By Bud Osborn
with wood prints by Richard Tetrault
Signs of the Times reunites the poetry of Bud Osborn and the woodprints of Vancouver printmaker and painter Richard Tetrault. As with their first collaboration, Oppenheimer Park, Signs of the Times is both an unflinching look at Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and a beautiful object in its own right.“The greatest barriers we face are cynicism on the part of those who have the resources and power to make change happen, and hopelessness on the part of those who have had everything stripped from them. Signs of the Times meets these barriers head-on and shows us a way through, together.” — Libby Davies, from the Preface
Originally from Ohio, Bud Osborn settled in Vancouver in the mid-80s. He was a poet and social activist for nearly 40 years. A former director of the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board, Bud Osborn was instrumental in founding such harm reduction organizations as VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users), GTA (Grief to Action), and PRG (Political Response Group ). He also helped launch Creative Resistance, a group that advocated for the repeal of drug prohibition and its "War on Drugs" strategy. Bud Osborn’s poetry credo was always: "fidelity to lived experience." He published six books of poetry which included Black Azure (Coach House), Lonesome Monsters (Anvil, 1995), Hundred Block Rock (Arsenal Pulp, 1999), Oppenheimer Park (1998, in collaboration with artist Richard Tetrault), and Keys to Kingdoms (Get to the Point, 1999) which won the City of Vancouver Book Award, and Signs of the Times, illustrated by muralist and printmaker Richard Tetrault. Bud Osborn passed away on May 6, 2014 in Vancouver.
