2025-07-14 BrendaJThompson

Brenda J Thompson interview about the RedHerringBookstore

Interview by Antonia Zwissler

The audio for this interview is on file.

Contents

• 0:00:41 Brenda J Thompson: I like to use my middle initial to honour my mom.
• 0:01:33 How did you get involved with Red Herring? Was going to MSVU in 1987.
• 0:02:41 Did you have experiecne with a co-op store? My daughter loved it there. I bought a poster there, “FUCK AUTHORITY” - she’s 41 now and still has it.
• 0:03:19 What other posters did they have?
• 0:04:03 What was your favourite book there? 1993, I bought a book on domestic violence in every culture. I was moving to Yarmouth for work, running the shelter for abused women. I knew about white culture but I wanted to learn about other cultures.
• 0:05:12 What locations? I was in the one by Maritme Mall [Granville Street]
• 0:05:27 What did it look like? The poster & DVD room was separate from the books; the books for (what we called at the time) GLBT were all together too. Description of the spaces. Posters for WormwoodsDogAndMonkeyCinema. The smell of the place, and of books. Her book, _The Enslavers of the Maritimes_
• 0:08:10 “Survival Guide for Single Mothers” 1988, a give-away book published by the Provicnes Department of the Status of Women. Next one was published by [probably] NSPIRG. Publishing process.
• 0:10:31 Process for picking books & ordering for Red Herring used. Theft.
• 0:11:13 What was your role as a volunteer?
• 0:11:40 What was it like going into Red Herring for the first time? Books on - well, books about me: I was a single mom on welfare at the time. And lesbian single moms. I’d never seen those before. The public libraries didn’t have those. Gold!
• 0:13:27 Bulletin board
• 0:14:01 The Black Market boutique
• 0:17:05 Books for her daughter: “I Had Two Moms.” There were children’s books there too.
• 0:17:52 Friends with other volunteers. Bully in high school showed up at the bookstore and… turned out to be gay! Died of AIDS in the early 1990s.
• 0:20:01 What about your co-workers? We didn’t see each other in the store very much. MichelleCase?. I wanted to be with the alternative community, and that was the hub. And, I went to the gay club - The Turret. I found my tribe, I found my people.
• 0:23:24 More on her family
• 0:24:03 When I met up with older people than me hanging out at the Red Herring, I was just in heaven.
• 0:25:57 And how did that influence the rest of your life?
• 0:26:11 Working at Juniper House, the Yarmouth womens’ shelter for 3½ years. Differences with the other staff there.
• 0:27:56 Moved to Annapolis Royal in 1996 - it’s a gem here! Once again I found my tribe.
• 0:28:59 Left briefly: boyfriend, moved to Mexico, what a mistake!
• 0:29:37 Going to Jamaica, the people there dealing with ignorant white people all day.
• 0:32:35 Leaving Red Herring
• 0:33:44 Posters on the walls
• 0:34:49 Tee shirts: Women United, TakeBackTheNight
• 0:35:15 Saying goodbye to customer Miguel Figueroa, who was later the head of Communist Party of Canada.
• 0:37:34 Welfare system & paternity case — to get child support, writing about that for TheHalifaxDailyNews. Court case over disclosure of tests.