Howard Fry and the Salt Spring Island Calendar’s 20th Anniversary

Howard Fry spent three decades as a commercial photographer in Vancouver. In 1998 he retired to Salt Spring and became embroiled in a battle to save part of the island from development.

Salt Spring Island:

In 1999, Salt Spring Island was under threat. A German millionaire sold his holdings—roughly a tenth of the island—to Texada Land Corp. The company planned to log second-growth forest for development.

Salt Spring Island residents may be laid back, but they are dead serious about their trees. They organized a fundraising campaign to buy close to 2,000 acres and turn it into a park.

Inspired by the Women’s Institute in Rylstone, Yorkshire whose members appeared nude in a 1999 calendar to raise money for leukemia research (think Helen Mirren in the 2003 movie Calendar Girls) the Islanders produced their own version.

The photos were taken by Howard Fry, a professional photographer who had retired to Salt Spring Island the year before.

The Calendar:

I had never heard of the calendar and originally called Fry to chat about a series of 1970s photos of Vancouver that have been circulating on Facebook over the last few weeks. It turns out that they were photos that never made it into The City of Vancouver, a book produced by Hopping/Kovac/Grinnell to coincide with Habitat 1976. Fry was one of the photographers joining Fred Herzog, Robert Keziere, Allan Harvey and Herbert Gilbert. He took photos of people in Stanley Park, Granville Island, Greek Days and the PNE.

Fry’s best photos though, sat in a cardboard box until they found new life on the Nostalgic/Sentimental site this year.

Fry studied graphic design in his native England. He was offered his  dream job shooting racing cars for a UK-based magazine, but the pay didn’t cover his rent. So when the opportunity came up to join a photography studio in Vancouver, he packed his bags and became part of John Howard Wallis in 1967. The partners worked for local ad agencies shooting booze and producing annual reports and moved onto fashion, working for companies such as Eaton’s, Woodwards, Nordstrom and Eddie Bauer.

The Salt Spring Calendar was a huge success.

The Women of Salt Spring:

Thirty-five women aged between 18 and 74, including high-profile residents such as Andrea Collins, ex-wife of rock star Phil Collins, Birgit Bateman, photographer and wife of Robert Bateman, author and environmentalist Briony Penn (who also rode Lady Godiva-style through downtown Vancouver) appear tastefully naked in the calendar.

Fry shot all the beautiful black and white photos and retains copyright. Calendar sales of $19.95 a unit raised over $200,000 in 2001 and received widespread media attention.

The price tag for the land was $15.9 million. The islanders raised $1.5 million and the provincial, regional and federal governments kicked in the rest.

Sources:

• The  City of Vancouver Book. J.J. Douglas Ltd., 1976
• Michael Arnold’s Nostalgic/Sentimental Vancouver Facebook page
• Globe & Mail, August 17, 2000, August 26, 2000, December 17, 2001
• Times Colonist, October 27, 2000, December 14, 2003
• Vancouver Sun, September 9, 2000

  

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