-- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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For the first time, our printed version uses videos to bring life to our content and advertising. A new concept, Augmented Reality, brings the paper to life at the click of a button. All you need to do is download the free LAYAR application on your phone or tablet and off you go. Then just follow the instructions over the next pages.
The sun is out, bank holidays are in, we all want to go and explore, although this can sometimes be ruined by the dreaded mistral (p14). But let’s not spoil things. How about a visit to St Jean du Fos (p20) or if you’re feeling more urban, a nice shopping day in Avignon with a healthy tea break (p23) or a visit to an art gallery in Nîmes? (p17) If you’re feeling extra energetic like me, how about entering the Pont du Gard race on 30 June to raise money for a fantastic local charity? Also in this issue, the remarkable story of a simulated space mission by Claire (p18) and a very funny article by Bernice on her pathological inability (or so she says) to learn languages (p22).
Carole Rommene
