Memorable Manitobans: Michael M. Park (1946-2017)

Bookseller.

Born at Winnipeg on 28 February 1946, he attended River Heights Junior High School and Grant Park High School. He sang with the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir and worked for the Transcona News before moving to Montreal, Quebec where he was a disc jockey for a classical music radio station. In 1969, he moved to Calgary, Alberta where he was editor for The Albertan and received a BA degree in Psychology from the University of Calgary.

After working as a journalist at the Kingston Whig-Standard (Kingston, Ontario), and receiving an LLB degree from Queen’s University and an LLM degree from the London School of Economics, he spent a year on the law faculty of the University of Manitoba then moved to Edmonton, Alberta where he taught law in the Business Faculty at the University of Alberta for 14 years. He also practiced criminal and family law, and purchased his first antiquarian bookstore.

He quit his job to go sailing for a year with his wife and two children then established an antiquarian bookstore at Greenfield, Missouri, selected for its central location and low cost of living. He returned to Winnipeg in 1994 and operated Greenfield Books until his death. He travelled extensively to book fairs all over North America. Active in the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, he was serving as President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of Canada at the time of his death.

He died suddenly at Winnipeg on 17 May 2017.

Sources:

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 20 May 2017.

Obituary, Integrity Death Care.

We thank Caroline Park for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 21 September 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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