EGAN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-08-07 published
Scott NOBLE
By Bill HUMBER
Thursday,
August 7, 2003 - Page A18
Publisher, old-time pugilism fan, jazz pianist, father. Born
March 9, 1954, in Toronto. Died April 5 in Toronto, of cancer,
aged 49.
During a visit to the rare books section of the Metro Reference
Library about 10 years ago, Scott
NOBLE discovered an original
volume one of Pierce Egan's Boxiana. Scott dedicated the last
several years of his life to publishing this long out-of-print
series of boxing compilations written by Egan during the first
several decades of the 19th century.
EGAN had popularized the sport of pugilism, or prize-fighting,
writing in a highly vernacular fashion meant to be read aloud
in coffee houses and taverns. Many have credited his vibrant
and lively style not only with influencing the young Charles
Dickens but also with helping invent the genre of sports writing.
Scott was enamoured with this world. He often noted that in the
age before the telegraph, word of Tom Cribb's victory over his
rival Molineaux travelled faster to the City of London than news
of the Battle of Waterloo. Not surprising, given that there was
more money riding on the former.
As a teenager, Scott had rebelled against the strictures of a
schooling system out-of-step with the 1960s. He was a bright
star of Etobicoke's alternative high-schools, travelled to India
as a 19-year-old, learned to speak Hindi, spent a year in Humber
College's music program, and was a largely self-taught jazz pianist.
In the late 1970s, when he couldn't find his favourite music,
he opened his own used-record store across from Sam the Record
Man (where he had once worked). British Airways stewards with
the latest English extended plays were his preferred customers.
He worked for Carswell's, the legal publisher, and eventually
left them to produce Noble's International Guide to the Law Reports
in 1995. His publishing-house imprint, Nicol Island Publishing,
took its name from his mother's cottage on the family's beloved
Nicol Island, a three-hour drive northeast of Toronto. A great
uncle had originally bought the 26-acre property. The island
was a favourite retreat for Scott and eventually his two young
daughters, Anna and Roslyn.
Having decided to reprint Egan's full oeuvre, Scott quickly discovered
that the library copy was brittle and words had bleached through
onto other pages. Photocopying was impossible and so, daily,
he lugged his 29-pound Toshiba portable to the library to begin
the task of transcribing every word. Librarians warmed to this
daunting (if unusual) project and provided a storage space. Working
doggedly. he completed and published three volumes, discovering
in the process that the University of Western Ontario not only
had a full set but also kept it on their open stacks. Scott alerted
that library to the need for a more secure location.
He proofread every edition four times and was working on volume
four when in December, 2002, he was diagnosed with the cancer
that would claim his life. A friend in Ottawa said his only concern
was his girls. "He seemed truly surprised when I explained that
other people would miss him, too."
Scott was a renaissance rebel and will be remembered for his
contribution to legal publishing and his quirky desire to return
Pierce Egan to circulation.
In a final note to boxing publisher Don Cogswell, he said simply:
"Thanks for everything, went out reading Ring Magazine! P.S.
Molineaux was robbed."
Bill HUMBER is a friend of Scott
NOBLE.
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EGAR o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-04-01 published
EGAR,
Shirley (née
LEMON)
Died peacefully at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, on Monday,
March 31, 2003, in her 81st year. Dear wife of Stanley. Mother
of Joann (Will
MITCHELL) and John (Vanessa
ROSE.)
Grandmother
of Martha (Jaron
WALDMAN,)
Lauren and
Shannon.
Sister of the
late Harris
LEMON and his wife
Shirley.
Aunt of Cynthia (Mark
LEMON) and Tim (Jackie.) A service will be held in the chapel
of the Humphrey Funeral Home - A. W. Miles Chapel, 1403 Bayview
Avenue (south of Eglinton Avenue East) on Thursday, April 3rd
at one o'clock. A reception will follow.
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