Spot quiz time.

Name the city councillor who just wrote a book that will be released in the fall.

Some hints: The author is a he and he previously published at least two books about salmon and canneries.

No, it’s not Kerry Jang, whose long awaited tome about his passion for building model boats in his basement will, no doubt, find a publisher any day.

Nor is it the NPA’s George Affleck, who is fine-tuning his tell-all about life as a rookie councillor but is wracking his brain to find a better word than “shrubbage” to describe that, uh, shrubbage at the end of the Kitsilano seawall.

OK, enough of this nonsense, Geoff Meggs is the author.

This time around, though, Meggs teamed up with the sagacious Rod Mickleburgh of the Globe and Mail’s Vancouver bureau to put together 240 pages of—I’m sure—snappy prose on none other than…the pin-striped suit wearing Dave Barrett!

Yep, that is correct—Meggs and Mickleburgh (kinda sounds like a law firm) chose to spend their free time panning for journalism gold in writing about the former NDP premier whose party ruled this province from 1972 to 1975.

Barrett, now in his 80s, lives in Esquimalt.

According to the write-up from Harbour Publishing, “this lively and well-researched book is the first in-depth study of this most memorable of B.C. premiers.”

As city hall watchers know, Meggs is no stranger to the NDP, having served as communications director to former premier Glen Clark. His wife, Jan O’Brien, also happens to be the provincial NDP’s secretary.

Then, of course, there’s Meggs’ plan to seek the NDP nomination in Vancouver-Fairview in an attempt to earn a seat in Barrett’s old stomping grounds in the Victoria legislature. Mickleburgh, meanwhile, continues to lament the death of the labour beat and the Montreal Expos.

Their book will be available in October for the low, low price of $32.95, which, sadly, is six bucks more than the long-awaited Bruno and the Beach, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of Canada’s longest-running dramatic television production, The Beachcombers.

The show’s co-creator Marc Strange and Jackson Davies, who played Const. John Constable in the series, are authors.

Their book, too, will be out in the fall.

Coincidentally, the Beachcombers aired the same year Barrett became premier and my politically ambivalent dad dragged a new RCA television into our living room so we could watch Paul Henderson score the winner for Canada.

Ah, the stuff you learn, people, when you spend a few minutes of your day reading my informative words.

* * * * * *

For those of you who can’t get enough of hanging out in the council chamber to watch and listen to Meggs and company, your elected officials won’t meet publicly again until September.

Should be an interesting fall with a contract on a public bike share program to go before council, more affordable housing strategies to be discussed and finally an answer on what to do about those viaducts that Meggs wants knocked down.

I’ll do my best to bring it all to you.

mhowell@vancourier.com

Twitter: @Howellings