‘Kissy Kissy’ Valentine's day poster – Glenn Goluska, c1978

Whether it be political or religious tracts or a wry comment on turning a day devoted to the celebration of love into a large-scale commercial enterprise, private press and small printers have always enjoyed commenting on what they see in the larger world around them. And few were as good, or clever, as Glenn Goluska. Born and raised in Chicago, Goluska moved to Toronto in the early 1970s to attend the University of Toronto. He got a job at Coach House Press and soon became a serious printer and designer. He established two presses; The Nightshade Press, for commercial work, and the imprimerie dromadaire for personal projects. Combining an encyclopedic knowledge of type with an unerring sense of design he was soon producing some of the best work in the city. His output ranged from trade books to postcards. Around 1990 he was travelling between Toronto and Montreal every week to work for the newly formed Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. Goluska fell in love with Montreal and soon packed up his presses, type and Linotype, to move there. Sadly, he died of cancer in 2011. In the course of his too-short life he left one of the largest collections of extraordinary printing ever produced in Canada by one person. Shortly before he died Goluska bequeathed his Linotype and his large collection of wood and metal type to master printer and typographer Andrew Steeves at Gaspereau Press in Kentville, NS.